Native to Solomon Islands Dialects 'Are'are
Marau Sound | Native speakers 18,000 (1999) ISO 639-3 alu | |
Region southern Malaita, Solomon Islands Language family Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Oceanic
Southeast Solomonic
Malaita – San Cristobal
Malaita
Southern Malaita
'Are'are | ||
The 'Are'are language is spoken by the 'Are'are people of the Solomon Islands. It is spoken by about 18,000 people, making it the second-largest Oceanic language in the Solomons after the Kwara'ae (also from Malaita). The literacy rate for 'Are'are is somewhere between 30% and 60% for first language speakers, and 25%–50% for second language learners. There are also translated Bible portions into the language from 1957–2008.
Contents
Geographic Distribution
The language is spoken mainly by the 'Are'are people, on the southern part of Malaita island, as well as nearby South Malaita Island and the eastern shore of Guadalcanal (the Marau Sound, 60 km away), in the Solomon Islands archipelago. The speakers live as hunters and agriculturalists.
Dialects
The language is divided into two dialects, 'Are'are proper and Marau, spoken at Marau Sound in eastern Guadalcanal. Marau is sometimes counted as a separate language.
Grammar
The language uses a subject–verb–object word order.