PREFACE.

Lau is the name given to the language spoken by the inhabitants of the artificial islets which lie off the northeast coast of Big Malaita, Solomon Islands. The language spoken on the coast from Uru on the northeast to Langalanga, Alite Harbor, on the northwest of Big Malaita, is practically Lau. On the west coast there is considerable admixture of Fiu, which is the language of the bush behind the Langalanga lagoon. In Dr. Codrington's "Melanesian Languages," pp. 39 et seq., certain words are given as spoken at Alite in Langalanga. These words are probably Fiu rather than Lau.

The purest Lau is spoken at Sulufou, one of the artificial islets near Atta Cove. The inhabitants of Ai-lali, on the mainland of Big Malaita opposite the island Aio, are an offshoot of the Lau-speaking peoples. In Port Adam (Malau) on Little Malaita, some 12 miles north of Sa'a, there are two villages, Ramarama and Malede, inhabited by Lau-speaking peoples, and the inhabitants of these villages hold as a tradition that their forefathers migrated from Suraina, near Atta Cove, 80 miles away, along the coast to the north.

The Lau of this grammar and vocabulary was learned from dealings with the Port Adam natives and also from a stay of several weeks with Rev. A. I. Hopkins, at Mangoniia, on the mainland opposite the artificial islet Ferasubua.

It is not claimed that the Lau here presented is the same as the Lau of the northeast coast of Big Malaita. Doubtless owing to the Port Adam peoples being surrounded by Sa'a-speaking peoples, they have adopted Sa'a words and methods of speech to some extent. The women of the hill peoples above Port Adam have largely been procured as wives for the Port Adam men and thus there has been a tendency for the distinctiveness of the Lau language to disappear and for the Sa'a words to be adopted. While this tendency was perhaps not very great previous to the introduction of Christianity (for the village children always follow the language of the father rather than that of the mother), the teachers in the village schools, after Christianity was introduced, necessarily used the Sa'a books and, when translations were eventually made into Lau, words and phrases of Sa'a crept in. So far as lay in the power of the present author, he has endeavored to eliminate these Sa'a elements from the present work.

In the translations made into Lau, some use has been made of the gerundive, following the use in Sa'a; but until we have further evidence of the validity of this usage it must be regarded as not belonging to the genius of the Lau language, and it is therefore omitted here.

It will be seen that Lau is a typical Melanesian language and has few marked peculiarities. In Sa'a there is a distinctive use of the shortened forms of the pronouns of the first and second persons, au and 'o, suffixed to verbs and prepositions as object; in Lau the same shortening is not effected and the longer forms nau, oe, are used.

It has not been thought proper to represent any break in pronunciation such as occurs in Sa'a in such words, e. g., as ia fish, Sa'a i'e. Lau shows generally the dropping of such consonants as are dropped in Sa'a, but it is doubtful if the same break occurs in pronunciation.

The books already printed in Lau are:

1. A translation of the English Prayer Book comprising matins and evensong, litany, baptism of adults, certain psalms and hymns, catechism, Holy Communion with Sunday collects.

2. The four Gospels.

The grammar here given is an alteration of the grammar prepared by the present writer, and printed at Norfolk Island by the Mission Press in 1914.

W. G. Ivens. St. Paul's Vicarage, Malvern, Victoria, 1920.

TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS.

adj., adjective. adv., adverb. art., article. def., definite. demons., demonstrative. excl., exclusive (of personal pronouns, excluding the person addressed). exclam., exclamation. genit., genitive. gu, marks a noun as taking the suffixed pronouns gu, mu, na. incl., inclusive (of personal pronouns, including the person addressed). interj., interjection. interr., interrogative. metath., metathesis. n., noun. na, marks a noun as taking the suffixed pronoun in the third singular only. neg., negative. neut., neuter. obj., object. part., particle. partic., participle. pers., person, personal. pl., plural. poss., possessive. pr., pronoun. pref., prefix. prep., preposition. S, Sa'a language. See Sa'a and Ulawa dictionary. sing., singular. sub., subject. suff., suffix, suffixed. term., termination. tr., transitive. U, Ulawa language. See Sa'a and Ulawa dictionary. v., verb. v.i., verb intransitive, i.e., a verb which can not take the pronoun suffixed. v.p., verbal particle. v.tr., verb transitive, i.e., a verb which can take the pronoun suffixed. voc., vocative.

M.L., Codrington's Melanesian Languages.

LAU GRAMMAR.

THE ALPHABET.

The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, with the Italian sounds. All of these vowels may be long or short, the long sound being represented by a doubling of the vowel. Closed syllables do not occur, and every word ends with a vowel. The vowel o in Lau frequently represents a in Sa'a: fou rock, Sa'a hau; finau hook, Sa'a hinou; loulou quick, Sa'a lauleu. Where in Sa'a a changes to e in certain words after a preceding i or u, no such change is made in Lau in the same words: ia fish, Sa'a i'e; ua still, Sa'a ue; i asi at sea, Sa'a i 'esi.

