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WORKING PAPERS POR TKE LANGUAGE VARIATION Number 5 STAMDAFJ) IZED ALPHABETS FOR MALAITAN LANGUAGES Gary Si-mons Cornell University and Summer Institute of Unguistics STANDARDIZED ALPHABETS FOR MALAITAN LANGUAGES Gary Simons Cornell Un5versi ty and Smaer InGtitute of Linguistics . * O INFRODU CTION e STANDARDIZE? 2. POSSIElLE AIMS I N DEVELOPING AN ALPHABET 2.1 When producbg literature for the native speaker 2.1. Conformity to the national language 2.1,2 Conformity to the native speaker's intuition 2.2 When extending literature to the non-native speaker 2.2,1 Highlighting sourid differences t o aid pronunciakion 2,2,2 Highlighttng sound correspondences to aid understanding 2-3 The interrelations of the four aims 3. PROPOSED PRIORITy OF AIMS IN DEVELOPING STANDARDIZED AT;PHABmS 4, STANDARDIZED ALPHAmTS FOR PZALAITAN LANGUAGES 4.1 The vowels 4*2 The glottal atop 4.3 The consonants 4.3.1 Lau 4.3.2 Totambai ta 4.3.3 Mbaelelea 4.3.4 Mbaenggu 4.3.5 Fataleka 4.3-6 Gulafala 4-30? Kwaratae 4-3.8 Langdanga 4.3.9 ICwaio 4.3-10 W e'a re 4.3-11 Sara and ULawa 4.4 Summary table of standardized alphabets showing letters that occur i n each language ' The history of alphabet design in Malaitas and the Solomon Islands i n general, has been one of independent development and fragmentation. Alphabet design i n one language was often done vdthout consideration of alphabets used i n neighboring related languages. Furthermore, alphabets for a new publication have often been chosen without reference to literature already produced i n that language. Tlie result fs a present day situation i n which there are a number of competing alphabets for a single language. In the Kwaratae language (see section 4.3.7) for instance, the JI I sound as i n the English 'ford sing has been represented, n o less than five different ways in existing publications--ng, & ii, Un , and n. In the neighboring language KwAo (see section 4.3.9), it has reen represented i n a sixth way-- 9. There is an obvious need for standardized alphabets i n Malaitan languages, In this paper, a standardized alphabet for each Malaitan language is proposed. The first sectkon of the paper presents some advantages of standardized alphabets as they re1a te to primary education, the prini5ng process, the extendabilit y of literature into neighboring language groups, and the ultimate goal of regional and natianal unity, In the second section, four possible aims in develophg an alphabet and the interre- 1ationshLps of these aims are discussed, These are illustrated by examples from the Malaitan languages. The discussion is nevertheless a general one and the principles could be applied to langua ges i n any region of the Solomon Islands, In section three, I summarize the discussion of section two by proposing a priority of aims i n developing standardized alphabe@, In the fourth and final section of the paper, the propcsed standardized alphabets for Malzitan languages are presented. It is hoped that writers, translators, educators, and publishers will- refer t o this paper and use it as a b a s h of discussion for developing nore acceptable standardized alphabets,, or begin to use the proposed alphabets i n * future literature for halaitan languages. My interest in preparing this paper was aroused in a panel' discussion on the toi?i-c of "Guideliner for the setting of a standardized spelling system for thte Solomon Islands Languages'!, The panel was organized by the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs and held on 25 August 197'7. The paper results from field work on Malaita during July and August 1977, During this period I worked mainly with the Kwara ae Translation Commiktee to help them standzrdize their alphabet and draw up a standard spelling list (see Simons forthcoming b). In addtion to work on KwaraKae 1 collected word lists from all the north Malaitan languages and am engaged in a study of lanmage relations i n north Malaita ( see Simons forthcolning a). This project was sponsored by the WanslatLon Committee of the Solomon Islands Christian Association. Et was also a part of the Cornell University research project "Language Variation and Limits to Conmunicationlr which is being pastially supported by grant ~N.576-06031 from the National Science Foundation. The standardization of alphabets for aEl Malaitan languages, or any other such regional group of Solomon Island languages, offers laany advantages against only one disadvantage. The disadvantage is that for some languages, adopting a standard w i l l mean changing some of the conventkons of the past. This may meet opposition when literature users are asked to abandon the spellang conventions to which they have become attached through many years of use. It i s also expensive to reprint old literature using a new alphabet. However, the