7°55′S 156°40′E/7.92°S 156.66°E/ -7.92; 156.66Bilua (also known as Mbilua or Vella Lavella) is the most populous Papuan language spoken in the Solomon Islands. It is a Central Solomon language spoken by about 9,000 people on the island of Vella Lavella. It is one of the four Papuan non-Austronesian languages spoken in the Solomon Islands.

Classification

"Bilua is sometimes grouped with the other Central Solomons languages and beyond (Wurm 1975b) but closer inspection shows that a genealogical relation is not demonstrable (Dunn and Terrill 2012, Terrill 2011)" (Hammarström, forthcoming).

Phonology

The consonant and vowels sounds of Bilua.

Consonants

BilabialAlveolarPost- alveolarPalatalVelar
Nasalmnɲŋ
Plosive/ Affricatevoicelesspt(t͡ʃ)k
voicedb (ᵐb)d (ⁿd)d͡ʒ (ⁿd͡ʒ)g (ᵑɡ)
Fricativevoicelesss
voicedβz(w)
Laterall
Rhoticr

The voiced stops and affricate sounds /b d ɡ dʒ/ can occur as prenasalized allophones, when occurring intervocalically [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ ⁿdʒ]. Other consonant allophones include [w tʃ] for /β dʒ/.

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Highi (ɪ)u (ʊ)
Mide (ɛ)o (ɔ)
Lowa

Four vowel sounds /i u e o/ have allophones but only in diphthongs as [ɪ ɛ ɔ ʊ].

Verb construction

Sample Verbs

EnglishBilua
to bitenanae, nanaelɔu
to blowpueka, puzeka, puzeko
to breathekozato
to burnsiŋgae, siŋgato
to comekua
to countataito, atiato
to cryziaʔo, zialo
to cut, hackkombue, kombuto, paŋgoe, paŋgoilo, rupe
to die, be deadvou
to digtelite, telito
to drinknozutɔ, nĵuvuatɔ, sapɔ
to eatɔkua, vuato
to fallpialo
to fearŋalo
to flowrundundu
to flyakazo, salosalo, sindiki
to hearviŋgo
to hitpazɔvɔ, pazoto, pazovo
to holdkamaka, kamako
to huntzaulao, zaulau
to killvouvaiva, vouvato
to know, be knowledgeableñaño
to laughkisiko, nureo
to lie downteku
to live, be alivesaevo, saivo
to saykaseka, kiŋɔla, pesio
to scratchkirikirito, pirakasa
to seealea, kea, kelo
to sewturue, turuto
to sitpapi, papu
to sleepmaroŋa, maroŋo
to sniff, smelltuiño, tuimikɔ, tuimiko
to spitsupato
to splitreseilo, seseto
to squeezezuzuto, žužue
to stab, piercenĵokuto, zatae
to standlonĵo
to stealkuilɔ, kuilo
to suckkuzukuzuto, kuzutɔ
to swelltumbu
to swimlilitɔ, ruazo, siusiutɔ, siusiuto
to thinkkɛrukɛruto, kerukeruto
to tie uplupika
to turnlilite, vipulɔ
to walkɔla, ola, saŋgɔre, tali, talio, zakei
to vomitsakoezo
to workirurupoto, iruruputo

Noun classification

Bilua has a masculine-feminine gender system with no neuter nouns. Truly males are always male and truly female are always female.

Footnotes

Sources

  • Obata, Kazuko (2003). (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 540. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The Australian National University. doi:. hdl:. ISBN0-85883-531-2.
  • Woodley, Ellen Joanne (2002). Local and indigenous knowledge as an emergent property of complexity: A case study in the Solomon Islands (PhD thesis). University of Guelph. S2CID.

Further reading

  • Terrill, A (2011). Languages in Contact: An Exploration of Stability and Change in the Solomon Islands. Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press.
  • Dunn, M., Reesink, G., & Terrill, A. (2002), "The East Papuan Languages: A Preliminary Typological Appraisal", Oceanic Linguistics, 41 (1): 28–62, doi:, hdl:, JSTOR{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Terrill, A. (2002), "Systems of Nominal Classification in East Papuan Languages", Oceanic Linguistics, 41 (1): 63–88, doi:, hdl:, JSTOR
  • Donohue, Mark, and Simon Musgrave (2007), "Typology and the Linguistic Macrohistory of Island Melanesia.", Oceanic Linguistics, 46 (2): 348–387, doi:, S2CID{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • . Verbix Languages. Archived from on April 7, 2017.
  • . Numeral Systems of the World's Languages.[dead link]

External links