Hiw language


Hiw is an Oceanic language spoken by about 280 people on the island of Hiw, in the Torres Islands of Vanuatu.
It is distinct from Lo-Toga, the other language of the Torres group.

The language

Hiw has 280 speakers, and is considered endangered.

Phonology

Vowels

Hiw has 9 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs :

Consonants

Hiw has 14 consonants.
BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarLabialized velar
Plosive p t k q
Nasal m n n̄ n̄w
Fricative v s g
Prestopped
lateral		 r̄
Glide y w

All plosives are voiceless. Hiw is the only Austronesian language whose consonant inventory includes a prestopped velar lateral approximant ; this complex segment is Hiw's only liquid. Historically, this complex segment was a voiced alveolar trill . The voiced alveolar trill, spelt as r, appears in recent loanwords.

Grammar

In terms of lexical flexibility, Hiw has been assessed to be “grammatically flexible”, but “lexically rigid”. The vast majority of the language's lexemes belongs to just one word class ; yet each of those word classes is compatible with a large number of syntactic functions.
The language presents various forms of verb serialization.
Its system of personal pronouns contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers.
Together with its neighbour Lo-Toga, Hiw has developed a rich system of verbal number, whereby certain verbs alternate their root depending on the number of their main participant. Hiw has 33 such pairs of verbs, which is the highest number recorded so far among the world's languages.
Spatial reference in Hiw is based on a system of geocentric directionals, which is partially typical of Oceanic languages, and partially innovative.