advantages of standardization far outnumber the disadvantages, In the area of primary school education, the fevelopment of curricula for different vernaculars is simplified i f those vernaculars follow the same spelling conventnons. The training of primary school teachers is xuch easier i f all w i l l be teaching i n vernaculars that use alphabets from the same standardized system. This would also facilitate a teacherrs transfer of teaching slull from one vernacular to a second vernacular. The task of developing an alphabet for a previously unwrittea language is simplified i f there is a standardized spelling system which sets guidelines for any new alphabet. The process of printing the literature vill also benefit frop a single spelling standard i f the same personnel are to be involved i n the checkinga:d publishing of literature for more than one language. ~ lolf the zbove advantages affect the few people who are involved i n the preparation, teaching, or printing of literature, The greatest advantage affects all those who w i l l be users of the literature. This advantage is the one of extendability. That is, when standardized alphabets are used for neighboring languages, the readership of a single piece of literature may extend w e l l beyond the borders of that language group. In a recent language survey of north Malaita ( see Simons forthcoming a), vie found that every north Nalaitaw language is. generally well understood by speakers of the l=guages with which it shares a border. This means that literature i n one language could be understood by people from the bordering language groups. If standardized spelling systems are used for all north Malaitan languages, a person who already reads his own language could pick up literature from a bordering language group and imediately read it. Thus, when standardized alphabets are employed, the readership for any language1 s literature automatically extends beyond the borders of that language, The benefits of extendability could be used advantageously i n primary education, for instandce, where literature from surrounding languages could be included i n the curriculum for a given language. Finally, standardized alphabet s,, though the outworkings of the principle of extendability, may contribute to regional and even national unfty. The English spelling system is sharply crit=rized for its inconsistencies, Nevertheless, it has scored a great triumph i n uniting the many different dialects of a vast speech community, dialects whiich often are not even mxtually intelligible, John N i s t (1966) in his essay "In Defense of English $pellingtf discusses this point: English spelling minimizes dialect and regional . . . differences within the English language on a world-wise scale. Today the three major forms of Modern English --British, American, and Commonwealth--are very nearly identical on the printed page; a great source of the linguistic unity and cultural solidarity of Anglo-Saxon civilization, Standardized spellkng systems may help to achieve the same thing in the Solomon Islahds, POSSIE&E. AIMS IM DEVELOPING AN ALPHABE2 When designing an alphabet there are a number of aims which one uutt keep i n mind, and as we shall see, these aims are often in opposition, Thus it is necessary to rank the aims in terms of prkorities i n order to make decisions, In this section, four aims which are thought to be particularly relevant to the problem of standardizing alphabets for MalaLtan languages are discussed, For discussiLons of other aims and principles of designiLng spelling systems see Gudschinsky 1970 and 1973$ PowLison 1968, Shons (in press), and Siualley 1964, The discussion of aims i n developing an alphabet is di;rided into two lnain.headings. The fir st two aims are relevant to producing literature to be read by the native speaker, \men one strives for standardization and the extension of literature %nt@ neighboring language groups, two additional aims must be considered. Finally, the interrelations of the four aims are discussed, In section three, I surimarize this section by proposing a priority of aims in developing standardized alphabets, When the individual aims are icn opposition, such a system of priorities is necessary i n order to guide decision making. 