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It distinguishes four numbers for its personal pronouns: singular, dual, trial, plural. Its verbs have no tense or aspect marking, but two moods, realis and irrealis. Substantives and numerals also have the same two moods. E.g.
na
REALIS
tatsua
person
mo
REALIS
tea
one
mo
REALIS
tsoa
not to be
na tatsua mo tea mo tsoa
REALIS person REALIS one REALIS {not to be}
Someone is missing
te
IRREALIS
tatsua
person
i
IRREALIS
tea
one
mo
REALIS
tsoa
not to be
te tatsua i tea mo tsoa
IRREALIS person IRREALIS one REALIS {not to be}
There is nobody.
Tolomako proper is characterized by having dentals where the mother language had labials before front vowels. It shares this feature with Sakao, but not with its dialect Tsureviu, which is otherwise very close. Thus:
Tolomako
Tsureviu
tei
pei
"water"
nata
mata
"eye"
When labials do occur preceding front vowels they seem to be reflexes of older labiovelars:
It is possible that Tolomako is a very simplified daughter-language or pidgin of the neighboring language Sakao. However, Tolomako is more likely a sister language of Sakao, not a pidgin. It cannot be phonologically derived from Sakao, whereas Sakao can be from Tolomako to some extent. Comparing Tolomako with its close dialect of Tsureviu allows researchers to reconstruct an earlier state, from which most of Sakao can be regularly derived. This earlier state is very close to what can be reconstructed of Proto-North-Central Vanuatu. Thus Tolomako is a very conservative language, whereas Sakao has undergone drastic innovations in its phonology and grammar, both in the direction of increased complexity.
Tolomako has a simple syllable structure, maximally consonant-vowel-vowel: V, CV, VV, CVV. However, in older materials, it permitted closed syllables, such as kanam "you (exclusive)" versus kanamu, though this may have been the result of not articulating high vowels after nasals.
Deixisedit
There are three degrees of deixis, here/this, there/that, yonder/yon.
Tolomako syntax is isolating. It has a single preposition, ne, for all relationships of space and time; below it is used to distinguish the object of a verb from the instrument used.
mo
3SG
losi
hits
na
ART
poe
pig
ne
PREP
na
ART
matsa
club
mo losi na poe ne na matsa
3SG hits ART pig PREP ART club
"He hits (kills) the pig with a club"
Literatureedit
Tolomako was unwritten until the arrival of missionaries from the New Hebrides Mission. James Sandilands translated Matthew, Jonah and Malachi from the Bible into Tolomako and these were published as "Na taveti tahonae hi Iesu Kristo, Matiu moulia..." by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1904. A missionary with the New Hebrides Mission, Charles E. Yates translated the book of Acts into Tolomaku and this was published by the Melbourne Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1906.
Charles E. Yates then worked on the Gospel of John, the Letter to the Philippians and the 1st and 2nd Letters to Timothy. With the help of fifteen of his teaching staff they translated "Na Taveti Tahonai hi Jon na Varisula" and 750 copies were published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1909.
