Hiw language
| Hiw | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | [hiw] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Hiw |
Native speakers | 280 (2012)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hiw |
| Glottolog | hiww1237 |
| ELP | Hiw |
 Hiw is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Hiw (sometimes spelled Hiu) is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Hiw, in the Torres Islands of Vanuatu.[2] With about 280 speakers, Hiw is considered endangered.[3][4]
Hiw is distinct from Lo-Toga, the other language of the Torres group. All Hiw speakers are bilingual in Bislama, and most also speak Lo-Toga.[5]
Name
[edit]The language is named after the island.
Phonology
[edit]Vowels
[edit]Hiw has 9 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs /i ɪ e ʉ ɵ ə o ɔ a/:[6][7]
| Front | Central rounded |
Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | ʉ ⟨u⟩ | |
| Near-close | ɪ ⟨ē⟩ | ||
| Close-mid | e ⟨ë⟩ | ɵ ⟨ö⟩ | o ⟨ō⟩ |
| Mid | ə ⟨e⟩ | ||
| Open-mid | ɔ ⟨o⟩ | ||
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ | ||
The three central vowels /ʉ/, /ɵ/, /ə/ are all rounded.[8]
/i/ becomes a glide /j/ whenever it is followed by another vowel.[9]
The high back rounded vowel [u] occurs, but only as an allophone of /ʉ/ and /ə/ after labio-velar consonants. /ʉ/ always becomes [u] after a labio-velar, while /ə/ only becomes [u] in pre-tonic syllables, and then only optionally.[10]
Consonants
[edit]| Bilabial | Alveolar | Dorsal | Labialized velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ŋ ⟨n̄⟩ | ŋʷ ⟨n̄w⟩ |
| Plosive | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | kʷ ⟨q⟩ |
| Fricative | β ⟨v⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ɣ ⟨g⟩ | |
| Prestopped lateral |
ɡ͡ʟ ⟨r̄⟩ | |||
| Glide | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ |
All plosives are voiceless.
Liquid consonants
[edit]The historical phoneme *l has shifted to /j/, which is unique within the Torres–Banks languages. /l/ only appears in loanwords.
Hiw is the only Austronesian language whose consonant inventory includes a prestopped velar lateral approximant /ɡ͡ʟ/; this complex segment is Hiw's only native liquid.[11] Historically, this complex segment was a voiced alveolar trill /r/ (which is why it is written as ⟨r̄⟩). The voiced alveolar trill, spelt as ⟨r⟩, appears in recent loanwords: e.g. Eng. bread > Hiw perët [pəret].[5] In some other, perhaps older, loanwords, alveolar trills have been borrowed as velar laterals: e.g. Eng. graveyard > Hiw kër̄ëvyat [keɡ͡ʟeβjat].[5]
Word-finally, /ɡ͡ʟ/ can surface as [k͜𝼄].[12]
Stress
[edit]Stress is predictable in Hiw, except in the case of words which only contain /ə/.
Generally, primary stress falls on the last syllable which does not contain /ə/. For example: [mɔˈwɪ] 'moon', [ˈwɔtəjə] 'maybe'. In the case of words whose only vowel is schwa, stress is unpredictable: thus [βəˈjə] 'pandanus leaf' is oxytone and [ˈtəpjə] 'dish' is paroxytone. These are the only polysyllabic words that may have a stressed schwa.
Polysyllabic words have secondary stress, which falls on every second syllable from the primary stressed syllable, going leftwards. For example: [ˌβəɣəˈβaɣə] 'speak'.[13]
Phonotactics
[edit]The syllable structure of Hiw is CCVC, where the only obligatory element is V:[11] e.g. /tg͡ʟɔɣ/ 'throw (PL)'; /βti/ 'star'; /kʷg͡ʟɪ/ 'dolphin'; /g͡ʟɵt/ 'tie'.
Hiw allows consonant gemination, word-medially and initially. These geminated consonants can be analyzed as C1C2 consonant clusters in which both consonants happen to be identical. An example of gemination is in /tin/ 'buy' vs /ttin/ 'hot'. Consonants and vowels may also be lengthened for expressive purposes, for example: /ne maβə/ ‘it’s heavy’ becomes [ne mːaβə] ‘it’s so heavy!’.[14]
Hiw's phonology follows the Sonority Sequencing Principle, with the following language-specific sonority hierarchy:
vowels > glides > liquids > nasals > obstruents[15]
In syllable onsets, C1 may not be more sonorous than C2. Fricatives and plosives are not distinguished with regard to sonority.
