Touo language

Language native to the Solomon Islands From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Touo language, also known as Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru, is spoken over the southern part of Rendova Island, located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.

NativetoSolomon Islands
Regionsouthern Rendova Island, Western Province
Native speakers
(1,900 cited 1999 census)[1]
Quick facts Native to, Region ...
Touo
Baniata
Native toSolomon Islands
Regionsouthern Rendova Island, Western Province
Native speakers
(1,900 cited 1999 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tqu
Glottologtouo1238
ELPTouo
Touo is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Language families of the Solomon Islands

Classification

Touo is generally seen to be a member of the tentative Central Solomons family, although Glottolog considers it an isolate. Pedrós (2015) cautiously suggests Lavukaleve as the closest relative to Touo. Most of the surrounding languages to Touo belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.

Names

The Touo language is sometimes called the Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru language, after the largest two villages where the language is spoken.[2] The word Touo comes from the ethnonym that Touo speakers use to refer to themselves.

Phonology

Consonants

Touo consonants are:[3]: 869 

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Stop voiceless (p) t (k)
voiced b d ɡ ⟨q⟩
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v z
Approximant l ɰ ⟨g⟩
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Vowels

Touo has six lax and five tense vowels.[4]

More information Front, Back ...
Vowels
FrontBack
TenseLaxTenseLax
High ḭ ⟨ḭ⟩i ⟨i⟩ṵ ⟨ṵ⟩u ⟨u⟩
Mid ḛ ⟨ḛ⟩e ⟨e⟩o̰ ⟨o̰⟩o ⟨o⟩
Low a̰ ⟨a̰⟩a ⟨a⟩ɔ ⟨w⟩
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Some minimal pairs showing the tense/lax vowel phonemic distinction in Touo:[3][4]

More information Lax, Tense ...
Lax vs. Tense Vowels
LaxTense
OrthographyGlossOrthographyGloss
eroadḛoven
avogardena̰vofour
uawho?ṵaeat
isismallḭsisleep
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Grammar

Word order in Touo is SOV.[3]

Touo has four genders.[3]

  • masculine
  • feminine
  • neuter I (generic)
  • neuter II (certain trees)

Only in certain paradigms of the singular number can neuter I and II be distinguished.

Touo distinguishes four numbers.[3]

  • singular
  • dual
  • enumerated (i.e., numerically specified; can be used for both few or many numbers)
  • non-enumerated (i.e., not numerically specified; used for numbers greater than three)

See also

Notes

References

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