Bilua language


Bilua is the most populous Papuan language spoken in the Solomon Islands. 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. The number of different languages spoken in the Solomon Islands is attributed to the dynamic geographic features of the island and the isolation of its different populations.

Classification

"Bilua is sometimes grouped with the other Central Solomons languages and beyond but closer inspection shows that a genealogical relation is not demonstrable ".

Phonology

The consonant and vowels sounds of Bilua.

Consonants

The voiced stops and the affricate sounds /b d ɡ dʒ/ can occur as prenasalized allophones, when occurring intervocalically . Other consonant allophones include for /β dʒ/.

Vowels

Four vowel sounds /i u e o/ have allophones but only in diphthongs as .

Verb construction

Sample Verbs

Noun classification

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

Numerals