Ghari language

Ghari
Gari
RegionGuadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Native speakers
(12,000 cited 1999)[1]
Dialects
  • 7,100 Ghari
  • 3,000 Ndi (Vaturanga)
  • 950 Gae (Nggae, Qae)
  • 550 Tandai-Nggaria (Tanaghai)
  • 490 Nginia
  • Geri (Nggeri)
Language codes
ISO 639-3gri
Glottologghar1239

Ghari (also known as Gari, Tangarare, Sughu, and West Guadalcanal) is an Oceanic language spoken on Guadalcanal island of the Solomon Islands.

The Vaturanga dialect has been used extensively in missionary and liturgical translations, leading linguist Arthur Capell to describe it as a mission/ecclesiastical language.

Phonology

The following is the Qae dialect:[2][3]

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Stop/
Affricate 		voiceless p t tʃ[a] ⟨j⟩ k
prenasal ᵐb ⟨b⟩ ⁿd ⟨d⟩ ᶮdʒ[b] ⟨z⟩ ᵑɡ ⟨ngg⟩
Fricative β ⟨v⟩ s ɣ ⟨h⟩ (h)[c]
Lateral l
Rhotic r

[a]/ⁿt͡s/ in other dialects

[b]/ⁿd͡z/ in other dialects

[c][h] can be heard as a variation of /ɣ/ across dialects.

Where it differs from the IPA, the orthography is written in angular brackets (<>).

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

References

Notes
  1. ^ Ghari at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Todd, Evelyn M. (1980). Qae (Solomon Islands) and its linguistic context. In Paz B. Naylor (ed.), Austronesian studies: Papers from the Second Eastern Conference on Austronesian languages: Ann Arbor, University of Michigan. pp. 227–240.
  3. ^ A Grammar of the Language of Vaturanga, Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands
Sources
  • Ivens, W. G. (1934). "A Grammar of the Language of Vaturanga, Guadalcanal, British Solomon Islands". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London. 7 (2): 349–375. doi:10.1017/s0041977x0008527x.


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