| Hiw | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | [hiw] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Hiw |
Native speakers | 280 (2012)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hiw |
| Glottolog | hiww1237 |
| ELP | Hiw |
 Hiw is classified as Definitely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Hiw (sometimes spelledHiu) is anOceanic language spoken on the island ofHiw, in theTorres Islands ofVanuatu.[2] With about 280 speakers, Hiw is consideredendangered.[3][4]
Hiw is distinct fromLo-Toga, the other language of the Torres group. All Hiw speakers are bilingual inBislama, and most also speak Lo-Toga.[5]
The language is named afterthe island.
Hiw has 9phonemicvowels. These are all shortmonophthongs/iɪeʉɵəoɔa/:[6][7]
| Front | Central rounded | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i⟨i⟩ | ʉ⟨u⟩ | |
| Near-close | ɪ⟨ē⟩ | ||
| Close-mid | e⟨ë⟩ | ɵ⟨ö⟩ | o⟨ō⟩ |
| Mid | ə⟨e⟩ | ||
| Open-mid | ɔ⟨o⟩ | ||
| Open | a⟨a⟩ | ||
The three central vowels/ʉ/,/ɵ/,/ə/ are allrounded.[8]
/i/ becomes a glide/j/ whenever it is followed by another vowel.[9]
The high back rounded vowel[u] occurs, but only as an allophone of/ʉ/ and/ə/ after labio-velar consonants./ʉ/ always becomes[u] after a labio-velar, while/ə/ only becomes[u] in pre-tonic syllables, and then only optionally.[10]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Dorsal | Labialized velar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m⟨m⟩ | n⟨n⟩ | ŋ⟨n̄⟩ | ŋʷ⟨n̄w⟩ |
| Plosive | p⟨p⟩ | t⟨t⟩ | k⟨k⟩ | kʷ⟨q⟩ |
| Fricative | β⟨v⟩ | s⟨s⟩ | ɣ⟨g⟩ | |
| Prestopped lateral | ɡ͡ʟ⟨r̄⟩ | |||
| Glide | j⟨y⟩ | w⟨w⟩ |
All plosives are voiceless.
The historical phoneme *l has shifted to/j/, which is unique within theTorres–Banks languages./l/ only appears in loanwords.
Hiw is the onlyAustronesian language whoseconsonant inventory includes a prestoppedvelar lateral approximant/ɡ͡ʟ/; this complex segment is Hiw's only nativeliquid.[11] Historically, this complex segment was avoiced alveolar trill/r/ (which is why it is written as⟨r̄⟩). The voiced alveolar trill, spelt as⟨r⟩, appears in recent loanwords: e.g. Eng.bread > Hiwperët[pəret].[5] In some other, perhaps older, loanwords, alveolar trills have been borrowed as velar laterals: e.g. Eng.graveyard > Hiwkër̄ëvyat[keɡ͡ʟeβjat].[5]
Word-finally,/ɡ͡ʟ/ can surface as[k͜𝼄].[12]
Stress is predictable in Hiw, except in the case of words which only contain/ə/.
Generally, primary stress falls on the last syllable which does not contain/ə/. For example:[mɔˈwɪ] 'moon',[ˈwɔtəjə] 'maybe'. In the case of words whose only vowel is schwa, stress is unpredictable: thus[βəˈjə] 'pandanus leaf' isoxytone and[ˈtəpjə] 'dish' isparoxytone. These are the onlypolysyllabic words that may have a stressed schwa.
Polysyllabic words havesecondary stress, which falls on every second syllable from the primary stressed syllable, going leftwards. For example:[ˌβəɣəˈβaɣə] 'speak'.[13]
The syllable structure of Hiw is CCVC, where the only obligatory element is V:[11] e.g./tg͡ʟɔɣ/ 'throw (PL)';/βti/ 'star';/kʷg͡ʟɪ/ 'dolphin';/g͡ʟɵt/ 'tie'.
Hiw allows consonant gemination, word-medially and initially. These geminated consonants can be analyzed as C1C2 consonant clusters in which both consonants happen to be identical. An example of gemination is in/tin/ 'buy' vs/ttin/ 'hot'. Consonants and vowels may also be lengthened for expressive purposes, for example:/nemaβə/ ‘it’s heavy’ becomes[nemːaβə] ‘it’s so heavy!’.[14]
Hiw's phonology follows theSonority Sequencing Principle, with the following language-specific sonority hierarchy:
vowels > glides > liquids > nasals > obstruents[15]
In syllable onsets, C1 may not be more sonorous than C2. Fricatives and plosives are not distinguished with regard to sonority.
Even though/w/ is always pronounced as anapproximant, it is best treated as anobstruent with regards to sonority: this interpretation accounts for words like/wte/ 'small', which would otherwise constitute asonority reversal.[16]
Phonological evidence shows that/ɡ͡ʟ/ patterns as a liquid, more sonorous than nasals but less sonorous than the glide/j/. Unlike the obstruents,/ɡ͡ʟ/ cannot be followed by a nasal. However, it can come after a nasal, as in/mɡ͡ʟe/ ‘wrath’. The only consonant found after/ɡ͡ʟ/ is/j/ - e.g./ɡ͡ʟje/ ‘sweep’.[11]
Hiw has a similar grammatical structure to the other livingTorres–Banks languages.[17]
In terms oflexical flexibility, Hiw has been assessed to be “grammatically flexible”, but “lexically rigid”.[18] The vast majority of the language's lexemes belongs to just one word class (noun, adjective, verb, adverb…); yet each of those word classes is compatible with a large number of syntactic functions.
The language presents various forms ofverb serialization.[19]
Its system ofpersonal pronouns contrastsclusivity, and distinguishes threenumbers (singular,dual, plural).[20]
Together with its neighbourLo-Toga, Hiw has developed a rich system ofverbal number, whereby certain verbsalternate their root depending on the number of their main participant.[21] Hiw has 33 such pairs of suppletive verbs, which is far more than is typical among languages that have this feature.[21]
Spatial reference in Hiw is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals. That space system is largely reminiscent of the one widespread amongOceanic languages, yet also shows some innovations that make it unique.[22]