{{short description|Subgroup of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family}} {{Infobox language family |name=South Vanuatu |region=Southern Vanuatu |familycolor=Austronesian |fam2=Malayo-Polynesian |fam3=Oceanic |fam4=Southern Oceanic |protoname=Proto-South Vanuatu |glotto=sout2868 |glottorefname=Southern Vanuatu }}
The nine '''South Vanuatu languages''' form a family of the Southern Oceanic languages,<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Lynch | first1 = John | author-link1 = John Lynch (linguist) | last2 = Ross | first2 = Malcolm | author-link2 = Malcolm Ross (linguist) |last3= Crowley |first3= Terry | author-link3 = Terry Crowley (linguist) | year = 2002 | title = The Oceanic languages | location = Richmond, Surrey | publisher = Curzon | isbn = 978-0-7007-1128-4 | oclc = 48929366 }}</ref> spoken in Tafea Province (Tanna, Aneityum, Futuna, Erromango, and Aniwa) of Vanuatu.
==Languages== *'''Erromango''' family **Southern: Sie, Sorung† **Northern: Ifo (Utaha)†, Ura<br />(more information here) *'''Tanna''' family **Southern: Kwamera (South Tanna), Southwest Tanna **Northern: Lenakel (West Tanna), Whitesands (Weasisi, East Tanna), North Tanna *'''Aneityum''' **Aneityum (Anejom̃)
===François ''et al.'' (2015)=== François ''et al.'' (2015:18–21) lists the following names and locations for the 9 South Vanuatu languages.
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! No. !! Language !! Other names !! Speakers !! ISO 639-3 !! Region |- | 128 || Sie || Se, Erromanga || 1900 || erg || Erromango |- | 129 || Ura || || 6 || uur || Erromango |- | 130 || Utaha || || 0 || iff || Erromango |- | 131 || North Tanna || || 5000 || tnn || Tanna |- | 132 || Lenakel || Netvaar || 11500 || tnl || Tanna |- | 133 || Southwest Tanna || Nawal || 5000 || nwi || Tanna |- | 134 || Whitesands || Narak || 7500 || tnp || Tanna |- | 135 || Kwamera || Nafe, Nɨfe || 3500 || tnk || Tanna |- | 137 || Anejom̃ || Aneityum || 900 || aty || Aneityum |}
==Proto-South Vanuatu== {{Infobox proto-language | name = Proto-South Vanuatu | altname = PSV | region = | era = | familycolor = Austronesian | ancestor = Proto-Austronesian | ancestor2 = Proto-Malayo-Polynesian | ancestor3 = Proto-Oceanic | target = South Vanuatu languages }} Proto-South Vanuatu was reconstructed by John Lynch in 2001.
The language, compared to Proto-Oceanic, went through a series of vowel reductions, leading to the creation of a new vowel written as *ə, such as in ''*na-waiR'' "fresh water" resulting in Proto-South Vanuatu ''*nə-wai'' of the same meaning.
However, it also preserves some, but not all final consonants. For example, ''*tanum'' "to plant, bury" is reflected in Proto-South Vanuatu as ''*(a)-tenum'' "to bury", but ''*taŋis'' "to cry" is instead reflected as ''*(a)-taŋi''.
===Vowels=== The vowels of Proto-South Vanuatu, according to Lynch, are: {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center |+ Vowels |- ! !Front !Central !Back |- ! Close | {{IPA|*i}} | | {{IPA|*u}} |- ! Close-mid | {{IPA|*e}} | {{IPA|*ə}} | {{IPA|*o}} |- ! Open | | {{IPA|*a}} | |}
===Consonants=== The consonants of Proto-South Vanuatu, according to Lynch, are: : {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+Consonants ! colspan="2" | !Labiovelar !Bilabial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Uvular |- ! rowspan="2" |Stop !<small>voiced</small> |*{{IPA link|b}}{{IPA link|ʷ}} |*{{IPA link|b}} |*{{IPA link|d}} | |*{{IPA link|g}} | |- !<small>voiceless</small> |*{{IPA link|p}}{{IPA link|ʷ}} |*{{IPA link|p}} |*{{IPA link|t}} | |*{{IPA link|k}} |*{{IPA link|q}} |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |*{{IPA link|m}}{{IPA link|ʷ}} |*{{IPA link|m}} |*{{IPA link|n}} | |*{{IPA link|ŋ}} | |- ! colspan="2" |Fricative |*{{IPA link|v}} | |*{{IPA link|s}} |*{{IPA link|c}}, *{{IPA link|ɟ}}<br/>{{clarify|date=June 2022|are these mistranscribed fricatives or misplaced stops?}} |*{{IPA link|ɣ}} | |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant |*{{IPA link|w}} | |*{{IPA link|l}}, *{{IPA link|r}} |*{{IPA link|j}} | | |}
== References == {{reflist}} * {{Citation | last = François | first = Alexandre | author-link =Alexandre François | last2 =Franjieh | first2 =Michael | last3 =Lacrampe | first3 =Sébastien | last4 =Schnell | first4 =Stefan | editor-last =François | editor-first =Alexandre | editor2-last =Lacrampe | editor2-first =Sébastien | editor3-last =Franjieh | editor3-first =Michael | editor4-last =Schnell | editor4-first =Stefan | date =2015 | title =The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity | chapter =The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu | contribution-url = https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/Francois-et-al_2015_Languages-of-Vanuatu_Intro-chapter.pdf | series =Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia | publisher =Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access | publication-place =Canberra | pages = 1–21 | isbn =9781922185235 | url =https://hdl.handle.net/1885/14819 | archive-url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01186007v1 | archive-date = 25 August 2015 | ref = density }}. *Lynch, John. 2001. ''The linguistic history of southern Vanuatu''. (Pacific Linguistics, 509.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
{{Southern Oceanic languages}} {{Austronesian languages}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:South Vanuatu Languages}} Category:South Vanuatu languages Category:Languages of Vanuatu Category:Southern Oceanic languages