Proto-Torres–Banks language

Proto-Torres-Banks (abbr. PTB) is the reconstructed ancestor of the seventeen languages of the Torres and Banks Islands of Vanuatu. Like all indigenous languages of Vanuatu, it belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian languages.

Proto-Torres-Banks
PTB
Reconstruction ofTorres–Banks languages
RegionTorres and Banks Islands
Reconstructed
ancestors

Reconstruction

Elements of the proto-language have been proposed by linguist A. François: vowels[1] and consonants,[2] personal pronouns,[3] space system,[4] vocabulary.[5]

Phoneme inventory

Proto-Torres-Banks had 5 phonemic vowels, /i e a o u/,[6] and 15 consonants:

Vowels
  Front Back
Close *i *u
Close-mid *e *o
Open *a
Consonants
Labiovelar Bilabial Alveolar Dorsal
Stop prenasalized *ᵐbʷ *ᵐb *ⁿd *ᵑg
voiceless *t
Nasal *mʷ *m *n *ŋ
Fricative *β ⟨v⟩ *s *ɣ
Approximant *w *l, *r

Examples of reconstructions
PTB
reconstruction		 meaning reflexes Proto-Oceanic etymon source
*[n]iᵑgo ‘2sg pronoun, you’ Hiw ikə, Löyöp niŋ *[i]ko[e] François 2016: 39
*lolo‑marani ‘wise, intelligent; wisdom, knowledge’ Lehali lɛlməjæn *lalom "inside" + *ma-Raqani "daylight" François 2013: 208
*rowo ‘dash, escape; out; seawards’ Mwotlap jɔw *Ropok ‘dash, fly’ François 2015: 191
*salaɣoro ‘secret; secret meeting place in the bush
for men during initiation rituals’		 Lo-Toga hɔləɣor *jalan "road" + PNCV *koro "obstruct" François 2005: 499
*suwo ‘down; northwest’ Mwesen sʊw *sipo "down" François 2015: 190
*totoɣale ‘notch (wood), carve an effigy; effigy, image’ Mota totoɣale, Vera'a ʔʊɣal *toto(k) "cut" + PNCV *kale "deceive" François 2013: 198

Example sentence

Taken from François (2009:191):

*Nau

1SG

gu=

AO:1SG=

mule

return

gu=

AO:1SG=

maturu.

sleep

*Nau gu= mule gu= maturu.

1SG AO:1SG= return AO:1SG= sleep

'So I went back and slept.'/'Let me go back and sleep!'

Notes
  1. François (2005).
  2. François (2013).
  3. François (2009, 2016).
  4. François (2015).
  5. François (2005: 489-502; 2013).
  6. François (2005).

References
  • François, Alexandre (2005), "Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), Oceanic Linguistics, 44 (2): 443–504, doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0034, S2CID 131668754
  • François, Alexandre (2009), "Verbal aspect and personal pronouns: The history of aorist markers in north Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pawley, Andrew; Adelaar, Alexander (eds.), Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: A festschrift for Bob Blust, 601, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 179–195
  • François, Alexandre (2013), "Shadows of bygone lives: The histories of spiritual words in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Mailhammer, Robert (ed.), Lexical and structural etymology: Beyond word histories, Studies in Language Change, 11, Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton, pp. 185–244, doi:10.1515/9781614510581.185
  • François, Alexandre (2015). "The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages" (PDF). In Alexandre François; Sébastien Lacrampe; Michael Franjieh; Stefan Schnell (eds.). The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. pp. 137–195. hdl:1885/14819. ISBN 978-1-922185-23-5.
  • François, Alexandre (2016), "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pozdniakov, Konstantin (ed.), Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles, Faits de Langues, 47, Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 25–60, doi:10.1163/19589514-047-01-900000003
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