Talk:Mwerlap language

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Possible final V retention

Codrington (1885) mentions Mwerlap forms with preserved vowels, such as (p. 358) sasa "name", lima "hand", and qatu "head", and (p. 359) igida "1pl. inclusive", however the first three terms appear to be inalienable nouns which normally do not elide their final vowels, but shows little sign of metaphony. In general however there is vowel loss, as in -k "1sg. possessive".

It also preserves double vowel sequences, such as (p. 358) aloa "sun, sunshine", irua "two". Furthermore he lists the language with only five vowels, though I assume that is most likely not correct, given the operation of metaphony, such as lou (Mota lau), lei (Mota lai).

Has any analysis been done on 19th century Mwerlap? If so, did final V loss occur recently in the language, perhaps even the whole TB area as a whole? Kwékwlos (talk) 14:59, 15 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, The first 3 examples don't count, since they are inalienable nouns stripped of their suffixes; "lima" would not occur on its own. igida is weird, and at odds with the iɣɛ͡an recorded today. Trouble is, Codrington's transcriptions of Mwerlap (do you have a link?) do not seem so reliable: he never set foot there, and only recorded some forms from one or two students in Norfolk, not always accurately. I wouldn't want to draw major conclusions from his pages. — Womtelo (talk) 16:40, 15 June 2022 (UTC).[reply]

Oops. The reference is The Melanesian Languages. But while it is somewhat authentic, they could possibly reflect Mota interference (well-known due to the Mission's preference for this language). Kwékwlos (talk) 10:53, 16 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Well, I was hoping for an actual link; here it is. The sentence cited by Codrington show that the great vowel deletion has taken place: kisin ma mul me na n̄es? “when did he come here?” (p.363) — but indeed there are some inconsistencies, probably due to Codrington's Mota inclination. — Womtelo (talk) 11:26, 16 June 2022 (UTC).[reply]

Got it. Given that final vowel deletion is nearly universal in Torres-Banks (except partly for Mota), it's very likely that the process started early and spread rapidly across the chain. How did Mota remain conservative, while all the other TB languages started deleting vowels? When and where did it start, and what was the last language affected by V deletion aside from Mota? This would actually be an interesting area to research. Kwékwlos (talk) 18:45, 16 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. — Womtelo (talk) 20:55, 16 June 2022 (UTC).[reply]

Nevertheless, I am perfectly convinced that Mwerlap is the last language, aside from Mota, that underwent V deletion. It must have started within the 19th century. Kwékwlos (talk) 02:16, 17 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]