Lakon language

Lakon is an Oceanic language, spoken on the west coast of Gaua island in Vanuatu.

Not to be confused with Lacaune.
Lakon
Lakona, Vure
Pronunciation[laˈkɔn]
Native toVanuatu
RegionGaua
Native speakers
800 (2012)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3lkn
Glottologlako1245
ELPLakon
Lakon is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Names

The language name Lakon [laˈkɔn] refers originally to the area where it is spoken ‒ namely Lakona Bay, corresponding to the west coast of Gaua. The alternative name Lakona [lakona] is from the Mota language. These names are derived from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *laᵑgona, of unknown meaning.

Lakon had four dialects, named Qatareu (Qätärew [k​͡pʷætæˈrɛw]), Vure (Vurē [βuˈrɪ]), Toglatareu, and Togla.

Phonology

Consonants

Lakon has 16 phonemic consonants.[2]

Lakon consonants
Labiovelar Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Dorsal Glottal
Plosive k͡pʷ ⟨q⟩ p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ tʃ ⟨j⟩ k ⟨k⟩
Nasal ŋ͡mʷ ⟨m̄⟩ m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ŋ ⟨n̄⟩
Fricative β ~ ɸ ⟨v⟩ s ⟨s⟩ ɣ ⟨g⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Rhotic r ⟨r⟩
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Approximant w ⟨w⟩

The glottal stop [ʔ] only occurs before vowels in syllable-initial position. While non-phonemic, it is sometimes noted in the orthography, using a ⟨’⟩ mark.

Vowels

Lakon has 16 phonemic vowels. These include 8 short /i ɪ ɛ æ a ɔ ʊ u/ and 8 long vowels /iː ɪː ɛː æː aː ɔː ʊː uː/.[2] [3]

Lakon vowels
 FrontBack
Near-close i ⟨i⟩ ∙ iː ⟨ii⟩u ⟨u⟩ ∙ uː ⟨uu⟩
Close-mid ɪ ⟨ē⟩ ∙ ɪː ⟨ēē⟩ʊ ⟨ō⟩ ∙ ʊː ⟨ōō⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ∙ ɛː ⟨ee⟩ɔ ⟨o⟩ ∙ ɔː ⟨oo⟩
Near-open æ ⟨ä⟩ ∙ æː ⟨ää⟩ 
Open a ⟨a⟩ ∙ aː ⟨aa⟩

Historically, the phonemicisation of vowel length originates in the compensatory lengthening of short vowels when the alveolar trill /r/ was lost syllable-finally. This is considered to be a very recent change, perhaps within the last century, as Codrington still indicates the trill syllable-finally.[4] However, the 1897 Book of Common Prayer in Lakon shows loss of the trill, as evidenced by tataa [taˈtaː] "prayer" (spelled as tata) for Mota tataro.

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Lakon contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).[5]

Spatial reference in Lakon is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages.[6]

References
  1. François (2012:88).
  2. François (2022).
  3. François (2005:445), François (2011:194).
  4. François (2005:461).
  5. François (2016).
  6. François (2015).

Bibliography
  • 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
  • —— (2011), "Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence" (PDF), Journal of Historical Linguistics, 1 (2): 175–246, doi:10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra, hdl:1885/29283, S2CID 42217419.
  • —— (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012 (214): 85–110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022, S2CID 145208588
  • —— (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.
  • —— (2016), "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pozdniakov, Konstantin (ed.), Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles, Faits de Langues, vol. 47, Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 25–60
  • —— (2022). "Presentation of the Lakon language, and audio archive". Pangloss Collection. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
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