The diphthongs are ae, ai, ao, eu, ei, ou, as in sae, mai, rao, dau, mei, fou, pronounced, respectively, as in the English words eye, iron, hour, how, hey, oh.

The consonants are f, k, g; d, t; b; q, gw; l, r; s; m; mw; n, ng.

The f replaces an h in Sa'a: fera village, Sa'a hera courtyard; fuli fera village, Sa'a huli bed, huli nume site of house. The sound represented by f often approximates to v.

Both k and g are hard. The Melanesian g is not heard; as in Sa'a, it has been dropped in certain words, ia fish, but there is no noticeable break in the pronunciation. In certain other words this g is replaced by k: take, to stand. Mota sage, Sa'a ta'e. The g in Lau may replace a k in Sa'a: igera they, Sa'a ikire. A g also appears in personal pronoun plural 1, excl., where Sa'a has a break: igami we, Sa'a i'emi. A g may also replace an h in Sa'a: luga to loose, Sa'a luhe.

There is no preface of n in the sound of d.

In many words a t has been dropped: angi to cry, Oceanic tangi; asi sea, Oceanic tasi; ola canoe, Florida tiola, Sa'a 'iola.

There is no w in Lau. Where it occurs in Sa'a its place is supplied in Lau by q, the sound of which is kw or ku: qalu eight, Sa'a walu. In Lau the island Ulawa is known as Ulaqa. A q in Lau may represent an h in Sa'a: qai, the reciprocal prefix, is in Sa'a hai. The letter gw may represent a q (pw) in Sa'a: gwou head, Sa'a qau; gwini wet, Sa'a qini; gwou deserted, Mota wou. The sound of d is not followed by r, as is the case in Sa'a, nor is d before i sounded any way differently, as is the case in Sa'a. Nasal m, i.e., mw, is not so common a sound as it is in Sa'a, but it is heard in mwane male, mwela child.

There is an interchange between n and l: nima or lima five; daluma middle, Sa'a danume; inala to discern, Sa'a ilala. Both l and r are used and the sounds are distinct; both sounds are trilled.

ARTICLES.

(a) Demonstrative: Singular, na, si; ta, te, ke; maae; fe. Plural, gi; mwai, ote.

(b) Personal: a, ni.

Na denotes a, any, the, and is put to more general use than the corresponding nga in Sa'a; na is used with both singular and plural: na noni the body; na sasigamu your brethren. The conjunction ma (=and) coalesces with na; mana Mwela and the Son. Na is used with the interrogative taa what.

2. Si is more definite and particular in meaning than na and denotes a part, a piece, any; it is more or less equivalent to me'i in Sa'a: si doo ne the thing; gamelu ka ania si taa what are we to eat? si ere a firestick; si doo gu saea na that which I said; na may be prefixed: na si baea taa ne what words? si can not be used of the plural.

3. Ta means a certain one, every, at all, just, only, and is the same as the numeral ta one: ta may precede the article fe; ta fe uo every hill, ni may follow ta: tani aiai some, other. ta may mean only: ta ro ai only two people; ta may be used with the numerals, ta ro mwane two men; ta ro tangale penny 200 pence.

Te has practically the same meanings as ta: te geni sarii a maiden; te taifilia he alone; te aiai falaete one person only. Te is used of units (as ata in Sa'a), te fiu fe doo only seven things; te ai ma te ai one by one; too te ai singly. Si may follow both ta and te: ta si fou a certain rock, te si na doo everything; te may be used as equivalent to the conjunction and: te na Mwela and the Son.

Ke is used as te: ke si gula iidimani a small piece; ro kesi kurui bata two small pieces of money. Ke and si may be combined and used with te: e langi asia na teke si doo there is nothing at all.

4. Maae is compounded of maa eye, one, and e the construct form, and means one, a; maae is used with fera country, dangi day, rodo night, oru wind; maae fera a village, maaedangi a day, maaerodo darkness.

5. Qe is used with certain nouns: qe afe a widow, qe ia a fish, qe oru a widow; na may be prefixed: na qe ia gi the fishes.

6. Fe is used of things spherical in shape and denotes a unit: fe bread a loaf, fe bubulu a star; also fe gale bola a young pigeon, fe rade a reed; fe is used of one of a series: fe rodo a night, fe asua a day; fe is also used as a multiplicative: fe fiu ade doo taala seven cases of wrong-doing; na or ta or te may precede.

7. Gi denotes plurality and follows the noun: na mwane gi the males. It may be separated from the noun: na doo nia gi his things; gi is used with the forms of the personal pronoun plural except those ending in lu.

