Raga (also known as Hano) is the language of northern Pentecost Island in Vanuatu. It belongs to the Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian language family.
Overview
Raga is the most conservative language of Pentecost Island, having preserved final vowels and retained the five-vowel system inherited from Proto-Oceanic, while other languages on the island have developed additional vowels and pervasive vowel deletion. With an estimated 6,500 native speakers (as of 2000), it is the second most widely spoken of Pentecost's five native languages (after Apma) and the seventh largest vernacular in Vanuatu overall. Significant communities of Raga speakers also exist on Maewo Island and in the urban centers of Port Vila and Luganville due to emigration from Pentecost. Walter Lini, the independence leader of Vanuatu, was a native Raga speaker.
Name
The name Raga refers to the native name of Pentecost Island in the language, which can appear with the locative marker a-, giving Araga. In Tamambo (spoken on Malo Island), a cognate form Araha refers to the same island. The alternative name Hano literally means "what."
Classification and Dialects
Raga is classified under the North-Central Vanuatu languages, a branch of the Southern Oceanic subgroup. Modern Raga is relatively homogeneous with no significant dialectal variation. A distinctive southern dialect, Ḡasai, is now extinct; its last native speaker died in 1999.
Phonology
Raga consonants include the sounds /ŋ/ and /ᵑɡ/ (written as n̄ and ḡ respectively). The letter g is typically pronounced like the ch in Scottish "loch" ([x]). Prenasalization of voiced plosives occurs when the preceding consonant is nasal. Raga has the five basic vowels /i, e, a, o, u/, which are not generally distinguished for length. Stress occurs on the penultimate syllable of a word.
Grammar
Basic word order in Raga is subject–verb–object. Personal pronouns are distinguished by person and number but not by gender. Plurality is indicated by placing ira before a noun. Possession is expressed through possessive classifiers that take suffixes. Verbs are preceded by a subject pronoun and a tense–aspect–mood marker. Raga has five sets of tense–aspect–mood markers: imperfective, perfective, potential, prospective, and hypothetical.
Writing System
Raga is written using the Latin script. Additionally, the Avoiuli writing system — a unique script inspired by local sand drawings — is used by members of the Turaga indigenous movement based at Lavatmanggemu in north-eastern Pentecost.
Language Contact and Revitalization
The Raga spoken by most people today is heavily mixed with Bislama, Vanuatu's national language. The Turaga indigenous movement has attempted to purge the language of foreign influences by coining or rediscovering native words for introduced concepts, such as vat bon̄bon̄i ("night stones") for "torch battery" and ḡuha ("movement") for "hour."
Status
Raga is classified as not endangered according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. It is widely spoken as a second language by native speakers of other Vanuatu languages and is generally considered easy to learn.
Language Codes
- ISO 639-3:
lml - Glottolog:
hano1246
