Volow language

<h2 id="name">Name</h2>
<p>The name <i>Volow</i> [βʊˈlʊw] is originally a placename: it corresponds to the area known today as <a href="/facts/Aplow/Mv8KNhNT">Aplow</a>, but in the former language Volow rather than in Mwotlap. Now that the Volow dialect has ceased to be used, the name <i>Volow</i> has been forgotten by the modern population. The place is only known through its Mwotlap name <i>Aplow</i>; as for the language variety, it is often referred to, in the Mwotlap language, as <i>na-vap te-Plōw</i> “the language of Aplow”.
</p><p>The language variety is sometimes also referred to as <i>na-vap ta Dagmel</i> “the language of Dagmel” (in Mwotlap), after the name of an ancient, now abandoned, village.
</p>
<h2 id="sociolinguistics">Sociolinguistics</h2>
<p>Volow has <a href="/facts/Language_shift/KdY9f9ov">receded</a> historically in favor of the now dominant language <a href="/facts/Mwotlap_language/Wl5grK0K">Mwotlap</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> It is now only remembered by a single passive speaker, who lives in the village of <a href="/facts/Aplow/Mv8KNhNT">Aplow</a> — the new name of what was previously known as Volow.
</p><p>The similarity of Volow with Mwotlap is such that the two <a href="/facts/Communalects/QyllMQha">communalects</a> may be considered <a href="/facts/Dialect/gJ7uQQoj">dialects</a> of a single language.
</p>
<h2 id="phonology">Phonology</h2>
<p>Volow <a href="/facts/Phoneme/EXGHlJ7a">phonemically</a> contrasts 16 consonants and 7 vowels.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Consonants</h3>
Consonants<table><tbody><tr><th colspan="2"></th><th><a href="/facts/Labial%25E2%2580%2593velar_consonant/YNfbXN0U">Labial–velar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Bilabial_consonant/q2H5MUAe">Bilabial</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Alveolar_consonant/B6VkW2EX">Alveolar</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Dorsal_consonant/mene9hFt">Dorsal</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Glottal_consonant/rMdEdLxH">Glottal</a></th></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Nasalization/XpzfohCT">Nasal</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%25E2%2580%2593velar_nasal/bR7bNy3v">ŋ͡m</a><a href="/facts/Labialization/gxgAWAQI">ʷ</a> ⟨m̄⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_nasal/1pd7NK2x">m</a> ⟨m⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_nasal/0CEs8314">n</a> ⟨n⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_nasal/r6v5q92L">ŋ</a> ⟨n̄⟩</td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Stop_consonant/okC9pztc">Stop</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Voicelessness/575TtTUn">voiceless</a></th><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t</a> ⟨t⟩</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">prenasalized</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_nasal/r6v5q92L">ᵑ</a><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ᵐ</a><a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%25E2%2580%2593velar_plosive/6M2DB4lm">ɡ͡b</a><a href="/facts/Labialization/gxgAWAQI">ʷ</a> ⟨q̄⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ᵐb</a> ⟨b⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ⁿd</a> ⟨d⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Prenasalized_consonant/TR6JyXvU">ᵑɡ</a> ⟨ḡ⟩</td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Fricative_consonant/1FQuuhfX">Fricative</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_fricative/2ljHM92m">β</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> ⟨v⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative/WLKtEYDe">s</a> ⟨s⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_fricative/ESy9fy1G">ɣ</a> ⟨g⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_glottal_fricative/lfRB7CPW">h</a> ⟨h⟩</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Approximant_consonant/SXrlw7zY">Approximant</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%25E2%2580%2593velar_approximant/HLDqbrvr">w</a> ⟨w⟩</td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant/dgbHhqeK">l</a> ⟨l⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">j</a> ⟨y⟩</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

<p>This consonant inventory includes a typologically rare consonant: a <a href="/facts/Labialization/gxgAWAQI">rounded</a>, <a href="/facts/Prenasalization/TR6JyXvU">prenasalised</a> <a href="/facts/Voiced_labial-velar_plosive/6M2DB4lm">voiced labial-velar plosive</a> [ᵑᵐɡ͡bʷ]:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> e.g. [n.lɛᵑᵐɡ͡bʷɛβɪn] “woman”<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> (spelled <i>n-leq̄evēn</i> in the local orthography).