8. Mwai is used with nouns of relationship only: mwai asi nia his brethren, ro mwai sasina brethren.

9. In Port Adam ote seems to be employed as a regular plural article: ote mwane gi you men. But it is a question whether ote is not properly employed of females only: ote aia nia his female relations, ote sasina his sisters, ote ai you women, ote ai gi you women.

10. A is used as a personal article with the names of males, both native and foreign: a Leo, a Joe. It is used also with doo thing: a doo so and so, a doo na the person.

Ni is used as a personal article with the names of females, both native and foreign: ni Alida, ni Mary. It is used also with certain nouns which denote women, where in Sa'a nga or the personal article a is used: ni te nau my mother, ni mwaemwane a man's sister, a woman's brother, ni aia female relations, ni doo the woman, ni mwela ne that woman. Ni is not used with afe wife, nor with geni female; it is not used with the plural.

NOUNS.

1. Nouns to which possessive suffixes may be added:

Certain nouns take the suffixed pronoun denoting the possessor. These are nouns denoting:

a. Parts of the body: lima hand, limagu my hand, aba arm, abamu thy arm, maa eye, maamu thy eye.

b. Position, end, middle, top: buri behind, burigu behind me, i dalumana in the midst, isingana its end, i kamena lobo beside the lake, i fafona on top of it.

c. Certain states or doings of men: life, death, speech, custom, goings: mae to die, maela death, maelana his death, baela speech, baelagu my word.

d. The word sasi brother, sasigu my brother, my sister. The other words denoting relationship employ the personal pronoun to denote possession.

2. Formation of nouns: Nouns which have a special termination showing them to be nouns substantive are (a) verbal nouns and (b) independent nouns.

a. Verbal nouns are formed from verbs by the terminations a, fa, la, ta: mae to die, maea death or sickness, maela death, bae to speak, baea word, baela speech, fanga to eat, fangaa feast, food, fangala food, mae to die, maemaefa sickness, nao to lead, naofa first, naofe mwela eldest child, also with suffixed pronoun naofana mwela; ta is seen in the root afuta all, which is used only with the suffixed pronoun, afutagera all of them, afutana na ai gi all the people. The termination la has a more or less gerundival force.

Compound nouns may be formed, girigiri lifoa gnashing of teeth, saitama dooa wisdom.

Where in the vocabulary fa and ta have a hyphen attached, it is intended to show that they are used only with the suffixed pronoun attached.

There are certain adjectives to which the termination la is attached, diena good, dienala goodness, baita big, baitala bigness, and tasa in excess, tasala excess. It is probable, however, that these words are really verbs.

b. Independent nouns: The only termination is na, and this is added (1) to certain nouns which express relation ship or kindred; (2) to cardinal numerals to form ordinals. 1. Nouns so formed are always preceded by a prefix which marks reciprocity of relationship or kindred, mwai, and by the numeral ro two; sasi brother, ro mwai sasina the two brothers, te mother, ro mwai telana wife and child.

2. Numerals: olu three, oluna third.

3. Construct form: To make a construct form the letter e is added to the first of two nouns, toloe fera hill, fuli abae ai men's handwork. When the first member ends in a the ae sometimes contracts to e, fufue ai seed, aqale mwai ten baskets, but maae rodo, a night; also when the first noun ends in o the oe is contracted to e: abole ai a log, abolo a piece. This e may be added to words which have not a distinct noun termination: naoe gula the chief place.

4. Genitive relation: The genitive relation of nouns one to another is effected by the use of the propositions ni and i: ni is used mainly in construction: baea ni sugela deceitful words, gwai ni gwaila anointing oil; ni expresses purpose: si gula ni lea inia a place for him to go to, rosuli ni manatai gami hear us in mercy. In certain words li replaces ni: maalimaea enemy, maalitafa a channel in a reef; i is used also to denote purpose: lea i fasifa came to sell it. Location, which also denotes place whence, is shown by i, geni i Saa, a Sa'a woman. Si is used in certain phrases: ofu si doo bundles, ro tooni si doo two thousand.

The genitive is frequently omitted olu teu flour, three measures of flour, mumudi fangala crumbs of food, mwane Saa, a Sa'a man, falisi vine a vineyard.

The possessive ana may be used to denote the genitive: luma ana foaa house of prayer, tala ana fanualama way of peace. A genitive relation is also shown by the use of the suffixed pronoun of the third person singular or plural in agreement with the idea expressed in the second noun of the pair: i tolona fera on the tops of the hills, gwouda na ai gi men's heads.

The ordinary personal pronouns are used as possessive in cases where the pronoun can not be suffixed: afe nau my wife, arai nia her husband.

The instrumental prefix i occurs: kamu to eat areca nut, ikamu a line spatula.

