Documentation of Sowa and Ske, southwest Pentecost, Vanuatu

Language	Sowa, Ske
Depositor	Isaiah Tabi, Andrew Gray
Location	Vanuatu
Collection ID	0785
Grant ID	SG1027
Funding Body	ELDP
Collection Status	Collection online
Landing Page Handle	http://hdl.handle.net/2196/d81cd54f-1143-4849-b997-9a55842a784e

 

Summary of the collection

English: This deposit is a result of locally-based research into Sowa and Ske language, extinct and near-moribund languages of south-central Pentecost Island, Vanuatu, funded by ELDP in 2024-2025. It includes recordings and transcriptions of interviews with knowledgeable speakers, dictionaries and community phrasebooks of Sowa and Ske languages, and the outputs from a community workshop on Sowa. In Sowa, this represents the only formal documentation of a now-extinct language. In Ske, it includes the first proper dictionary of a small and highly endangered language.

Toksave blong koleksen ia
Bislama: Ol wok ia i kamaot long wan risej long Sowa mo Ske, tufala smol lanwis blong saot-sentrol Pentikos we i stap lus, we i bin tekples long komuniti long 2024-2025 wetem fanding blong ELDP. Hemi inkludum ol intaviu wetem ol olfala we oli save ol lanwis blong bifo, ol diksonari mo ol buk blong ol toktok long Sowa mo Ske lanwis we komuniti i save yusum, mo ol rikoding blong wan woksop long saed blong Sowa lanwis. Sowa laniws i lus mo i no gat toksave blong hem long eni nara akaef, long ples ia nomo. Ske lanwis hemi wan smolsmol lanwis we lukaot bae hem tu i lus, mo fes prepa diksonari blong Ske lanwis i kamaot long wok ia nao.

 

Group represented

English: Sowa and Ske are the indigenous languages of south-central Pentecost. Like elsewhere in Vanuatu, the local population was devastated by disease and other factors in the aftermath of European contact. The survivors regrouped in a few villages on the west coast of the island, and took wives from elsewhere, leading to language mixing and loss. Today the population is growing rapidly. Most people are subsistence gardeners living on their ancestral land. Kastom (tradition) is extremely important in local life and local languages is valued as a part of cultural heritage and identity.

Komuniti we i toktok long lanwis ia
Bislama: Tufala lanwis ia Sowa wetem Ske hemi tufala lanwis blong saot-sentrol Pentikos. Olsem long ol nara pat blong Vanuatu, populesen blong eria ia i bin drop bigwan from ol sik mo ol nara samting we i bin kam taem ol waetman oli kam fastaem. Ol man we oli laef yet oli bin muv i kamdaon long weskos, mo fulap oli tekem ol woman nara ples, mekem se lanwis i miks mo samfala smol lanwis i lus. Tedei population i stap kam antap bakegen. Fulap man long eria ia oli stap mekem garen nomo long graon blong olgeta. Kastom hemi impotent long laef blong ples ia mo lanwis hemi wan impotent pat blong histri mo aedentiti blong ol man.

 

Language information

English: Sowa and Ske are Oceanic languages belonging to the North Central Vanuatu linkage. In southwest Pentecost Island, Sowa was historically spoken between Melsisi and Levizendam, but it was totally displaced by Apma (the language of central Pentecost) in the 20th century. The last native speakers died around the year 2000 but Sowa is still partly remembered by their children. The historical Ske area extends from Levizendam to Hotwota. Ske is still spoken by around 300 people but its use among young people is declining due to encroachment from other languages, especially the national language, Bislama. The Sowa and Ske areas historically extended across to parallel areas on the eastern side of the island, but this area is largely depopulated today.

Toksave blong lanwis
Bislama: Tufala lanwis ia Sowa wetem Ske tufala i famle blong ol nara lanwis long Pasifik, tugeta wetem ol nara lanwis blong Not mo Sentrol Vanuatu. Long saotwes Pentikos, eria blong Sowa i bin stat long Melsisi mo i go antap kasem Levizendam, be naoia Apma i kavaremap eria ia. Ol las man we ol stret man blong toktok long Sowa lanwis oli ded samples long yia 2000 be ol pikinini blong ol man ia oli save smolsmol yet long Sowa lanwis. Eria blong Ske i stat long Levizendem mo i go antap kasem Hotwota. I gat samples long 300 pipol oli toktok yet long Ske lanwis be ol yangfala mo ol pikinini oli stap lusum lanwis ia plante, from ol nara lanwis oli kam insaed, espeseli Bislama. Bifo ol man oli bin toktok long Sowa mo Ske lo Is Pentikos tu be i nomo gat fulap man long eria ia tedei.

