Espiritu Santo languages

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Espiritu Santo
Santo
Geographic
distribution		 Espiritu Santo Island in northern Vanuatu
Linguistic classification Austronesian
Glottolog espi1234

The Espiritu Santo languages (alternatively Santo languages) are a group of North Vanuatu languages spoken on Espiritu Santo Island in northern Vanuatu. Tryon (2010) considers the Espiritu Santo languages to be a coherent group. [1]

Contents

Languages

Two lists of Espiritu Santo languages from Tryon (2010) and François (2015) are provided below.

Tryon (2010)

Tryon (2010) recognizes 33 living languages and 2 extinct languages. They are: [1]

LanguageSpeakersAreaVillages
Valpei (Tavanlav)300North-West SantoWunpuko, Valpei, Petani, Matalip, Pwar, Molpoe, Hakua, Maroa, Pwat, Pwatmwel (Onmwertev), Mwalovuko, Wunapak
Nokuku (Vevatot)250North-West SantoOlpoe, Nokuku, Lajmoli, Vunon, Penaoru, Petawota
'Oa 300North-West SantoTasmate, Sulesal, Vasalea
Vunapu 250?North-West SantoVunapu, Pesena
Piamatsina 250?North-West SantoPiamatsina, Piamaeto, Peavot
Tolomako (Big Bay)900North-West SantoJureviu, Tuturu, Tavunamalo, Peavot, Vasi, Pialulup, Matantas
Kula 350West SantoWusi, Kerepua, Elia 1
Bura 300West SantoLinduri, Putonro, Saktui, Maram, Patiare, Mapten, Nukupospos
Kene 300West SantoVuimele, Navura, Papaisale, Arumalate, Latavoa, Pilipili, Lepurpuri, Potlavaisevu
Akei 4000West SantoToramaori, Lalaolo, Tovotovo, Kerevinumbu, Tasiriki, Ukoro, Malovira, Tasmalum
Daruru 100?West SantoPelmol
Retlatur 100South SantoTanovusivusi
Ale 500South SantoFimele, Wailapa
Aje 10South SantoPatunmevu, Nambaka, Wunamoli
Ande 500South SantoTanmet, Lotunai, Ipayato, Tasmalum, Morouas
Araki 10South Santo Araki Island
Movono 370South Santo Tangoa Island
Farsav 400South SantoNambel, Tanovoli, Narango, Funafosi, Nambauk
Tiale / Merei 400Central SantoTavuimoli, Nazaraka, Mataipevu, Patuitano, Morokari, Angoru, Tombet, Navele, Vusvogo
Kiai 450Central SantoWailapa, Fortsenale, Namoru
Ko / Mores (Farmores)200?Central SantoTanmet, Lemben, Tsarailan, Namafun, Patmarifu, Sarete, Mavunlif
Moiso 100Central SantoMoriuli
Toksiki / Soisoru 200Central SantoMorkriv, Pilnuri, Bengie
Tamambo 4000East SantoMalo
Aore extinctEast SantoAore
Biliru 3East SantoTambotalo, Belnatsa, Beleru, Belembut, Lambue
Farafi 300?East SantoButmas, Tur, Maniok, Shark Bay, Naturuk
Ngen 250East SantoVanafo (Tanafo), Mon Exil, Palon, Shark Bay
Ati (Meris / Miris)85East SantoFumbak, Naturuk, Nambauk
Se 20East SantoVanafo, Butmas
Atin (Farnanatin)120East SantoNambauk (Patunfarambu), Fumatal
Farnanto 100East SantoNambauk, Tanmet, Tafua
Mavea (Lonavu)500East SantoMavea, Aissi, Tutuba
Nethalp extinctEast SantoLorediakarkar
Nekep 4000East SantoHog Harbour, Port Olry, Kole 1

François (2015)

The following list of 38 Espiritu Santo languages is from Alexandre François (2015:18-21).