2.L When producing Literature for the native speaker 2.1.1 Conformity to the national language En the interest of national unity and national education programs, it is best when the alphabets of an individual vernacular language conforms t o the spellkng conventions of the national language. This conformity facilitates the reader's interchange between the nabional language and his own vernacular, It also contributes to the feeling of national unity as discussed i n the final papagraph of sect,ion 1. In the Solomon Islands, English is the national language, Therefore, conforaty to English spelling conventions should be the goal where possible. For example, i n Sa'a and Ulawa a -q has been used t o represent a labialized p so-u nd, that is /pW/. The spelling pw i a to bc preferred becauBe q i n Ehglish represents a I-LVJ soun'b; Another way i n ahi ch the national language req uires conformity is i n the area of printing and typewriting, In designing an alphabet for a vernacular language, one is Ximited by the characters available on the typewriters i n common use i n the country. Thus it is often necessary to use. a sequence of two letters to represent a single somd in the vernacular language* This must be done because there is no suitable single character available i n the alphabet of the national language, 2.1.2 Gonf ormity to the natiLve speaker s intuition t An alphabet must also conform to the native speaker's intuition about U s language i f it isl going to be accepted and used by him. In general, this means that each dgnificant sound i n &he language" sound system (each nphonemeql) should be represented by a unique symbol in the &$&bet, and only these sounds should be represented. Ideally this mea& one unique letter for each sound, or pl~onem-e. Th e Nggela man reacts against the spelling Nggela and prefers Gela for the lime of his island. This is because the initial consonant i n tus word is a single indivisible unit i n tAs sowd system, even though there is a nasal sound which precedes thc g sould i n the pronunciation. But as he ?irould t e l l you, the firzt letter i n the word is simply q, itts no% 3 plus g. In looking again at the exm~plef rom Sala and Ukawa of q - used to represent a pw, it is not hard to understand why the'q was chosen. This sound is a s i n a e indivisible unit i n the language and thus i t best conforms to the native speakerrs intuition when a single letter is used to represent the sound, Since p is ahready a distirict sound the Language, another single letyer ili fron the English alphabet was chosen. 6 2.2 'When extending Literature to the non-native speaker When literature is produced aith the g o d of being used beyond the borders of the language group Ftself, two different approaches to standardization can be taken, Both approaches are meant to aid the non-native speaker. In the f i r s t approach, the differences between the sound systems of the languages are highlighted i n order to aid the oudsidarls pronunciation of the language. In the second approach, the regular correspondences between the sound systems of the Languages are highlighted i n order to aid the outsiderls understanhg through the recognition of words with the same meaning i n his own language. 2.2.1 Highlighting sound differences t o aid pronunciation In develophg a standardized alphabet for a regioq or for the nation, one can choose to highlight the differences i n the way . words are pronounced i n all the languages involved, The result-g spelling system w i l l help the reader to correctly pronounce vrords from any given language. This approach emphasizes the non-native speaker'Jcpsoduction of the correct pronunciation. Such a standardized spelling system for all the languages of the Solomon Islands has been devised by Brian Hackman i n "A Guide to the Spelling and Pronunciation of Place Names i n the British Solomon I-daads Protectorateu (19681, This spelling system was developed i n order to estaolish a standard method for spelling place names. on naps, Dr. Eackman has devLsed a very exact system of representing all the sounds that occur i n S9liomon Islands languages. In keepin& wj.th the a i m of conformity to the national kanguace, all letters are taken from the English alphabet and the pronunciations conform to Er,gbi& usage a s much as possible. This approach 01h i&Uighting sound differences by assigning a different symbol to each possible sound is particularly appropriate for maps since maps are most widely used by people outside their own home terTitory, The correct pronunciation of place names is essential for proper communication in foreign territory. 2-2.2 fighlighting sound correspondences to aid understanding In developing standardized alphabets for a region, one can choose to highlight the regular correspondences between the sound systems of all the Languages involved, The resulting spelling system vsill help the reader to correctly recognize and understand vrords from languages other than his own. Th%s approach emphasizes the non-native spe,&crns production of the correct meaning. In north-Malaita the Sound systems of all the languages are the sane i n one respect: they a l l have fcur voiced stops, b, 2, g, and fi. However, at the pronuaciation, or flphoneticlt, level the languages are different. In Torambaita, Mbaelelea, Mbaenggu, and Fataleka, thwese, four stops are pronounced with prenasalization--E9 nd, nggw. I n the