Background

The Ndi language is one of seven related languages in West Guadalcanal. These languages are part of the Austronesian language family. Linguist are not clear on just how many languages there are in the Guadalcanal, and so it is hard to be precise about where one language begins and another ends. It is true that adult speakers of one language are able to "hear" the other languages, especially neighbouring ones, and it is not unusual for an individual to be able to speak more than one of these languages as well. All seven languages (Ndi, Ngaria, Nggai, Ngeri, Ghari, Poleo, and Tabulehu) are called (by the Vaturanga) "hoko ni hita" or "our language" implying that those who speak any one of these languages are related. In fact, they are related by a long history of intermarriage.

The Summer Institute of Linguistics (see their entry on "Ghari") classifies Ndi as follows: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Southeastern Solomons, Gela-Guadalcanal. They note that in the 1976 census there were 913 Ndi speakers.

The names of five of the languages (all except Tambulehu and Poleo) mean "there" and this is a reference to the interrelatedness of the the languages. The answer to the question "What language do you speak?" is "I speak the language there" (i.e., the language of the place where we say "there" this way). Informants also stated that it is because the word for "there" is frequently used in conversation, so they are the people who are always saying "ndi" or "ngeri" and so on at the end of their sentences: Q: "Where are you going?" Iava vano hoe? in Ndi. A: "Over there" Nau vano tandi in Ndi.

In terms of languages generally, the Vaturanga operate daily in three languages, sometimes simultaneously in one conversation: Ndi (which is also called Vaturanga in some places, but is also spoken in Kakabona and Tabulivu districts), Pijin blong iumi ("our pidgin," which is a lingua franca using English vocabulary with a Melanesian grammar), and Standard English, which is the language of education at primary and especially secondary levels. Competency in Standard English is rare, but many people know English words or terms, and can follow radio broadcasts in English or Pijin.

Media is playing an important role in language change in West Guadalcanal. Both Ndi (as spoken by the Vaturanga) and Ghari are published, and Ghari is now featured in some popular music recordings, along with Pijin and English. Both Ndi and Ghari are understood in other parts of Guadalcanal via their use in the service books of the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches respectively (the Anglican service book says it is "in the language of the Vaturanga").

The Glossary

In subsequent updates I will include grammatical information as well as vocabulary.

A
ago = work
ari = fishing
aso = sun
avo = many

B
baka = child
bara = fence/gate
bo = pig
bongi = day
bua = betel nut
bule = stupid

C
chachaku = fast
chau = arrive
chichi = red/flower
chipu = jump
chuka = to plant

D
daki = woman/female
dale = son or daughter
dami = chew betel nut
dodoni = know/comprehend
dou = good

E
elau = exclamation of surprise
eo = yes

G
golo = money
gori = frog
gota = iguana

H
hahala = house for the dead
hahani = eat/food
hai = tree
hami = we (1st person plural excluding hearer)
hamu = you (2nd person plural)
hira = they (3rd person plural)
hita = we (1st person plural including hearer)
hoe = you (2nd person sing.)
hoko = talk/language
hua = how

I
ia = he/she (3rd person sing.)
iava = where?
inu = drink
iri = struggle
iva = cross cousin

J
jajaha = smart/clever
jari = say
jokolake = make or build a fire

K
kakake = taro
kamaha = relative
kavi = cut
ko = water
kolu = with
kua = leaf used in dami
kula = same sex sibling or parallel cousin
kusi = cat

L
labe = weak
lango = fly (noun)
launa = inside
leso = swim/bathe
loki = big
longa = bush/inland
luma = single men's house

M
mai = come
mamare = write/writing
mana = power
manabo = peace
manana = true
mane sere = white man
marijaca = morning
mate = die/dead
momoru = island
muata = snake
muri = behind/after

N
naho = front/before
nana = mother
nau = I (1st person sing.)
ngalitupa = year
ngangai = cry
ngiju = sand fly
ngulavi = evening

O
oka = before (ref. to time)
olo = swim (to some place)
ome = things

P
pada = think/know
papara = hot
parako = cloud/sky/weather
pepero = lie/fib
pilo = turn
poke = lime used in dami
pupu = maternal uncle/nephew

R
rahe = run
rau = leaf
rei = see
rodo = dark
rogomi = listen/hear
rogona = because/about

S
saheli = wear (clothes)
sai = together
sailahi = forever
sarahi = play
sasani = to learn
sasi = wrong/incorrect
seko = bad
sila = corn
sinauta = afternoon
sinahore = medicine
soa = call/name
sosongo = much/very much
suliha = strong
suti = torch

T
taho = take
taho mai = bring
tangani = marry
tangoli = hold
tangotobo = evil
tangotuhu = take revenge
tau = don't/not
tototo = garden
totu = sit/reside
tovo = taste/try
tu = stand
tua = leg
tumai = come from
turupatu = story/tell stories
tutuni = believe

U
uma = cut (weed)
unga = shadow/reflection
usa = rain
utu = hard
uvi = yam

V&W
vajangi = feel/sense
vale = married man's house
vanaho = steal
vano = go
varangi = nearby
varangisi = very close by
vesu = ask
veila = love
veke = promise
vera = place/village
vetuhu = star
vito = hungry
voki = room
voli = buy
vota = separate
vua = crocodile
vula = moon
vuli = wash clothes
vuvunga = mountain
waga = canoe
wana = fruit

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