 

Special characteristics

English: This collection is the result of a project conducted entirely within the local community and led by a local researcher of Sowa and Ske-speaking heritage. It will contain the first archived recordings of Sowa language, and the first proper dictionary of either Sowa or Ske. It will provide an irreplaceable record of linguistic heritage that is today (in 2024) remembered only by the elderly, and would soon be lost if not recorded and archived.

From wanem wok ia i spesel
Bislama: Wok blong kolektem ol samting ia i tekples insaed long komuniti nomo, mo wan stret man ples we papa wetem mama blong hem i kamaot long Sowa mo Ske i lidim wok ia. Bae hemi fes taem we i gat rikoding blong Sowa lanwis, mo fes prapa diksonari blong Sowa mo Ske. Bae hemi rikodem sam samting long saed blong lanwis we ol olfala nomo i save tedei, mekem se bae i no longtaem bae i lus sapos yumi no rikodem.

 

Collection contents

English: This collection is to include recorded and transcribed interviews with older people who still remember aspects of Sowa and Ske usage that are being forgotten today, and dictionaries and phrasebooks for community use, drawing on the information contained in these interviews and earlier work on Ske langage by Kay Johnson. The collection will also include recordings of a workshop at which local community members discuss their memories of Sowa language and attitudes towards language preservation.

Wanem we i stap long ples ia
Bislama: Long ples ia i gat rikoding mo ol toktok blong ol intaviu wetem ol olfala we oli save rimembarem ol toktok long Sowa mo Ske lanwis we fulap man oli nomo save tedei. Mo bae i diksonari mo ol nara smol buk we komuniti i save yusum. Ol toktok we i kamaot long ol intaviu, mo long ol nara wok we Kay Johnson i mekem fastaem long Ske lanwis, bae i stap insaed long ol buk ia. Mo tu bae i gat rikoding blong wan woksop we bae yumi mekem blong givim janis blong ol man long komuniti oli sherem tingting blong olgeta long saed blong Sowa lanwis.

 

Collection history

English: The material here will be collected in 2024-2025 under a project funded by ELDP. It builds upon earlier work including vocabulary lists collected by David Walsh in 1969, informal documentation efforts by Isaiah Tabi and Andrew Gray in the late 2000s, and documentation of Ske language carried out by Kay Johnson in 2008-2012.

Histri blong wok ia
Bislama: Ol wok ia bae i tekples long 2024 kasem 2025 olsem pat blong wan projek we ELDP i fandem. Hemi folem sam risej we David Walsh i mekem long 1969, ol wok we Isaiah Tabi mo Andrew Gray i mekem blong raetemdaon ol lanwis let long 2000s, mo projek we Kay Johnson i mekem long Ske lanwis long 2008-2012.

 

References

Johnson, Kay. 2014. Static spatial expression in Ske: an Oceanic language of Vanuatu. PhD thesis, SOAS. https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18443/1/Johnson_3588.pdf

Johnson, Kay. 2020. Documentation of Ske (Seke) – an undescribed and endangered language of Pentecost Island, Vanuatu. Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: hdl:2196/00-0000-0000-000F-B651-3

 

Acknowledgement and citation

English: Users of the collection should acknowledge Isaiah Tabi, the principal investigator, and other community members who have contributed their knowledge and effot, and are named in the collection metadata. The vocabulary lists and orthography draw upon earlier work by David Walsh (with John Bule Seesee) and Kay Johnson.

Aknolejmen
Bislama: Man we i yusum ol wok ia i sud aknolejem Isaiah Tabi, we hemi lidim risej ia, mo ol nara memba blong komuniti we oli givim save mo hadwok blong olgeta. Yumi luk nem blong olgeta wetem wanwan samting we i stap long koleksen ia. Wok blong kolektem ol toktok mo wokemaot ol speling hemi folem wok we David Walsh (wetem John Bule Seesee) mo Kay Johnson i mekem finis.

To refer to any data from the collection, please cite as follows:
Gray, Andrew and Isaiah Tabi. 2024. Documentation of Sowa and Ske, southwest Pentecost, Vanuatu. Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/248d0378-539f-4cd4-a14b-727b00e5b8bf. Accessed on [insert date here].