5. Plural: To show plurality gi is used, following the noun na mwane gi the men. The word oro, many, may be attached: na mwane oro gi many men, tani ai oro many people.

The personal pronoun plural third gera is used to mark plurality: gera fiolo the hungry, gera priest da adea urina the priests acted thus.

Totally and completion are shown by sui finished or sui na: afutada sui they all, gera lea sui na they have gone already. To express totality the suffixed pronoun singular third and all persons plural are added to a root afuta, formed from afu to complete, with ta noun termination: afutanafera all the land, afutana nonigu all my whole body. It is a question whether the numeral qalu eight is used like walu in Sa'a of an indefinite number, e.g., qalu fera all lands; but te si nafera seems to be the proper usage.

6. Gender: There is no grammatical gender. The words mwane male, geni female, are added when the noun does not carry a sex distinction.

7. Nouns of relationship: With the exception of sasi brother, sister, nouns of relationship are never used with a suffixed pronoun: maa nau my father. The prefix mwai, denoting reciprocity of relationship, may precede: mwai asi nau brethren. In speaking of pairs of people ro is used: ro mwai sasina two brothers. The na of sasina, telana, etc., is a noun termination and is not the suffixed pronoun.

The articles ni for the singular and ote for the plural are used of women: ni aia a female relation, ote geni women.

The word for father is maa; the article na may be prefixed: na maa nau my father. The Rev. A. I. Hopkins says that maaka nau is also commonly used as meaning my father. The word for child is mwela, mwela na ai So-and-So's son, mwela nia his child; aia is used for female relations with ni as singular article and ote as plural: mwaemwane sister, ni mwaemwane a man's sister.

The adjective gale little, is used preceding the noun to describe something young: ro fe gale bola two young pigeons. The article used with te, mother, is ni: ni te nau my mother; ta ro mwai telana nau my wife and child, ta ro mwai fungona two relations-at-law; ai person, man, is used as a vocative: mwela ai hey, you there! na ai oe your people, ai ni raoa a servant, ai tou the little one, the lesser.

PRONOUNS.

The pronouns may be classified as (A) those used as the subject of a verb; (B) those suffixed to a verb or a preposition as object; (c) those suffixed to nouns substantive and denoting possession.

A. PRONOUNS USED AS THE SUBJECT OF A VERB.

Singular: (1) inau, naut gu. (2) ioe, oe, o. (3) inia, niat nit e.

Plural: Inclusive: (1) igia, gia; igolu, golu. Exclusive: (1) igami, gami, mi; igamelu, gamelu. (2) igamu, gamu; igamolu, gamolu. (3) igera, gera, da; idalu, dalu.

Dual: Inclusive: (1) igoro, goro. Exclusive: (1) igamere, gamere. (2) igamoro, gamoro. (3) idarot daro.

1. The longer forms, those with i, are used as possessive pronouns when the suffixed pronoun can not be added: geni inau my wife.

The forms with i are never used by themselves as the subject, but are accompanied by one of the shorter forms: igera da ada ma da si ada na they see but do not see. The three longer forms in the singular are of more or less infrequent use. The initial i is run on to the preceding vowel in pronunciation.

2. All the forms without i are used alone as the subject of the verb. Where there are three forms the second and third are generally used together as subjects: gami mi langi si saetamana we do not know; but the short forms gu, o, mi, mu, da, may be used alone as subjects: gu si saea I do not know. The forms in lu are not used as a trial number, but denote a more restricted number of persons.

3. Nia is used as meaning, there is, it is: efita fe bread nia agamolu, how many loaves have you? It may be used before a proper name as the equivalent to a genitive: ana maaedangi nia Abiathar in the days of Abiathar. When the meaning is, there is, it is, nia is preceded by e: na liqa gera enia ada they have their holes; ma te ai enia i luma there is only one person in the house; with na demonstrative added: nia na that is it, that is so.

4. The form ni is seen in nifai what? where? It occurs in certain phrases as meaning, it is, there is: e uta ro si lio ni agamu how is it ye are of two minds? na light fuana noni ni maa the light of the body it is the eye.

5. The plural sign gi is used with the forms in the plural but not with those ending in lu: gia gi fi dao na we have just come.

6. The forms in the plural third igera and gera are used as equivalent to a plural article: igera na judea the Jews.

7. The pronouns of the third person singular and plural may be used of impersonal or inanimate things.

B. PRONOUNS SUFFIXED TO VERBS OR TO PREPOSITIONS AS OBJECT.

Singular: (1) nau. (2) oe. (3) a.

Plural: Inclusive: (1) gia, golu. Exclusive: (1) gami, gamelu. (2) gamu, gamolu. (3) gera, da, dalu.

Dual: Inclusive: (1) goro. Exclusive: (1) gamere. (2) gamoro. (3) daro.