Tape language


Tape, also known as Maragus, is a Southern Oceanic language which has a classification of 8B meaning the language has become nearly extinct. The population of speakers of the Tape language is reduced to approximately 15 speakers who are among the older generations. The language is part of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian Language family and is spoken on the islands of Vanuatu.
The Vanuatu Islands are not the original location of where the Tape language was spoken in the past. The original location was located in an area in Malakula, including the coast from Anuatakh to Lowinsinwei, the area between the Lowisinwei River valley, the eastern bank of the Brenwei River, and a mountain in the south known as Pwitarvere. Since part of the Tape territory was close to the ocean, it allowed the people living in the area to harvest salt which was used to trade with the Tirakh people. However, the Tape people mostly lived their lives "towards the bush," meaning their lives were more oriented towards the land even though they had access to the ocean. This is shown in their language because although they lived along the coast, their descendants were not very knowledgable or could not come up with a significant amount of terms related to the sea.
Originally, there was no distinct name for the Tape language. Tape was the name of the area that the speakers lived on while in the past the language was referred to as vengesien Tape, meaning 'the language of Tape'. Over time however, people have come to use and recognize the name of the language to be "Tape". This language also has a few alternative names known as Marakus, Maragus, Maragaus, and Maraakhus, which were used by the speakers of the Naman language who were living in the Litzlitz area. The name has two roots, mar and aakhus and when they are put together, the name's literal translation is 'person of the bush'.

Phonology

Vowels

In the Tape language, there are a total of six vowels /a, e, i, o, u, and ə./ Although schwa is part of the list, there is a lot of debate on the role schwa plays in the language.
Comparing the use of /i/ and /e/
Comparing the use of /e/ and /a/
Comparing the use of /a/ and /o/
Comparing the use of /o/ and /u/
The letter /i/
When the letter /i/ comes before the velar fricative /ɣ/ it becomes a high vowel.
Examples
When the letter /i/ is the first letter and comes before the velar fricative /ɣ/, a palatal glide comes after.
Examples
When the /u/ is followed by another vowel, an optional rounded occurs between the two vowels.
Examples
When using the combination of /ue/, one can substituted it for /uo/, but /uo/ cannot be substituted for /ue/.
Examples
Comparing the use of /i/ and /ə/
Comparing the use of /e/ and /ə/
Comparing the use of /a/ and /ə/
Comparing the use of /o/ and /ə/
Comparing the use of /u/ and /ə/
Although schwa is a contrastive vowel among some languages, it is not a universal vowel in all the languages in the area. In the Tape language, schwa is very common and is in 16.5% of the lexicon. The schwa is a unique vowel because it cannot begin or end a word. It also cannot follow or come before another vowel, meaning that there must be simultaneously preceded and followed by a consonant.

Consonants

There are many similarities as well as differences in the consonants available in the languages around the Tape area. For example, Tape does not contain any apicolabial consonants which is similar to the languages in the northeastern part of Malakua. Also the Tape language includes the contrastive palatal affricate, /č/, which is not present in V'ënen Taut, a language located near Tape. In addition, the Tape language contains a contrastive series of labiovelar consonants which the languages, V'ënen Taut, Larevat, and Naman lack.

Grammar

Nominalization

One is able to obtain a noun by adding a -ien to the a verb root.
Examples
By adding -ien to a verb ending in p, the p will usually change to a v.
Examples
One is able to obtain a noun By adding në- to a verb.
Examples
By combining two nouns together, one is able to form a new noun related to both words.
Examples
Adding a place after a noun indicates the noun is originating from that particular place.
Examples
In many Oceanic languages, there is a distinction between indirect and direct possession of nouns. Indirect possession usually occurs when adding another phrase or word after the possessive noun while direct possession occurs when adding a prefix to the noun it is possessing.
Examples
There are special markers indicating the different types of possession like using ese- for general possession. Besides the general possession, there is possession towards, eating, chewing, and drinking. By adding de-, jomo-, and mëne-, one is referring to eating, chewing, and drinking respectively.
SingularDualTrialPlural
1dokdedrudedëtëlded
2dom---
3dendarudartëldar

Examples
SingularDualTrialPlural
1jomokjomodrujomodëtëljomod
2jomom---
3jomonjomarujomartëljomar

Example
SingularDualTrialPlural
1mënokmënedrumënedëtëlmëned
2mënom---
3mënenmënarumënartëlmënar

Example
SingularDualTrialPlural
1esekesedruesedëtëlesed
2esom---
3esenesaruesartëlesar

Example
Example
  1. isimëk, isig
  2. iru
  3. itël
  4. ives
  5. ilëm
  6. lëmjis
  7. jiru
  8. jitël
  9. jevet
  10. isngel
  11. isngel dëmon isimëk
  12. isngel dëmon iru
  13. isngel dëmon itël
  14. isngel dëmon ives
  15. isngel dëmon ilëm
  16. isngel dëmon lëmjis
  17. isngel dëmon jiru
  18. isngel dëmon jitël
  19. isngel dëmon jevet
  20. ingelru
  21. ingelru dëmon isig
When counting from 1-10, it is like counting in any other language where an arbitrary meaning is attached to a word. After counting to ten, one must add the word, isngel and dëmon before the numerals 1-9 to make teen numbers. The form, dëmon, has no meaning by itself in the Tape language.
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