See alsoedit
Sakao language, for parallels to the above in a closely related but grammatically more complex language
Referencesedit
^Tolomako at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
External linksedit
A 1992 mailing list message from Jacques Guy, describing some of his fieldwork on the language
A 1994 message from Jacques Guy, citing Tolomako as a counterexample to the thesis that all languages are equally complex
March 20, 2024
tolomako, language, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, add. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tolomako language news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Tolomako language news newspapers books scholar JSTOR August 2021 Learn how and when to remove this template message Tolomako also called Bigbay is a language of the Oceanic subgroup of Austronesian languages It is spoken on Santo island in Vanuatu TolomakoBigbayNative toVanuatuRegionBig Bay Espiritu Santo IslandNative speakers900 2001 1 Language familyAustronesian Malayo PolynesianOceanicSouthern OceanicNorth Central VanuatuNorth VanuatuEspiritu SantoTolomakoDialectsTolomako proper TsureviuLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code tlm class extiw title iso639 3 tlm tlm a Glottologtolo1255ELPTolomakoTolomako is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World s Languages in Danger Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Phonology 3 Deixis 4 Nouns 5 Syntax 5 1 Literature 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksCharacteristics editIt distinguishes four numbers for its personal pronouns singular dual trial plural Its verbs have no tense or aspect marking but two moods realis and irrealis Substantives and numerals also have the same two moods E g naREALIStatsuapersonmoREALISteaonemoREALIStsoanot to bena tatsua mo tea mo tsoaREALIS person REALIS one REALIS not to be Someone is missing teIRREALIStatsuapersoniIRREALISteaonemoREALIStsoanot to bete tatsua i tea mo tsoaIRREALIS person IRREALIS one REALIS not to be There is nobody Tolomako proper is characterized by having dentals where the mother language had labials before front vowels It shares this feature with Sakao but not with its dialect Tsureviu which is otherwise very close Thus Tolomako Tsureviutei pei water nata mata eye When labials do occur preceding front vowels they seem to be reflexes of older labiovelars Tolomako Tsureviupei pei good mata mata snake Compare with Fijian ŋata snake spelt gata It is possible that Tolomako is a very simplified daughter language or pidgin of the neighboring language Sakao However Tolomako is more likely a sister language of Sakao not a pidgin It cannot be phonologically derived from Sakao whereas Sakao can be from Tolomako to some extent Comparing Tolomako with its close dialect of Tsureviu allows researchers to reconstruct an earlier state from which most of Sakao can be regularly derived This earlier state is very close to what can be reconstructed of Proto North Central Vanuatu Thus Tolomako is a very conservative language whereas Sakao has undergone drastic innovations in its phonology and grammar both in the direction of increased complexity Phonology editTolomako vowels frontunrounded backroundedclose i umid e oopen a Tolomako consonants labial alveolar velarnasal m nplosive p t kaffricate tsfricative b ɣtrill rapproximant l Tolomako has a simple syllable structure maximally consonant vowel vowel V CV VV CVV However in older materials it permitted closed syllables such as kanam you exclusive versus kanamu though this may have been the result of not articulating high vowels after nasals Deixis editThere are three degrees of deixis here this there that yonder yon Nouns editTolomako has inalienably possessed nouns which are regularly derived tsiɣo mouth Tolomako Englishna tsiɣo ku my mouth na tsiɣo mu thy mouth na tsiɣo na his her its mouth na tsiɣo s mouth bulu hair Tolomako Englishna bulu ku my hair na bulu mu thy hair na bulu na his her its hair na bulu s hair Syntax editTolomako syntax is isolating It has a single preposition ne for all relationships of space and time below it is used to distinguish the object of a verb from the instrument used mo3SGlosihitsnaARTpoepignePREPnaARTmatsaclubmo losi na poe ne na matsa3SG hits ART pig PREP ART club He hits kills the pig with a club Literature edit Tolomako was unwritten until the arrival of missionaries from the New Hebrides Mission James Sandilands translated Matthew Jonah and Malachi from the Bible into Tolomako and these were published as Na taveti tahonae hi Iesu Kristo Matiu moulia by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1904 A missionary with the New Hebrides Mission Charles E Yates translated the book of Acts into Tolomaku and this was published by the Melbourne Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1906 Charles E Yates then worked on the Gospel of John the Letter to the Philippians and the 1st and 2nd Letters to Timothy With the help of fifteen of his teaching staff they translated Na Taveti Tahonai hi Jon na Varisula and 750 copies were published by the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1909 See also editSakao language for parallels to the above in a closely related but grammatically more complex languageReferences edit Tolomako at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required External links editA 1992 mailing list message from Jacques Guy describing some of his fieldwork on the language A 1994 message from Jacques Guy citing Tolomako as a counterexample to the thesis that all languages are equally complex Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tolomako language amp oldid 1189129477, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
