Ske language

Ske (or Seke) is an endangered language of south-western Pentecost island in Vanuatu. Ske belongs to the East Vanuatu languages, a branch of the Austronesian languages family.

The Ske area comprises fourteen small villages centred on Bwaravet in south-western Pentecost, from Levizendam in the north to Hotwata in the south and extending inland to Vanliamit. Historically the language's area extended to parallel areas of the east coast, but this part of the island is now depopulated.

Due to intermarriage between language areas, an increasing number of people in Ske-speaking villages now speak Apma, Sa or Bislama as a first language, and local chiefs fear for the future of Ske. A closely related neighbouring language, Sowa, has already been totally displaced by Apma.

The number of Ske speakers was estimated at 600 in the year 2000, although this may be an overestimate, since not everybody in the Ske area is fluent in the language.

There is no significant dialectal variation within modern Ske, although there are noticeable differences between the Ske of older and younger speakers. Doltes, the extinct dialect of Hotwata village, is sometimes regarded as a Ske dialect, but appears to have been closer to Sa.

There is no local tradition of writing in Ske, and until recently the language was virtually undocumented. However, linguist Kay Johnson of SOAS is currently studying the language. Prior to her arrival, the only records of Ske were short vocabulary lists collected by David Walsh in the 1960s, Catriona Hyslop in 2001 and Andrew Gray in 2007.

Phonology

Following the orthography developed by linguist Kay Johnson in consultation with the Ske community, the consonants of Ske are b, d, g, h, k, l, m, n, ng (as in English "singer"), p, q (prenasalized g, written ngg or g-macron in some sources), r, s, t, bilabial v, w, z, and labiovelar bw, mw, pw and vw.

Geminate consonants occur where two identical consonants have been brought together by the historical loss of an intervening vowel, for example in -kkas "to be sweet" (compare Sowa kakas).

Prenasalization of consonants occurs, so that b is pronounced mb, and d is pronounced nd.

Unlike neighbouring languages such as Apma, Ske permits a variety of voiced consonants to occur at the end of syllables, although when they occur at the end of an utterance they are often followed by an 'echo' of the previous vowel. Thus iq "you", for example, is often pronounced iqi.

In addition to the five standard vowels (a, e, i, o and u), Ske has mid-high vowels é (intermediate between e and i) and ó (intermediate between o and u), like in Sowa and Sa languages. Vowels do not appear to be distinguished for length.

Stress typically occurs on the final syllable of a word.

A notable characteristic of Ske is the dropping of unstressed vowels. For example, the word "its eye" is usually realized in Ske as mzan (although in some phrases it is mezn). Dropping of vowels in Ske has resulted in a language rich in consonants, in contrast to related languages such as Raga.

Due to the presence of consonant clusters within syllables and other phonological features not typical of East Vanuatu languages, speakers of neighbouring languages consider Ske difficult to speak and learn.

Grammar

Basic word order in Ske is subject–verb–object.

Pronouns

Personal pronouns are distinguished by person and number. They are not distinguished by gender. The basic pronouns are:

Nouns

Nouns in Ske are generally not preceded by articles. Plurality is indicated by placing the pronoun nier ("them") or a number after the noun.

Nouns may be either free, or directly possessed. Directly possessed nouns are suffixed to indicate whom an item belongs to. For example:

dloq = my voice

dlom = your voice

dlon = his/her voice

dlon subu = the chief's voice

Possession may also be indicated by the use of possessive classifiers, separate words that occur before or after the noun and take possessive suffixes. These classifiers are:

• no- for general possessions (noq tobang, "my basket")
• blie- for things that are cared for, such as crops and livestock (blied bó, "our pig")
• a- for things to be eaten (am bwet, "your taro")
• mwa- for things to be drunk (mwar ri, "their water") and for buildings (mwan im, "his house")
• bie- for fire (biem ab, "your fire")
• die- for fruits that are cut open (dien valnga, "his bush nut")
• na- for associations, over which the possessor has no control (vnó naq, "my home island")

The possessive suffixes are as follows:

A verb may be transformed into a noun by the addition of a nominalising suffix -an:

vwel = to dance (verb)

vwelan = a dance (noun)

Modifiers generally come after a noun:

vet = stone

vet alok = big stone

vet aviet = four stones

Verbs

Verbs are preceded by markers providing information on the subject and the tense, aspect and mood of an action. In idealised form, these verb markers are:

In practice, speakers' usage of certain markers may differ slightly from this paradigm, with ti "you" often being used in the past tense as well as the future, for example.

There is a pattern of verb-consonant mutation whereby v at the start of a verb changes to b, and vw to bw. This mutation occurs in imperfective aspect (present tense), and in irrealis mood (future tense):

ni va = I went

mwa ba = I am going

mwade ba = I will go

(Among a few older speakers there is also mutation of z to d, but most Ske speakers today use only the d forms.)

Hypothetical phrases are marked with mó:

ni mó umné = I should do it

Negative phrases are preceded by kare ("not"), or a variant:

kare ni umné = I didn't do it

Transitive and intransitive verb forms are distinguished. Transitive verbs are commonly suffixed with -né:

mwa róh = I move

mwa róhné vet = I move the stone

Ske makes extensive use of stative verbs for descriptive purposes.

Ske has a copular verb, vé or bé.

Verbs in Ske can be linked together in serial verb constructions.

Sample phrases

References

• Gray, Andrew. 2012. The Languages of Pentecost Island.
• Lynch, John and Crowley, Terry. 2001. Languages of Vanuatu: A New Survey and Bibliography.
• Tryon, Darrell, 1976. New Hebrides Languages: An Internal Classification: Series C - No. 50. Pacific Linguistics.

External links

• The Languages of Pentecost Island - further information on Ske
• ELAR archive of Ske (Seke) language documentation materials

Languages of Vanuatu
Official languages	Bislama English French
Indigenous languages	Central Vanuatu Eton Lelepa Namakir North Efate South Efate East Vanuatu Torres-Banks Alo-Teqel Dorig Hiw Koro Lakon Lehali Lemerig Lo-Toga Löyöp Mota Mwerlap Mwesen Mwotlap Nume Olrat Vera'a Volow Vurës Penama Apma Baetora Central Maewo East Ambae North Ambrym Raga Sa Ske Sowa Sungwadia West Ambae Paama–Ambrym Dakaka Lonwolwol Orkon Paamese Port Vato Southeast Ambrym Epi Baki Bierebo Bieria Lamenu Lewo Maii Malekula Coastal Atchin Aulua Axamb Burmbar Mae Malfaxal Malua Bay Maskelynes Mpotovoro Nahavaq Näti Nese Unua Rerep Port Sandwich Uripiv Vao Wala-Rano Interior Ninde Letemboi Repanbitip Dixon Reef Nasarian Avava Lingarak Vinmavis Litzlitz Larevat Maragus Big Nambas unclassified Aveteian Navwien Sörsörian Nisvai Nasvang Navwien Polynesian Emae Futuna-Aniwa Mele-Fila West Santo Northwest Nokuku Piamatsina Tasmate Tolomako Valpei Vunapu Northeast Akei Amblong Aore Araki Kiai Mafea Merei Morouas Narango Navut Roria Malo Tambotalo Tangoa Tiale Tutuba Wailapa Wusi South Vanuatu Aneityum Ifo Kwamera Lenakel North Tanna Sie Sorung Southwest Tanna Ura Whitesands