Hiw language

Hiw
Native to Vanuatu
Region Hiw
Native speakers
 280 (2012)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 hiw
Glottolog hiww1237[2]

Hiw (sometimes spelled Hiu) is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Hiw, in the Torres Islands of Vanuatu.[3]

It is distinct from Lo-Toga, the other language of the Torres group.

The language

Hiw has 280 speakers, and is considered endangered.[4][5]

Phonology

Vowels

Hiw has 9 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs /i ɪ e ɵ ə a ʉ o ɔ/.[6]

Consonants

Hiw has 14 consonants.[6]

Hiw consonants
BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarLabiovelar
Plosive ptkkʷ
Nasal mnŋŋʷ
Fricative βsɣ
Prestopped
lateral		 ɡ͡ʟ
Glide jw

All plosives are voiceless. Hiw is the only Austronesian language whose consonant inventory includes a prestopped velar lateral approximant /ɡ͡ʟ/; this complex segment is Hiw's only liquid.[7]

References

  1. ↑ François (2012):88).
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Hiw". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ François (2005:444)
  4. ↑ François (2012):100).
  5. ↑ UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger: Hiw.
  6. 1 2 François (2010a:396)
  7. ↑ François (2010a)

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
  • 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, 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, 214: 85–110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022


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