THE LANGUAGES OF THE LOYALTY ISLANDS: A GENERAL SURVEY

Abstract

The languages spoken in the Loyalty Islands are as follows : Ouvea: lai and Uvea. Lifou : Dehu and Miny. Mare : Nengone and Iwateno. lai, Dehu and Nengone are what have been called Melanesian languages. Miny and Iwateno are scarcely spoken any more, as they are honorific languages used to address chiefs and their entourage. They appear to have the same grammars as Dehu and Nengone respectively, with some embellishments and a certain amount of foreign vocabulary, borrowed perhaps from neighbouring New Caledonian languages. Uvea is the language spoken by the Polynesian inhabitants of Ouvea. The present survey covers only lai, Dehu and Nengone. The earliest works done on these languages include : 1847. Rev. G. Turner : Word list in Samoan Reporter. 1850. Rev. J. Inglis : Word list in Report. 1852. A. Cheyne : Word list in Description of the Islands in the Western Pacific. 1860-1873. H. C. von der Gabelentz : Die Melanesischen Sprachen I and II. 1882. G. von der Gabelentz : Beitrage zur Kenntis der melanesischen, mikronesischen und papuanischen Sprachen. 1888. F. Muller : Die Sprache von Nengone in Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft.