Grammar and Vocabulary of the Lau Language by Ivens, Walter G.

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.