No.LanguageOther namesSpeakers ISO 639-3 Region
27 Tolomako Bigbay 900 tlm Espiritu Santo
28 Piamatsina 250 ptr Espiritu Santo
29 Vunapu 380 vnp Espiritu Santo
30 Valpei 300 vlp Espiritu Santo
31 Nokuku 250 nkk Espiritu Santo
32 Meri Tasmate, Oa 300 tmt Espiritu Santo
33 Wusi Kula 350 wsi Espiritu Santo
34 Bura 300 Espiritu Santo
35 Merei Tiale, Lametin 400 lmb, mnl Espiritu Santo
36 Mores Ko 200 mrp Espiritu Santo
37 Ande Morouas 500 Espiritu Santo
38 Toksiki Soisoru, Roria 200 rga Espiritu Santo
39 Kiai Fortsenal 450 frt Espiritu Santo
40 Moiso 100 Espiritu Santo
41 Kene 300 Espiritu Santo
42 Daruru 100 Espiritu Santo
43 Akei Tasiriki 4000 tsr Espiritu Santo
44 Retlatur 100 Espiritu Santo
45 Wailapa Ale 500 wlr Espiritu Santo
46 Farsaf Narango, Nambel 400 nrg Espiritu Santo
47 Varavara Amblong, Aje 300 alm Espiritu Santo
48 Narmoris 220 plb Espiritu Santo
49 Biliru Tambotalo 3 tls Espiritu Santo
50 Atin 120 Espiritu Santo
51 Ati Polonombauk, Meris 85 Espiritu Santo
52 Farnanto 100 Espiritu Santo
53 Se Fanafo 20 Espiritu Santo
54 Sinia Navut 520 nsw Espiritu Santo
55 Butmas-Tur Ati, Farafi 520 bnr Espiritu Santo
56 Ngen Shark Bay 450 ssv Espiritu Santo, Litaro
57 Tholp Nethalp 0 lnn Espiritu Santo
58 Sakao Hog Harbour, Nkep 4000 sku Espiritu Santo
59 Mavea Mav̋ea, Mafea 34 mkv Espiritu Santo, Mavea
60 Tutuba 500 tmi Espiritu Santo, Tutuba
61 Aore 0 aor Espiritu Santo, Aore
62 Tamambo Malo, Tamabo 4000 mla Espiritu Santo, Malo
63 Tangoa Movono 370 tgp Espiritu Santo, Tangoa
64 Araki 8 akr Espiritu Santo, Araki

Lynch (2019)

John Lynch (2019) [2] proposes the following classification scheme for the Espiritu Santo languages, with the development of bilabial consonants to linguolabials as the primary marker of the "Nuclear Santo" group:

Related Research Articles

The nine South Vanuatu languages form a family of the Southern Oceanic languages, spoken in Tafea Province of Vanuatu.

The Central Vanuatu languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in central Vanuatu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Oceanic languages</span> Subgroup of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family

The Southern Oceanic languages are a linkage of Oceanic languages spoken in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It was proposed by John Lynch in 1995 and supported by later studies. It appears to be a linkage rather than a language family with a clearly defined internal nested structure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Languages of Vanuatu</span> Languages spoken in the South Pacific country Vanuatu

The Republic of Vanuatu has the world's highest linguistic density per capita. Despite being a country with a population of less than 300,000, Vanuatu is home to 138 indigenous Oceanic languages.

The North Vanuatu languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in northern Vanuatu.

Kiai is an Oceanic language spoken by about 450 people in the central highlands of Espiritu Santo island, in Vanuatu.

Ande or Morouas (Moruas) is an Oceanic language spoken in central Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.

Narango is an Oceanic language spoken on the south coast of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.

Nokuku (Nogugu) is an Oceanic language spoken in the north of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.

Piamatsina is an Oceanic language spoken in the north of Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.

Wailapa, or Ale, is an Oceanic language spoken on Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu. It is in a dialect chain between Akei and Penantsiro, but these are not mutually intelligible.

The Malakula languages are a group of Central Vanuatu languages spoken on Malakula Island in central Vanuatu. Unlike some earlier classifications, linguist and Oceanic languages specialist John Lynch (2016) considered the Malakula languages to form a coherent group.

Moiso is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. It is spoken in Moriuli village in central Santo Island by about 100 people.

Kene is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu with 300 speakers.

Daruru is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. There are perhaps 100 speakers in Pelmol village of western Santo Island.

Retlatur is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. There are about 100 speakers in Tanovusivusi village of southern Santo Island.

Atin is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. There are 120 speakers in Nambauk (Patunfarambu) and Fumatal villages of eastern Santo Island.

Farnanto is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. There are about 100 speakers in Nambauk, Tanmet, and Tafua villages of eastern Santo Island.

Fanafo is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu. It is spoken by 20 people in Vanafo and Butmas villages of eastern Santo Island.

Bura is an Espiritu Santo language of Vanuatu with 300 speakers.

References

  1. 1 2 Tryon, Darrell. 2010. The languages of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu. In John Bowden and Nikolaus P. Himmelmann and Malcolm Ross (eds.), A journey through Austronesian and Papuan linguistic and cultural space: papers in honour of Andrew K. Pawley, 283-290. Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.
  2. ↑ Lynch, John (December 2019). "The Bilabial-to-Linguolabial Shift in Southern Oceanic: A Subgrouping Diagnostic?". Oceanic Linguistics. 58 (2): 292–323. doi:10.1353/ol.2019.0010 . Retrieved January 16, 2022.
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