Vaeakau-Taumako | |
---|---|
Pileni | |
Region | Reef Islands and Taumako, Solomon Islands |
Native speakers | (1,700 cited 1999)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | piv |
Glottolog | pile1238 |
ELP | Vaeakau-Taumako |
Vaeakau-Taumako (formerly known as Pileni) is a Polynesian language spoken in some of the Reef Islands as well as in the Taumako Islands (also known as the Duff Islands) in the Temotu province of Solomon Islands.
The language is spoken throughout the Taumako Islands, while in the Reef Islands, it is spoken on Aua, Matema, Nifiloli, Nupani, Nukapu, and Pileni. Speakers are thought[by whom?] to be descendants of people from Tuvalu.
Vaeakau-Taumako was described by linguists Even Hovdhaugen and Åshild Næss, in the form of a dictionary[2] and a grammar.[3]