</p><p>Amongst the 17 <a href="/facts/Torres%25E2%2580%2593Banks_languages/HwQF6r9n">Torres–Banks languages</a>, Volow is the only one to have preserved the voicing of the proto-phonemes <i>*ᵑg</i> > /ᵑɡ/ and <i>*ᵐbʷ</i> > /ᵑᵐɡ͡bʷ/, which are reconstructed for its ancestor <a href="/facts/Proto-Torres%25E2%2580%2593Banks_language/dnftjzGq">Proto-Torres-Banks</a>. All its neighbours (including Mwotlap) <a href="/facts/Proto-Torres%25E2%2580%2593Banks_language/dnftjzGq">devoiced these to /k/ and /k͡pʷ/ respectively</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a>
</p>
<h3>Vowels</h3>
<p>The seven vowels of Volow are all short <a href="/facts/Monophthong/WAvkRHd4">monophthongs</a>:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a>
</p>
Vowels<table><tbody><tr><th></th><th><a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">Front</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">Back</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close_vowel/Ne6tHQHR">Close</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">i</a> ⟨i⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">u</a> ⟨u⟩</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Near-close_vowel/uPhB2scU">Near-close</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Near-close_near-front_unrounded_vowel/1eQAfkDy">ɪ</a> ⟨ē⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Near-close_near-back_rounded_vowel/4taYcT5v">ʊ</a> ⟨ō⟩</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open-mid_vowel/qkco8QqT">Open-mid</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Open-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/aDRvwE46">ɛ</a> ⟨e⟩</td><td><a href="/facts/Open-mid_back_rounded_vowel/yMNUClGt">ɔ</a> ⟨o⟩</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open_vowel/roS0Y7lA">Open</a></th><td colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Open_front_unrounded_vowel/s80pvmYh">a</a> ⟨a⟩</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2 id="notes">Notes</h2>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>
<ul><li><a href="https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Volow?lang=en&mode=pro">Presentation of the Volow language</a>, by linguist <a href="/facts/Alexandre_Fran%25C3%25A7ois/1ggqHuPe">A. François</a>. Access to the Volow corpus (<i><a href="/facts/Pangloss_Collection/HmLgQbBS">Pangloss Collection</a></i> of CNRS).</li>
<li>Wanhan (1969), <a href="https://doi.org/10.24397/pangloss-0003315"><i>Le dignitaire et l’orphelin — The dignitary and the abandoned child</i></a>, <a href="/facts/Pangloss_Collection/HmLgQbBS">Pangloss Collection</a> of CNRS, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.24397%2Fpangloss-0003315">10.24397/pangloss-0003315</a>, retrieved 2025-01-19. — Traditional narrative, presented in bilingual format (Volow transcription, French translation). This story was recorded by anthropologist Bernard Vienne in 1969 from the last fluent speaker Wanhand [†1986]; it was transcribed and translated by A. François in 2003, with the help of Wanhand's son, and published online in 2017.</li></ul>

<ul><li>François, Alexandre (2005a), <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf">"Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages"</a> (PDF), <i>Oceanic Linguistics</i>, 44 (2): 443–504, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1353%2Fol.2005.0034">10.1353/ol.2005.0034</a>, <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:131668754">131668754</a></li></ul>
<ul><li>François, Alexandre (2005b), <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_LingTyp-Mwotlap_2005.pdf">"A typological overview of Mwotlap, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu"</a> (PDF), <i>Linguistic Typology</i>, 9 (1): 115–146, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1515%2Flity.2005.9.1.115">10.1515/lity.2005.9.1.115</a>, <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:55878308">55878308</a></li></ul>
<ul><li>François, Alexandre (2011), <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2011_JHL1-2_Social-ecology_Vanuatu.pdf">"Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence"</a> (PDF), <i>Journal of Historical Linguistics</i>, 1 (2): 175–246, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1075%2Fjhl.1.2.03fra">10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra</a>, <a href="/facts/Hdl_(identifier)/rdebSxmC">hdl</a>:<a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1885%2F29283">1885/29283</a>, <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:42217419">42217419</a>.</li>
<li>François, Alexandre (2012), <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf">"The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages"</a> (PDF), <i>International Journal of the Sociology of Language</i> (214): 85–110, <a href="/facts/Doi_(identifier)/muM9Etpq">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fijsl-2012-0022">10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022</a>, <a href="/facts/S2CID_(identifier)/ldJsHa2Y">S2CID</a> <a href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:145208588">145208588</a></li>
