Tanema (Tetawo, Tetau) is a nearly extinct language of the island of Vanikoro, in the easternmost province of the Solomon Islands.
Vitality
As of 2012, Tanema is only spoken by one speaker, Lainol Nalo.[1][3] Like its neighbour Lovono, it has been replaced by Teanu, the main language of Vanikoro.
The late Emele Mamuli was a prolific storyteller who could speak fluently the three languages of Vanikoro: Teanu, Lovono and Tanema.[4] She was one of the last speakers of Tanema.
The language
Some information on the languages of Vanikoro, including Tanema, can be found in François (2009) for the grammar, and François (2021) for the lexicon.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b Homepage of the linguist A. François (CNRS).
- ^ Source: Maps of Vanikoro (languages, place names).
- ^ “The Mystery of the Sinking South Pacific Islands” — Part 2: A Language's Lone Survivor (article in Der Spiegel, 15/06/2012).
- ^ Photograph of Emele Mamuli (2005).
- ^ See also François (2022) for a general presentation.
References
- François, Alexandre (2009), "The languages of Vanikoro: Three lexicons and one grammar" (PDF), in Evans, Bethwyn (ed.), Discovering history through language: Papers in honour of Malcolm Ross, Pacific Linguistics 605, Canberra: Australian National University, pp. 103–126
- —— (2021). Online Teanu–English dictionary, with lexical data in Lovono and Tanema. Paris, CNRS.
- —— (2022). "Presentation of the Tanema language, and audio archive". Pangloss Collection. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
External links
- Audio recordings in the Tanema language, in open access, by A. François (source: Pangloss Collection of CNRS).