A Grammar Of The Lau Language North East Coast Of Big Mala Solomon Islands

Author : Walter G. Ivens
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9781451011722
Total Pages : 72 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (117 download)

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Download or read book Grammar and Vocabulary of the Lau Language written by Walter G. Ivens and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2015-06-24 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Grammar and Vocabulary of the Lau Language: Solomon Islands Lau is the name given to the language spoken by the inhabitants of the artificial islets which lie off the northeast coast of Big Malaita, Solomon Islands. The language spoken on the coast from Uru on the northeast to Langalanga, Alite Harbor, on the northwest of Big Malaita, is practically Lau. On the west coast there is considerable admixture of Fiu, which is the language of the bush behind the Langalanga lagoon. In Dr. Codrington's "Melanesian Languages," pp. 39 et seq., certain words are given as spoken at AJite in Langalanga. These words are probably Fiu rather than Lau. The purest Lau is spoken at Suluf ou, one of the artificial islets near Atta Cove. The inhabitants of Ai-lali, on the mainland of Big Malaita opposite the island Aio, are an offshoot of the LauHspeaking peoples. In Port Adam (Malau) on Little Malaita, some 12 miles north of Sa'a, there are two villages, Ramarama and Malede, inhabited by Lau-speaking peoples, and the inhabitants of these villages hold as a tradition that their forefathers migrated from Suraina, near Atta Cove, 80 miles away, along the coast to the north. The Lau of this grammar and vocabulary was learned from dealings with the Port Adam natives and also from a stay of several weeks with Rev. A. I. Hopkins, at Mangoniia, on the mainland opposite the artificial islet Ferasubua. It is not claimed that the Lau here presented is the same as the Lau of the northeast coast of Big Malaita. Doubtless owing to the Port Adam peoples being surrounded by Sa'a-speaking peoples, they have adopted Sa'a words and methods of speech to some extent. The women of the hill peoples above Port Adam have largely been procured as wives for the Port Adam men and thus there has been a tendency for the distinctiveness of the Lau language to disappear and for the Sa a words to be adopted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.