<li>François, Alexandre (2013), <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2013_Shadows-of-bygone-lives-The-histories-of-spiritual-words-in-northern-Vanuatu.pdf">"Shadows of bygone lives: The histories of spiritual words in northern Vanuatu"</a> (PDF), in Mailhammer, Robert (ed.), <i>Lexical and structural etymology: Beyond word histories</i>, Studies in Language Change, vol. 11, Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton, pp. 185–244, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 978-1-61451-058-1</li>
<li>François, Alexandre (2021). <a href="https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Volow?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true">"Presentation of the Volow language and audio archive"</a>. <i><a href="/facts/Pangloss_Collection/HmLgQbBS">Pangloss Collection</a></i>. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 28 Sep 2022.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Sidney_Herbert_Ray/zp85ETYu">Ray, Sidney Herbert</a> (1926). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=h9tkAwAAQBAJ"><i>A Comparative Study of the Melanesian Island Languages</i></a>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. xvi+598. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 9781107682023. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>François (2012:87) - François, Alexandre (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language (214): 85–110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022, S2CID 145208588 <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf" target="_blank">https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>List of Banks islands languages. <a href="http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-field.htm#Vanuatu" target="_blank">http://alex.francois.free.fr/AF-field.htm#Vanuatu</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>See Ray (1926), page 428. - Ray, Sidney Herbert (1926). A Comparative Study of the Melanesian Island Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. xvi+598. ISBN 9781107682023. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=h9tkAwAAQBAJ" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=h9tkAwAAQBAJ</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>See page 57 of: Tryon, Darrell T. (1976). New Hebrides languages: An internal classification. C-50, vi + 550 pages. Pacific Linguistics, Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-C50 <a href="https://sealang.net/archives/pl/pdf/PL-C50.pdf#page=63" target="_blank">https://sealang.net/archives/pl/pdf/PL-C50.pdf#page=63</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>François (2012:87) - François, Alexandre (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language (214): 85–110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022, S2CID 145208588 <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf" target="_blank">https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>François (2021). - François, Alexandre (2021). "Presentation of the Volow language and audio archive". Pangloss Collection. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 28 Sep 2022. <a href="https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Volow?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true" target="_blank">https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Volow?lang=en&mode=pro&seeMore=true</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>[p] exists as the allophone of /β/ word-finally. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>François (2005b:116). - François, Alexandre (2005b), "A typological overview of Mwotlap, an Oceanic language of Vanuatu" (PDF), Linguistic Typology, 9 (1): 115–146, doi:10.1515/lity.2005.9.1.115, S2CID 55878308 <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_LingTyp-Mwotlap_2005.pdf" target="_blank">https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_LingTyp-Mwotlap_2005.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>François (2013:191). - François, Alexandre (2013), "Shadows of bygone lives: The histories of spiritual words in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Mailhammer, Robert (ed.), Lexical and structural etymology: Beyond word histories, Studies in Language Change, vol. 11, Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton, pp. 185–244, ISBN 978-1-61451-058-1 <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2013_Shadows-of-bygone-lives-The-histories-of-spiritual-words-in-northern-Vanuatu.pdf" target="_blank">https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2013_Shadows-of-bygone-lives-The-histories-of-spiritual-words-in-northern-Vanuatu.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:10"><p>Löyöp still preserves some voiced traces of these phonemes, e.g. when it reflects *ᵑg as /ŋ/ in the syllable-final position of modern words: e.g. POc *waᵑga(ŋ) 'canoe' > LYPTooltip Löyöp language [n-ɔŋ]. <a href="/wiki/L%C3%B6y%C3%B6p_language" target="_blank">/wiki/L%C3%B6y%C3%B6p_language</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:11"><p>François (2005a:445). - François, Alexandre (2005a), "Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), Oceanic Linguistics, 44 (2): 443–504, doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0034, S2CID 131668754 <a href="https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf" target="_blank">https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Volow language open-in-new

Volow language