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Lehali language
View on Wikipedia| Lehali | |
|---|---|
| Loli | |
| Pronunciation | [lɔli] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Ureparapara |
Native speakers | 200 (2010)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tql |
| Glottolog | leha1243 |
| ELP | Lehali |
 Lehali is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Lehali (previously known as Teqel) is an Oceanic language spoken by about 200 people, on the west coast of Ureparapara Island in Vanuatu.[1] It is distinct from Löyöp, the language spoken on the east coast of the same island.
Name
[edit]The language is named after the village where it is spoken, natively referred to as Loli [lɔli].
Phonology
[edit]Lehali phonemically contrasts 16 consonants and 10 vowels.[3]
Consonants
[edit]Lehali consonants Bilabial Alveolar Dorsal Labialized
velarGlottal Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨n̄⟩ ŋʷ ⟨n̄w⟩ Stop voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩ kʷ ⟨q⟩ prenasalized ⁿd ⟨d⟩ Fricative β ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɣ ⟨g⟩ h ⟨h⟩ Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩
Vowels
[edit]The 10 vowel phonemes are all short monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ æ ə a ɒ̝ ɔ ʊ u/:[4][3]
Lehali vowels Front Central Back Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩ Near-close ɪ ⟨ē⟩ ə ⟨ë⟩ ʊ ⟨ō⟩ Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩ Near-open æ ⟨ä⟩ ɒ̝ ⟨ö⟩ Open a ⟨a⟩
Historical phonology
[edit]The ⟨y⟩ /j/ phoneme originates in a former trill *r: e.g. /-jɔ/ < POc *rua 'two'.[5] Lehali shares that particular sound change with its neighbors Löyöp, Volow, and Mwotlap.
Grammar
[edit]The system of personal pronouns in Lehali contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).[6]
Most negative morphemes are discontinuous, wrapped around the predicate phrase: e.g. /tɛt nɛ … tæ/ (Negative realis ‘did/does not’), /tɛt … kʷɔ/ (Nondumitive ‘not yet’), /tɛt … vɪstæ/ (Negative potential ‘cannot’).[7] Historically, this pattern reflects an instance of Jespersen's cycle.[8]
Spatial reference in Lehali is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is in part typical of Oceanic languages, and yet innovative.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b List of Banks islands languages.
- ^ A rough translation can be found in the comments to the Youtube version of this video.
- ^ a b François (2021).
- ^ François 2011, p. 194.
- ^ François 2016, pp. 31, 46.
- ^ François 2016.
- ^ François 2026, p. 127.
- ^ François 2026, p. 115.
- ^ François 2015, pp. 175–176.
Bibliography
[edit]- François, Alexandre (2011). "Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence" (PDF). Journal of Historical Linguistics. 1 (2): 175–246. doi:10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra. hdl:1885/29283. S2CID 42217419..
- —— (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.
- —— (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.
- —— (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.
- —— (2021). "Presentation of the Lehali language and audio archive". Pangloss Collection. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 21 Feb 2022.
- —— (2026). "Negation in Dorig" (PDF). In Miestamo, Matti; Veselinova, Ljuba (eds.). Negation in the World's Languages. Research on Comparative Grammar 9. Vol. III. Berlin: Language Science Press. pp. 73–128. doi:10.5281/zenodo.18234067.
External links
[edit]- Audio recordings in the Lehali language, in open access, by A. François (Pangloss Collection).