Mele-Fila language
| Mele-Fila | |
|---|---|
| Ifira-Mele | |
| Native to | Ifira Island |
Native speakers | 3,500 (2001)[1] |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mxe |
| Glottolog | mele1250 |
Mele-Fila (Ifira-Mele) is a
Mele-Fila is an everyday language for residents of Mele village and Fila Island. Mele village, with a population of 1,000, is located roughly 7 km north-west of Port Vila, the nation’s capital. Fila Island, with a population of 400, is located about 1.5km west of Vila.[2]
History
Based on archaeological evidence, it is understood that peoples speaking Austronesian languages originated on the island of
The population of Mele-Fila belongs to the
Phonology
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Alveolo-
palatal |
Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labio- velarized |
plain | ||||||
| Nasal | mʷ | m | n
|
ŋ | |||
| Plosive | pʷ | p | t
|
t͡ɕ | k | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ||||
| voiced | v | ||||||
| Trill | r
|
||||||
| Approximant | w | l
|
h | ||||
This language is unusual among Polynesian languages for its phoneme /tɕ/. In the Fila dialect, /p/ and /m/ are not distinct from their labialized counterparts.[4]: 948
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
High
|
i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
Low
|
a |
Mele vowels are similar to other Polynesian vowels as there are /i e a o u/ long and short. More than half of the words used in the language hail from Proto Polynesian language.[2] Stressed initial vowels were kept, while unstressed initial vowels were removed.
- "Ex: English: then, Mele: gafuru, PPN: angafulu"
- "Ex: English: yesterday, Mele: nanafi, PPN: ananafi" [2]
Articles and verbal particles with unstressed long vowels often have their unstressed vowel shortened:[2]
- Ex: ruú ́́are - “The two houses”
- Ex: ru pókasi - “the two pigs”
Mele-Fila has borrowed significantly from the
: 949
Syntax
Mele-Fila has a Subject – Verb – Object sentence order.[2]
Verbal particles
Below is a list of "verbal particles":[2]
- Ee – not of the future (past or current)
- Tee – intentional (could also mean immediate future)
- Too (roo in 3rd person) – future
- Kuu – indicates start or completion[clarification needed] of an action/event
- Kaa – used when communicating to relatives below your social standing
- Kee (uncommon)- hypothetical
- Negation marker used post verb /kee/ (more common)
- Negation marker used pre-verb /see/ only used with ee or tee verbal particles
- Loose possession- used for actual ownership and some family relationships (possessed + n(a) + Possessor)
- Intimate possession – relation between parts/wholes and certain family relations
- Noki – frequent/habitual (always)
External links
- Materials on Mele-Fila are included in the open access Paradisec.
- Biggs, Bruce (1975). Mele-Fila Vocabulary.
- Clark, Ross (1975). Mele Notes.
- History of Polynesian Languages
- Bedford, Stuart; Spriggs, Matthew. "Northern Vanuatu as a Pacific Crossroads: The Archaeology of Discovery, Interaction, and the Emergence of the "ethnographic Present"". Asian Perspectives. University of Hawai'i Press. 47 (1): 95–120. JSTOR 42928734.
- The Austronesian Languages By Robert Blust ([1])
- WALS Online [2]
- The Commonwealth: http://thecommonwealth.org/our-member-countries/vanuatu/history
- Nations Online: https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/vanuatu.htm
- http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/vanuatu-population/
References
- ^ Mele-Fila at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f g h Clark, Ross (1975). Mele Notes.
- ^ Bedford, Stuart; Spriggs, Matthew. 2008. Northern Vanuatu as a Pacific Crossroads: The Archaeology of Discovery, Interaction, and the Emergence of the "Ethnographic Present". Asian Perspectives 47 (1), 95-120.
- ^ ISBN 3110884011.