Futuna-Aniwa language

Futuna-Aniwa
Region Vanuatu
Native speakers
1,500 (2001)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 fut
Glottolog futu1245[2]

Futuna-Aniwa is a language spoken in the Tafea Province of Vanuatu on the outlier islands of Futuna and Aniwa. The language has approximately 1,500 speakers.[1] It is a Polynesian language, part of the Austronesian language family.[2]

It is occasionally called West Futunan to distinguish it from East Futunan spoken on the islands of Futuna and Alofi in Wallis and Futuna.

Phonology

Consonants[3]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasals m n ŋ
Plosives p t k
Fricatives f β s ʃ h
Rhotic r
Lateral l

Morphology

Pronoun and Person markers

Pronouns in Futuna-Aniwa distinguish for four numbers (singular, dual, trial and plural) and for first (inclusive and exclusive), second and third persons (Dougherty, 1983). The distinction of trial and plural in a Polynesian language is an unusual feature of Futuna-Aniwa (Capell, 1984).

There are primarily five different sets of pronominal forms in Futuna-Aniwa: personal, possessive, interrogative, emphatic, and demonstrative. In some circumstances, pronominal clitics will accompany these pronominal forms. (Dougherty, 1983)

Pronouns are not inflected for gender, but can be marked for oblique case (marked by i) and, optionally, subjective case (marked by e). (Dougherty, 1983)

Pronoun Construction

Notably, pronouns in Futuna-Aniwa can all be easily can be divided into specific morphological components. For example, the second person nonsingular dual pronoun akorua (see below) is formed by combining the personal article prefix a-, the nonsingular, second person, pronominal focus infix –ko- and the dual suffix –(r)ua. (Dougherty, 1983)

The only exception to this are interrogative pronouns, whose morphological construction is more complex and variable.

Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns are not obligatory in Futuna-Aniwa and may be omitted where context allows, as evident in example 1.

Unmarked Personal Pronouns (Dougherty, 1983, p. 33)

Number

Person

Singular

Dual

Trial

Plural

1INC

avau, au

akitaua

akitatou

akitea

1EXCL

akimaua

akimatou

akimea

2

akoe

akorua

akoutou

akoua

3

aia, eia

akiraua

akiratou

akirea

Example:

1.

ka-i

amkea

sa-i

tufa

akoe

FUT.TNS-OBL

pick up

RES.TNS-OBL

give

you

‘He’ll pick it up and give it to you.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 37)

Possessive Pronouns

Pronouns in Futuna-Aniwa can be used to indicate inalienable possession, exclusively for singular persons. These appear immediately before an inalienable head noun. (Dougherty, 1983)

Inalienable Possessive Pronouns (Dougherty, 1983, p. 73)

Number

Person

Singular

Dual

Trial

Plural

1 (singular)

tuku

ruoku

takoku

oku

2 (singular)

tou

ruou

takou

ou

3 (singular)

tano, tan

ruano

takano

ano

Example:

2.

ruoku

vae

ma

oku

rima

1.DU.POSS

leg

CONJ

1.PL.POSS

arm

‘My two legs and my hands.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 74)

There is also an equivalent “paradigm of personal pronoun suffixes” (Dougherty, 1983, p. 33) that occur in possessive constructions, suffixing onto nouns to indicate possession. Note that example (3) below can also be expressed using the above equivalent inalienable possessive pronouns.

Personal Pronoun Possessive Suffixes (Dougherty, 1983, p. 34)

Number

Person

Singular

Dual

Trial

Plural

1INC

-ku

-taua

-tatou

-tea

1EXCL

-maua

-matou

-mea

2

-u

-rua

-utou

-ua

3

-na, -no

-raua

-ratou

-rea

Example:

3.

tojina-ku

Uncle-1SG.POSS

‘My uncle.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 336)

Interrogative Pronouns

There are 14 different interrogative pronoun forms in Futuna-Aniwa. Minimally, Futuna-Aniwa distinguishes between singular and nonsingular in all interrogative pronoun constructions. (Dougherty, 1983) Nonsingular interrogative pronouns appear in dual, trial and plural positions. (Capell, 1984)

Interrogative Pronouns (Dougherty, 1983, p. 84-87)

Interrogative Pronoun

English Translation

Notes

akai

who

Singular

akaima

who

Nonsingular

akai, okai

whose

Singular

akaima, okaima

whose

Nonsingular

taha

what

Singular, specific

aha

what

Nonsingular, specific

saha

what

Nonspecific

jiaha

what

Diminutive

tefe, tehe

which

Singular

efe, ehe

which

Nonsingular

Examples:

4.

ta

fare

okai

ART

house

whose

‘Whose house is this?’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 85)

5.

ta

fare

tehe

ART

house

which

‘Which house?’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 87)

Emphatic Pronouns

Emphatic pronouns in Futuna-Aniwa are used to indicate that the designated referent in a clause is the only referent being referred to. (Dougherty, 1983)

Emphatic Pronouns (Dougherty, 1983, p. 38)

Number

Person

Singular

Dual

Trial

Plural

1INC

sokovau

sokitaua

sokitatou

sokitea

1EXCL

sokimaua

sokimatou

sokimea

2

sokoe

sokorua

sokoutou

sokoua

3

sokoia

sokiraua

sokiratou

sokirea

Examples:

6.

u

aia

no-nofo

sokoia

CONJ

3SG

PRES.PROG.TNS-stay

3SG.EMP

‘And so he lives all by himself.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 504)

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns in Futuna-Aniwa distinguish three positions: position near speaker, position near addressee and distant position. They are in essence a grouping of the base demonstrative form and the Futuna-Aniwa article system (Dougherty, 1983).

Demonstrative Pronouns (Dougherty, 1983, p. 28)

Number

Position

Singular

Dual

Trial

Plural

Near Speaker

te nei

ru nei

taka nei

e nei, a ganei

Near Addressee

te na

ru na

taka na

e na, a gana

Distant

te ra

ru ra

taka ra

e ra, a gara

Example:

7.

a

tiauau

te ra

ART

Chauau

that

‘That is Chauau.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 28)

Pronominal Clitics

Within certain constructions in Futuna-Aniwa pronominal clitics occur alongside pronouns. Pronominal clitics only occur with singular persons and serve the role of cross referencing the subject of a verb. The pronominal clitic is typically suffixed onto tense or aspect markers, negatives in preverbal position or the infinitive (Dougherty, 1983).

Pronominal clitics primarily occur within transitive constructions in Futuna-Aniwa, although not exclusively (Dougherty, 1983). This is evident through comparing example (8) (a transitive construction) with example (9) (an intransitive construction) below. The pronominal clitic is not present in (9), but is suffixed onto the preverbal negative particle in (8).

Examples:

8.

(avau)

se-n

tahtaroa

ma

sa

kapiti

1SG

NEG.PART-PRO.CLI

wash

NEG.PART

ART

cabbage

‘I didn’t wash the cabbage.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 37)

Note: In (8), the first personal singular was omitted from the original example. It has been included for clarity.

9.

avau

ka

muri

1SG

FUT.TNS

follow

‘I’ll follow.’

(Dougherty, 1983, p. 41)

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Futuna-Aniwa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. 1 2 Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Futuna-Aniwa". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. Dougherty, Janet W. D. (1983). West Futuna-Aniwa: An Introduction to a Polynesian Outlier Language. University of California Press. p. 2.
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