Even though /w/ is always pronounced as an approximant, it is best treated as an obstruent with regards to sonority: this interpretation accounts for words like /wte/ 'small', which would otherwise constitute a sonority reversal.[16]
Phonological evidence shows that /ɡ͡ʟ/ patterns as a liquid, more sonorous than nasals but less sonorous than the glide /j/. Unlike the obstruents, /ɡ͡ʟ/ cannot be followed by a nasal. However, it can come after a nasal, as in /mɡ͡ʟe/ ‘wrath’. The only consonant found after /ɡ͡ʟ/ is /j/ - e.g. /ɡ͡ʟje/ ‘sweep’.[11]
Grammar
[edit]Hiw has a similar grammatical structure to the other living Torres–Banks languages.[17]
In terms of lexical flexibility, Hiw has been assessed to be “grammatically flexible”, but “lexically rigid”.[18] The vast majority of the language's lexemes belongs to just one word class (noun, adjective, verb, adverb…); yet each of those word classes is compatible with a large number of syntactic functions.
The language presents various forms of verb serialization.[19]
Its system of personal pronouns contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers (singular, dual, plural).[20]
Together with its neighbour Lo-Toga, Hiw has developed a rich system of verbal number, whereby certain verbs alternate their root depending on the number of their main participant.[21] Hiw has 33 such pairs of suppletive verbs, which is far more than is typical among languages that have this feature.[21]
Spatial reference in Hiw is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals. That space system is largely reminiscent of the one widespread among Oceanic languages, yet also shows some innovations that make it unique.[22]
References
[edit]- ^ François (2012:88).
- ^ François (2005:444)
- ^ François (2012:100).
- ^ UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger: Hiw.
- ^ a b c François (2010a:421–422)
- ^ François (2011:195)
- ^ a b François (2021)
- ^ François (2005:458)
- ^ a b François (2010a:396)
- ^ François (2010a:397)
- ^ a b c François (2010a)
- ^ François (2010a:402)
- ^ François (2010a:397–398)
- ^ François (2010a:399)
- ^ François (2010a:412)
- ^ François (2010a:414)
- ^ François (2012:90)
- ^ François (2017)
- ^ François (2017:311)
- ^ François (2016).
- ^ a b François (2019)
- ^ François (2015:140-141, 176-183).
Bibliography
[edit]- François, Alexandre (2005), "Unraveling the History of the Vowels of Seventeen Northern Vanuatu Languages" (PDF), Oceanic Linguistics, 44 (2): 443–504, doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0034, S2CID 131668754
- —— (2010a), "Phonotactics and the prestopped velar lateral of Hiw: Resolving the ambiguity of a complex segment" (PDF), Phonology, 27 (3): 393–434, doi:10.1017/s0952675710000205, S2CID 62628417
- —— (2010b), "Pragmatic demotion and clause dependency: On two atypical subordinating strategies in Lo-Toga and Hiw (Torres, Vanuatu)" (PDF), in Bril, Isabelle (ed.), Clause hierarchy and Clause linking: The Syntax and Pragmatics interface, Studies in Language Companion Series 121, Amsterdam: Benjamins, pp. 499–548, ISBN 978-90-272-0588-9
- —— (2011), "Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence" (PDF), Journal of Historical Linguistics, 1 (2): 175–246, doi:10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra, hdl:1885/29283, S2CID 42217419
- —— (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 214: 85–110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022, S2CID 145208588
- —— (2015). "The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages" (PDF). In Alexandre François; Sébastien Lacrampe; Michael Franjieh; Stefan Schnell (eds.). The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. pp. 137–195. hdl:1885/14819. ISBN 978-1-922185-23-5.
- —— (2016), "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pozdniakov, Konstantin (ed.), Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles, Faits de Langues, vol. 47, Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 25–60
- —— (2017), "The economy of word classes in Hiw, Vanuatu: Grammatically flexible, lexically rigid" (PDF), in Eva van Lier (ed.), Lexical Flexibility in Oceanic Languages, Studies in Language, vol. 41, pp. 294–357, doi:10.1075/sl.41.2.03fra
- —— (2019). "Verbal number in Lo–Toga and Hiw: The emergence of a lexical paradigm" (PDF). Transactions of the Philological Society. 117 (3): 338–371. doi:10.1111/1467-968X.12168. S2CID 210543649..
- —— (2021). "Presentation of the Hiw language and audio archive". Pangloss Collection. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 14 June 2022.