Touo is generally seen to be a member of the tentative Central Solomons family, although Glottolog considers it an isolate. Pedrós (2015) cautiously suggests Lavukaleve as the closest relative to Touo. Most of the surrounding languages to Touo belong to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.
Names
The Touo language is sometimes called the Baniata (Mbaniata) or Lokuru language, after the largest two villages where the language is spoken.[2] The word Touo comes from the ethnonym that Touo speakers use to refer to themselves.
Phonology
Consonants
Touo consonants are:[3]: 869
Vowels
Touo has six lax and five tense vowels.[4]
Some minimal pairs showing the tense/lax vowel phonemic distinction in Touo:[3][4]
Grammar
Word order in Touo is SOV.[3]
Touo has four genders.[3]
masculine
feminine
neuter I (generic)
neuter II (certain trees)
Only in certain paradigms of the singular number can neuter I and II be distinguished.
Touo distinguishes four numbers.[3]
singular
dual
enumerated (i.e., numerically specified; can be used for both few or many numbers)
non-enumerated (i.e., not numerically specified; used for numbers greater than three)
^Touo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^Tryon, D. T.; Hackman, B. D. (1983). Solomon Islands languages: an internal classification. Pacific Linguistics Series C - No. 72. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-C72. hdl:1885/145227. ISBN 978-0-85883-292-3.
^ a b c d eStebbins, Tonya; Evans, Bethwyn; Terrill, Angela (2018). "The Papuan languages of Island Melanesia". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 775–894. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
^ a bNammari, Maisa. Touo: An Exploration of Grammar through Narration (BA thesis). Boulder: University of Colorado.
Paradisec has two collections of Arthur Cappell's materials (AC1, AC2) that include Touo language materials.
References
Dunn, Michael (2005). "Vernacular Literacy in the Touo Language of the Solomon Islands". Current Issues in Language Planning. 6 (2): 239–250. doi:10.1080/14664200508668283. S2CID 130210017.
Terrill, Angela; Dunn, Michael (2003). "Orthographic design in the Solomon Islands: The social, historical, and linguistic situation of Touo (Baniata)". Written Language & Literacy. 6 (2): 177–192. doi:10.1075/wll.6.2.03ter.
