| Hiw | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | [hiw] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Hiw |
Native speakers | 280 (2012)[1] |
| Language codes | |
hiw | |
| Glottolog | hiww1237 |
| ELP | Hiw |
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] Most Hiw speakers also speak Lo-Toga and all speak Bislama.[5]
Hiw is distinct from Lo-Toga, the other language of the Torres group.
Name
The language is named after the island.
Phonology
Vowels
Hiw has 9 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs /i ? e ? ? ? o ? a/:[6]
| Front | Central rounded |
Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | ? ⟨u⟩ | |
| Near-close | ? ⟨?⟩ | ||
| Close-mid | e ⟨ë⟩ | ? ⟨ö⟩ | o ⟨?⟩ |
| Mid | ? ⟨e⟩ | ||
| Open-mid | ? ⟨o⟩ | ||
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ | ||
/i/ becomes a glide whenever it's followed by another vowel.[7]
The high back rounded vowel occurs, but only as an allophone of /?/ and /?/ after labio-velar consonants. /?/ always becomes [u] after a labio-velar, while /?/ only becomes [u] in pre-tonic syllables, and then only optionally.[8]
Consonants
Hiw has 14 consonants.[6]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Dorsal | Labialized velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | n ⟨n⟩ | ? ⟨n?⟩ | ⟨n?w⟩ |
| Plosive | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | k ⟨k⟩ | k? ⟨q⟩ |
| Fricative | ? ⟨v⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | ? ⟨g⟩ | |
| Prestopped lateral |
⟨r?⟩ | |||
| Glide | j ⟨y⟩ | w ⟨w⟩ |
All plosives are voiceless. Hiw is the only Austronesian language whose consonant inventory includes a prestopped velar lateral approximant //; this complex segment is Hiw's only liquid.[9] Historically, this complex segment was a voiced alveolar trill /r/ (which is why it is written as r?). The voiced alveolar trill, spelt as r, appears in recent loanwords. In some other, perhaps older, loanwords, alveolar trills have been borrowed as velar laterals.
Although /w/ is always pronounced as an approximant, it can be seen as filling in the space of the missing labio-velar fricative //.[10]
Phonotactics
The syllable structure of Hiw is CCVC, where the only obligatory element is V:[9] e.g. /tg?/ 'throw (PL)'; /?ti/ 'star'; /k?g/ 'dolphin'; /gt/ '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 ma/ 'it's heavy' becomes [ne m:a] 'it's so heavy!'.[11]
Hiw's phonology follows the Sonority Sequencing Principle, with the following language-specific sonority hierarchy:
vowels > glides > liquids > nasals > obstruents[12]
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.[10]
Phonological evidence shows that // patterns as a liquid, more sonorous than nasals but less sonorous than the glide /j/. Unlike the obstruents, // cannot be followed by a nasal. However, it can come after a nasal, as in /me/ 'wrath'. The only consonant found after // is /j/ - ie /je/ 'sweep'.[9]
Grammar
Hiw has a similar grammatical structure to the other living Torres-Banks languages.[13]
In terms of lexical flexibility, Hiw has been assessed to be "grammatically flexible", but "lexically rigid".[14] 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.[15]
Its system of personal pronouns contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers (singular, dual, plural).[16]
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.[17] Hiw has 33 such pairs of verbs, which is the highest number recorded so far among the world's languages.[17]
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.[18]
References
- ^ François (2012):88).
- ^ François (2005:444)
- ^ François (2012):100).
- ^ UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger: Hiw.
- ^ François (2010a:421-422)
- ^ a b François (2010a:396)
- ^ François (2010a:396)
- ^ François (2010a:397)
- ^ a b c François (2010a)
- ^ a b François (2010a:414)
- ^ François (2010a:399)
- ^ François (2010a:412)
- ^ François (2012:90)
- ^ François (2017).
- ^ François (2017:) 311 sqq).
- ^ François (2016).
- ^ a b François (2019).
- ^ François (2015:) 140-141, 176-183).
Bibliography
- 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
- François, Alexandre (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
- François, Alexandre (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
- François, Alexandre (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012 (214): 85-110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022, S2CID 145208588
- François, Alexandre (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.
- François, Alexandre (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
- François, Alexandre (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
- François, Alexandre (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..
External links
- Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of Hiw.
- Audio recordings in the Hiw language, in open access, by A. François (Pangloss Collection).
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