saltwater languages , (~angalanga,L au, and Gulal ala&) .t hey are pronounced with no ren nasalization--b, 2, 5, and In the remaining languages, the prenasalization is weak or variable (see 1 1 '2 i n Hackman 1968). In spite of these differences in pronunciation, the sound systems are the same at the ttphonernicll Level--the level of significant sound units v~kich the native speaker pwerce, ives. The Languages E9g , which have the pronunciations and nggw do not also have 2, 2, 5, and as a different series of consonants. They have only the prenasalized stops and these correspond to,or are equivalent to, the b, 2, g, and & of the saltwater languages. ?!lie follo~~~winogrd s from the languages illustrate this. The words are written following the system devised by IEackman (1968) i n order to emphasize the differences i n pronunciation. HIGHLIGHTING TIlX DI FAFERENCES - - blood moon intestines head - - Tdangalan&a abu madarua Otp. -gw a u - - Lau 1 abu mzc&ua . o a gw au Tot ambaita " am-bu - - nandarua oxga nggwau ' Fat a1e lra a-mb u ma-nda ma ongga -nggwau By emphasizing the differences i n pronunciation i n the above examples, we tend to obscure the fact that all the words i n a single column are the same word with the same meaning. If, on the other hand, we choose to emphasize that the prenasalized stops i n one group of Languages correspond t o the unprenasalized stops i n the other group of languages, we w i l l use only b, d, g, and gw to represent them i n the standardized al2habets. The standardized alphabets will clearly show that the words are the same. This vricll aid the non-native speaker i n his recognition of nords and help him to understsnd the proper meaning of the text he reads. HIGHLIGHTING THE CORRESPONDENCES - - blood moon intestines head Langalanga abu madarna oga u a !@ t *%< Lau ahu m a 9 a o ~ a gwau , - Tor ambaita abu madama oga gwau ' - - Fata 1e ka abu rnadama osa a a u $., $- The above two sets of examples illustrate the different emphases of the two approaches. The approach of highlighting the differences emphasizes the non-native speaker's production of the correct pronunciation, though it may hinder his recognition and production of the correct meaning. The approach of highlighting the correspondences emphasizes the non-native speaker's recognition of words and his procluction of the correct meaning, though it may hinder his production of the correct pronunciation. There are further examples i n north Malaitan languages where highlighting the sound correspondences between languages, rather than strictly observing the pronunciations, can lead to greater understanding between languages, In Kwaratae there is a variation between the sound and the h sound. That is, some speakers pronounce an where others pro~ouncea n h. The h pronunciation is far more common i n normal speech and thus- recent Kwaratae publications have used the h symbol instead of -f. However, i f we compare the Kwarafae WOE& containing 2 t o the same words in the surrdunding languages, we find that all the neighboring languages have an f, In the following examples, note that the Kivarafae wores i; the f i r s t line have & where the z, other languages have to - - hair, feather stone eat - - - Kwara ae ihu logo hau hanga - - - - Langalanga ifu kofo fau f ana - - - - Rwaio i fu lofo f ou fa nga - - igu Fatale ka 1o go f au f anga - - - - To1 ambaita i fu lofo fau fanga The next set of exar~pless hows that h~d etermining which of the farients--& or f--to follo~vi n producing a standardized alphabet for Kwarafae, selecting the f highlights the correspondences between all north Malaitan languages. It would aid the Kwasatae reader's recognition of words i n non-Kwaratae literature, and the non-Kwaratae reader's recognition of words i n Kwara'ae literature.- For -a fuller discussion of other reasons for selecting f over h see Simons (forthcoming b). HIGHLIGHTING THE GORRESPOI?DENCES eat; hair, feather to fly stone - - - Kwarar ae ifu lofo fau f anga - - - Langalanga iLu lofo fau f ana - - - Kwaio izu Lof o fou f anga - - - Fa taleka izu lofo f au fanga - - - Tot ambaita i-h lofo f au fanga w E. A similar situation exists with and In Kwara'ae and Torambaita., is pronounced. In northern Lau is pronounced, while 2 i.s pronounced i n southern Lau i n the same words (Fox 1974:2 05) ?'he relaaining languages have &. The foblowing table gives five nordc beginning with this sound. Spellings, w-nicli highLieht differences are shown first, followed by spellings which highlight correspondences. HIGHLIGHTING TKE DLFFEIGNCES - danc e snake, worm Malaita man, person easy - - - Kwara" ae ngwar e ngwangwa ngwaka W a e ngwduda - - - - Kwa30 v~ael via wane - - Fataleka wzxae wane Tot ambaita ngwa" =a =.me ngwaluda Lau (norEh)ngwae ngwa a a l a ngwae,ngwane ngwaluda - - - - - Lau ( south)xae l1! a vrala waep zane waluda