1. Name

2. Dialects

3. Number

4. Phonology

5. Deixis

6. Nouns

7. Syntax

8. References

9. External links

Sakao is an Oceanic language spoken on the northeast horn of Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu.

Name

Sakao is the name of the language as used by foreigners and linguists. It is named after Sakao Island, an islet off the northeastern shore of Espiritu Santo, almost opposite Port-Olry. (Incidentally, this is not the native name of that island, which is called Laðhi by Sakao speakers. The name sakau means ‘coral reef’ in various languages of Vanuatu, but it is unknown exactly which one gave its name to the island.)

The speakers of Sakao refer to their own language using various names, depending on the variety considered.

Dialects

Sakao has undergone considerable phonological change and innovations, which make it utterly unintelligible to its closely related neighbours of Espiritu Santo. Thus for instance, comparing the following words with their cognates in its close relative Tolomako:

The main dialects of Sakao are Northern, or Port-Olry dialect, and Southern, or Hog-Harbour dialect. The Southern dialect is the more conservative one. It is characterized by the loss of most pretonic and posttonic vowels, resulting in consonant clusters unusual for an Oceanic language. The Northern dialect is characterized by its extensive use of epenthetic vowels, which have achieved phonemic status, resulting in what looks superficially like vowel harmony; the loss of the initial 'n' of nouns, except in monosyllabic nouns (this n being a reflex of the common Austronesian article na, fused to the nouns in Sakao); and the diphthonguization of some word-final vowels

Thus for instance Port-Olry has {{IPA|/œmœɣœɛ/}} "fog, mist" where Hog-Harbour has {{IPA|/nmɣœ/}}.

Unless otherwise indicated, examples given here are in the Northern, Port-Olry, dialect.

Number

Like Tolomako, Sakao distinguishes four numbers for its personal pronouns. However, they are not singular, dual, trial, plural, but singular, dual, paucal, plural. The Sakao paucal derives from the Tolomako trial, thus Tolomako i γire-tolu "they three", Sakao jørðœl "they, from three to ten" (ðœl is regularly derivable from tolu). One says in Sakao jørðœl løn "the five of them" which is, etymologically, "they three, five."

Substantives are not inflected for number, except kinship terms which distinguish singular and plural: {{IPA|ðjœɣ}} "my mother/aunt," {{IPA|rðjœɣ}} "my aunts;" {{IPA|walðyɣ}} "my child," {{IPA|raalðyɣ}} "my children." Likewise all demonstratives (pronouns, adjectives, even locatives): {{IPA|wa}} "this one," {{IPA|warɨr}} "these ones;" {{IPA|aðœŋœn mam}} "this person," {{IPA|aðœŋœn mamɨr}} "these persons;" {{IPA|ðað}} "here," {{IPA|ðaðɨr}} "in several places around here."

Phonology