Äiwoo language

Äiwoo
Reef
Native to	Solomon Islands
Region	Santa Cruz Islands, eastern Solomons, Temotu Province.
Coordinates	10°13′S 166°12′E / 10.217°S 166.200°E
Native speakers	8,400 (1999)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Temotu ? Reefs – Santa Cruz Äiwoo
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nfl
Glottolog	ayiw1239[2]

Äiwoo is a language spoken in the Reef Islands and Nendö (Santa Cruz Islands), both part of the Temotu Province in the Eastern Solomon Islands.

Classification

Äiwoo belongs to the Reef Islands – Santa Cruz languages, a member of the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.

Distribution

Äiwoo is the largest of the Reef Islands – Santa Cruz languages, with approximately 8000 native speakers. Most speakers live in the Ngawa district and the island Ngäsinue in the Reef Islands; others live in some villages of Vanikoro or of Nendö, like Kala Bay. Finally, some communities have recently been established in the capital Honiara – notably in the White River district.

External links

• Paradisec has a collection of Äiwoo recordings. They also have a collection of Stephen Wurm's recordings, which includes some Äiwoo material.

References

1. Äiwoo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Ayiwo". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Bibliography

• Næss, Åshild (2006). "Bound Nominal Elements in Äiwoo (Reefs): A Reappraisal of the 'Multiple Noun Class Systems'". Oceanic Linguistics. 45 (2): 269–296. doi:10.1353/ol.2007.0006.
• Ross, Malcolm & Åshild Næss (2007). "An Oceanic Origin for Aiwoo, the Language of the Reef Islands?". Oceanic Linguistics. 46: 456–498. doi:10.1353/ol.2008.0003.
• Næss, Åshild & Brenda H. Boerger (2008). "Reefs – Santa Cruz as Oceanic: Evidence from the Verb Complex". Oceanic Linguistics. 47: 185–212. doi:10.1353/ol.0.0000.