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 Sa (Saa) languageLanguage code: sax Sa is the language of South Pentecost, a relatively wild and sparsely-populated region home to an estimated 2,500 people. Sa language resembles that of neighbouring North Ambrym, with which South Pentecost's people have always had close contact. Although not totally dissimilar to Pentecost's other four languages, Sa differs from them in some noticeable ways. Sa is classified the in Central Vanuatu sub-grouping of languages, while Raga and probably the other three are North Vanuatu languages. This linguistic difference is mirrored by cultural differences: Sa speakers traditionally wore penis wrappers, for example, while their neighbours to the north wore red mats. Sa is a relatively healthy language. However, like all Pentecost's native languages it is being increasingly 'corrupted' by Bislama, especially in more Christianised areas, and larger dialects of Sa are currently expanding at the expense of smaller and more distinctive ones. Dialects and rangeSa is a remarkably diverse language, and South Pentecost consists of a hotchpotch of dialects. Unlike those of Apma, Sa's dialects do not have well-established names. At a meeting in 2008, speakers recognised four main dialect areas, with sub-dialectal variation and mixing of dialects in some villages... A western dialect (Saa with a long 'a') is spoken on the west coast in Panas, Wali, Panngi, Ranputor and surrounding villages. A south-eastern dialect (Sa with a short 'a'), is spoken in Ranwas. A southern subdialect of it, with longer vowels in certain words, is spoken in Poinkros and (mixed with other dialects) in Wanur. The distinctive forms of speech of Bunlap and of Ranon (Baie Barrier) may be either sub-dialects of the western form, mixed dialects, or separate dialects. Together, these dialects constitute mainstream Sa: they are relatively similar to one another and are understood throughout southern Pentecost. The remaining two dialects are very distinctive, and hard for speakers of other dialects to understand. 'F' dialect, so called because of the presence of that sound, is spoken in the north of the region: at Vatsare (St Henri), Ponra, and by some at Ran-gusuksu. Ha dialect, in which the letter 's' is widely replaced by 'h', is spoken in Harop (Bay Martelli) and Londar in the south-west. Historically it was spoken over a wider area. Ha is particularly close to the language of North Ambrym. Doltes, the extinct dialect of Hotwata village (in the modern Ske area), is very similar to neighbouring F dialect and was probably also a dialect of Sa. I have also heard stories of other extinct Sa dialects, including one in the Wali area. Previous work on SaAlthough several anthropologists and linguists have visited South Pentecost over the past century, and written down Sa language, much of their work has been closely-guarded or simply lost. No comprehensive description or dictionary of Sa has ever been made available. Probably the first person to write down Sa was Catholic missionary Elie Tattevin, who made notes on Sa language (which he referred to as "Ponorwol") in the early 20th century. Anthropologist Margaret Jolly spent three years working with the people of Bunlap in the 1970s and learned Sa language. Her work, which includes the book Women of the Place: Kastom, Colonialism and Gender in Vanuatu A description of Sa language was produced for an M.A. thesis by G. Elliott at Macquarie University in 1976. Darrell Tryon's 1976 survey of Vanuatu langauges (New Hebrides Languages: An Internal Classification) included a basic word list in a mainstream dialect of Sa. Linguist and anthropologist Murray Garde (known locally as "Muriu") has been visiting South Pentecost for many years and earned quite a reputation for his ability to speak Sa language. I am extremely grateful for his help and encouragement in my own work on the language. My hope is that someday he will find time to sit down and write the definitive guide to Sa language! LiteracyUntil recently there had been little writing in Sa, although a few religious materials had been produced, including a 1970s Bible translation effort from which virtually nothing survives today. Margaret Jolly writes of an attempt to produce a Sa dictionary in the 1970s, but nobody knows what came of this. Surprisingly, South Pentecost's primary schools were among the first to introduce vernacular literacy programmes, which have now been running successfully in some schools for several years. These follow an orthography developed by Catriona Hyslop of USP during a visit to Wanur in 2001. Catriona also produced short picture books in Sa which have now been distributed to local schools. A project to translate the Gospels into Sa, organised by the Bible Society, is currently being undertaken by speakers at Poinkros. However, significant challenges remain for those working to develop literacy in Sa. The language is relatively tricky to write down, with speakers from the same community often disagreeing about the spellings of common words, and the confusion is exacerbated by dialectal differences. To try and resolve these issues, a Sa Language Committee was set up in early 2008 with the help of Peace Corps volunteer Teresa Fenske and her colleagues. This committee brings to together schoolteachers, adult literacy teachers, a representative of the Bible translation committee, local Peace Corps volunteers, linguist Murray Garde, and other interested parties to discuss issues relating to the reading and writing of Sa language.
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<< Languages of © Andrew Gray, 2008 |
(1994), includes a lot of Sa terminology (with unorthodox spellings).