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Bilua (also known as Mbilua or Vella Lavella)[2] is the most populous Papuan language spoken in the Solomon Islands.[3] It is a Central Solomon language spoken by about 9,000 people on the island of Vella Lavella. It is one of the four non-Austronesian languages spoken in the Solomon Islands.[4]

Bilua
Native to	Solomon Islands
Region	Vella Lavella Island, Western Province.
Native speakers	8,700 (1999)[1]
Language family	Language isolate
Language codes
ISO 639-3	blb
Glottolog	bilu1245
ELP	Bilua

Classification

"Bilua is sometimes grouped with the other Central Solomons languages and beyond (Wurm 1975b) but closer inspection shows that a genealogical relation is not demonstrable (Dunn and Terrill 2012, Terrill 2011)" (Hammarström, forthcoming).

Phonology

The consonant and vowels sounds of Bilua.[5]

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	(t͡ʃ)		k
	voiced	b (ᵐb)	d (ⁿd)	d͡ʒ (ⁿd͡ʒ)		g (ᵑɡ)
Fricative	voiceless		s
	voiced	β	z			(w)
Lateral			l
Rhotic			r

The voiced stops and affricate sounds /b d ɡ dʒ/ can occur as prenasalized allophones, when occurring intervocalically [ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ ⁿdʒ]. Other consonant allophones include [w tʃ] for /β dʒ/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i (ɪ)		u (ʊ)
Mid	e (ɛ)		o (ɔ)
Low		a

Four vowel sounds /i u e o/ have allophones but only in diphthongs as [ɪ ɛ ɔ ʊ].

Verb construction

Sample Verbs

English	Bilua
to bite	nanae, nanaelɔu
to blow	pueka, puzeka, puzeko
to breathe	kozato
to burn	siŋgae, siŋgato
to come	kua
to count	ataito, atiato
to cry	ziaʔo, zialo
to cut, hack	kombue, kombuto, paŋgoe, paŋgoilo, rupe
to die, be dead	vou
to dig	telite, telito
to drink	nozutɔ, nĵuvuatɔ, sapɔ
to eat	ɔkua, vuato
to fall	pialo
to fear	ŋalo
to flow	rundundu
to fly	akazo, salosalo, sindiki
to hear	viŋgo
to hit	pazɔvɔ, pazoto, pazovo
to hold	kamaka, kamako
to hunt	zaulao, zaulau
to kill	vouvaiva, vouvato
to know, be knowledgeable	ñaño
to laugh	kisiko, nureo
to lie down	teku
to live, be alive	saevo, saivo
to say	kaseka, kiŋɔla, pesio
to scratch	kirikirito, pirakasa
to see	alea, kea, kelo
to sew	turue, turuto
to sit	papi, papu
to sleep	maroŋa, maroŋo
to sniff, smell	tuiño, tuimikɔ, tuimiko
to spit	supato
to split	reseilo, seseto
to squeeze	zuzuto, žužue
to stab, pierce	nĵokuto, zatae
to stand	lonĵo
to steal	kuilɔ, kuilo
to suck	kuzukuzuto, kuzutɔ
to swell	tumbu
to swim	lilitɔ, ruazo, siusiutɔ, siusiuto
to think	kɛrukɛruto, kerukeruto
to tie up	lupika
to turn	lilite, vipulɔ
to walk	ɔla, ola, saŋgɔre, tali, talio, zakei
to vomit	sakoezo
to work	irurupoto, iruruputo

Noun classification

Bilua has a masculine-feminine gender system with no neuter nouns. Truly males are always male and truly female are always female.[3]

Numerals

English	Bilua
1	ɔmaⁿdeu
2	ɔmuᵑɡa
3	zouke
4	ariku
5	sike
6	varimuⁿɟa
7	sikeura (5 + 2 ?)
8	siotolu (5 + 3 ?)
9	siakava (5 + 4 ?)
10	toni
11	toni ɔmaⁿdeu
12	toni ɔmuᵑɡa
13	toni zouke
14	toni ariku
15	toni sike
16	toni varimuⁿɟa
17	toni sikeura
18	toni siotolu
19	toni siakava
20	karabete (borrow from Choiseul)
21	karabete ɔmaⁿdeu
30	zouke toni
40	ariku toni
50	sike toni
60	varimuⁿɟa toni
70	sikeura toni
80	siotolu toni
90	siakava toni
100	ɔmaⁿdeu paizana
200	ɔmuᵑɡa paizana
1000	ɔmaⁿdeu vurɔ
2000	ɔmuᵑɡa vurɔ

References

Further reading

• Obata, Kazuko (2003). A Grammar of Bilua: A Papuan language of the Solomon Islands (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 540. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-540. hdl:1885/146708.
• Terrill, A (2011). Languages in Contact: An Exploration of Stability and Change in the Solomon Islands. Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press.
• Dunn, M., Reesink, G., & Terrill, A. (2002), "The East Papuan Languages: A Preliminary Typological Appraisal", Oceanic Linguistics, 41 (1): 28–62, doi:10.2307/3623327, hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1ADC-1, JSTOR 3623327{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Terrill, A. (2002), "Systems of Nominal Classification in East Papuan Languages", Oceanic Linguistics, 41 (1): 63–88, doi:10.2307/3623328, hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0013-189B-5, JSTOR 3623328
• Donohue, Mark, and Simon Musgrave (2007), "Typology and the Linguistic Macrohistory of Island Melanesia.", Oceanic Linguistics, 46 (2): 348–387, doi:10.1353/ol.2008.0011{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Woodley, Ellen Joanne (2002). Local and indigenous knowledge as an emergent property of complexity: A case study in the Solomon Islands (PhD thesis). University of Guelph. S2CID 129399351.
• "The Bilua Verb". Verbix Languages. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
• "Numerals". Numeral Systems of the World's Languages. Retrieved April 30, 2017.

External links

• Paradisec open access collection of recordings of Bilua.
• Bilua words 1 - 209, two texts
  Word List
  Texts 1 - 11
  Texts 12 - 20
  Texts 21 - 27
  Texts 28 - 39
  Texts 40 - 49
  Texts 50 - 62
  Texts 64 - 66
  Texts 67 - 68
  Texts 69 - 72
  Conversation
• The Endangered Language Project
• Bilua Grammar

На других языках

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[de] Bilua

Bilua ist eine Papuasprache, die auf der Insel Vella La Vella (Salomonen) von ungefähr 15.000 Menschen gesprochen wird. Die Volksgruppe heißt ebenfalls Bilua (auch Mbilua), ein Ort Biloa.[1]

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- [en] Bilua language

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[fr] Bilua

Le bilua est une langue parlée par 8 740 locuteurs dans l’île Vella Lavella, dans la Province occidentale des Salomon. Contrairement à la plupart des langues du pays, qui sont austronésiennes, le bilua est une langue papoue appartenant à la petite famille des langues du centre des Salomon, qui comporte trois autres langues : le touo, le lavukaleve et le savosavo.

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[ru] Билуа

Билуа (англ. mbilua, vella lavella) — один из папуасских языков, распространённый в Западной провинции Соломоновых Островов. Входит в число 20 самых крупных языков на архипелаге по численности носителей. Основной ареал — остров Велья-Лавелья. Язык используется папуасами всех возрастов. Общее число говорящих — 8740 человек (1999). Кроме билуа местное население острова Велья-Лавелья говорит также на английском языке. Письменность основана на латинском алфавите.

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