Volow language

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Volow (formerly known as Valuwa or Valuga) is an Oceanic language variety that used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, Vanuatu.[1][2][3][4]

Volow
Aplow, Valuwa
Vōlōw
Pronunciation[βʊˈlʊw]
Native toVanuatu
RegionMota Lava island, Banks Islands
Extinct1986[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologvolo1238
ELPVolow
Volow is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Name

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The name Volow [βʊˈlʊw] is originally a placename: it corresponds to the area known today as Aplow, but in the former language Volow rather than in Mwotlap. Now that the Volow dialect has ceased to be used, the name Volow has been forgotten by the modern population. The place is only known through its Mwotlap name Aplow; as for the language variety, it is often referred to, in the Mwotlap language, as na-vap te-Plōw “the language of Aplow”.

The language variety is sometimes also referred to as na-vap ta Dagmel “the language of Dagmel”, after the name of an ancient, now abandoned, village.

Sociolinguistics

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Volow has receded historically in favor of the now dominant language Mwotlap.[1] It is now only remembered by a single passive speaker, who lives in the village of Aplow — the new name of what was previously known as Volow.

The similarity of Volow with Mwotlap is such that the two communalects may be considered dialects of a single language.

Phonology

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Volow phonemically contrasts 16 consonants and 7 vowels.[5]

Consonants

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Consonants
Labial–velar Bilabial Alveolar Dorsal Glottal
Nasal ŋ͡mʷ ⟨m̄⟩ m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨n̄⟩
Stop voiceless t ⟨t⟩
prenasalized ɡ͡bʷ ⟨q̄⟩ ᵐb ⟨b⟩ ⁿd ⟨d⟩ ᵑɡ ⟨ḡ⟩
Fricative β[a] ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɣ ⟨g⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩ l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩
  1. ^ [p] exists as the allophone of /β/ word-finally.

This consonant inventory includes a typologically rare consonant: a rounded, prenasalised voiced labial-velar plosive [ᵑᵐɡ͡bʷ]:[6] e.g. [n.lɛᵑᵐɡ͡bʷɛβɪn] “woman”[7] (spelled n-leevēn in the local orthography).

Historically, Volow is the only daughter language to have preserved the voicing of the proto-phonemes *ᵑg > /ᵑɡ/ and *ᵐbʷ > /ᵑᵐɡ͡bʷ/, which is reconstructed for its ancestor Proto-Torres-Banks. Most of its neighbours (including Mwotlap) devoiced these to /k/ and /k​͡pʷ/ respectively.

Vowels

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The seven vowels of Volow are all short monophthongs:[8]

Vowels
Front Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Near-close ɪ ⟨ē⟩ ʊ ⟨ō⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩
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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c François (2012:87)
  2. ^ List of Banks islands languages.
  3. ^ See Ray (1926), page 428.
  4. ^ See page 57 of: Tryon, Darrell T. (1976). New Hebrides languages: An internal classification. C-50, vi + 550 pages. Pacific Linguistics, Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-C50
  5. ^ François (2021).
  6. ^ François (2005b:116).
  7. ^ François (2013:191).
  8. ^ François (2005a:445).

References

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