The Touo language, also known as Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru, is spoken over the southern part of Rendova Island, located in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.
| Touo | |
|---|---|
| Baniata | |
| Native to | Solomon Islands |
| Region | southern Rendova Island, Western Province |
Native speakers | (1,900 cited 1999 census)[1] |
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | tqu |
| Glottolog | touo1238 |
| ELP | Touo |
Touo is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Touo is generally seen to be a member of the tentative Central Solomons family, although Glottolog considers it an isolate. Pedrós (2015) cautiously suggests Lavukaleve as the closest relative to Touo. Most of the surrounding languages to Touo belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.
The Touo language is sometimes called the Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru language, after the largest two villages where the language is spoken.[2] The word Touo comes from the ethnonym that Touo speakers use to refer to themselves.
Touo consonants are:[3]: 869
| labial | alveolar | velar | glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nasal | m | n | ŋ | ||
| stop | voiceless | (p) | t | (k) | |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ ⟨q⟩ | ||
| fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | |
| voiced | v | z | |||
| approximant | ɰ ⟨g⟩ | ||||
| liquid | l | ||||
Touo has six lax and five tense vowels.[4]
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tense | Lax | Tense | Lax | |
| High | ḭ ⟨ḭ⟩ | i ⟨i⟩ | ṵ ⟨ṵ⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ |
| Mid | ḛ ⟨ḛ⟩ | e ⟨e⟩ | o̰ ⟨o̰⟩ | o ⟨o⟩ |
| Low | a̰ ⟨a̰⟩ | a ⟨a⟩ | ɔ ⟨w⟩ | |
Some minimal pairs showing the tense/lax vowel phonemic distinction in Touo:[3][4]
| Lax | Tense | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Orthography | Gloss | Orthography | Gloss |
| e | road | ḛ | oven |
| avo | garden | a̰vo | four |
| ua | who? | ṵa | eat |
| isi | small | ḭsi | sleep |
Touo has four genders.[3]
Only in certain paradigms of the singular number can neuter I and II be distinguished.
Touo distinguishes four numbers.[3]
8°35′S 157°18′E / 8.58°S 157.30°E / -8.58; 157.30