# Languages of the Solomon Islands archipelago

Between 60 and 70 languages are spoken in the Solomon Islands archipelago which covers a broader area than the nation state of Solomon Islands, and includes the island of Bougainville, which is an autonomous province of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The lingua franca of the Solomon Islands proper is Pijin (whereas the lingua franca of Bougainville is Tok Pisin) and the official language in both countries is English.

## Language families

Most of the languages in the Solomon Islands archipelago are Austronesian languages.
The Central Solomon languages such as Bilua, Lavukaleve, Savosavo and Touo constitute an independent family within the Papuan languages.
Two other language families are represented on Bougainville, which forms part of the nation of Papua New Guinea but is geographically part of the archipelago.
The status of the Reefs – Santa Cruz languages were once thought to be non-Austronesian, but further research found them to be divergent Austronesian languages. The neighbouring languages of Vanikoro are also heavily relexified Austronesian languages.
An indigenous sign language, Rennellese Sign Language, has gone extinct.

## Languages of the Solomon Islands archipelago

| Language | ISO 639-3 code | Speakers | % of total popⁿ | Area | Family | Branch |
| Pijin | pis | 24,390 (lg 1) 307,000 (lg 2) | 4.0689 (lg 1) 51.2162 (lg 2) | | Creole | Creole |
| ꞋAreꞌare | alu | 17,800 | 2.9695 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Arosi | aia | 6,750 | 1.1261 | Makira | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Baeggu | bvd | 5,900 | 0.9843 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Baelelea | bvc | 8,800 | 1.4681 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Bauro | bxa | 3,420 | 0.5706 | Makira | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Birao | brr | 5,900 | 0.9843 | Guadalcanal | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Bughotu | bgt | 4,048 | 0.6753 | Santa Isabel | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Dori'o | dor | 2,406 | 0.4014 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Fagani | faf | 902 | 0.1505 | Makira | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Fataleka | far | 6,703 | 1.1182 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Gela | nlg | 11,876 | 1.9813 | Nggela Islands | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Ghari | gri | 12,119 | 2.0218 | Guadalcanal | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Gula'alaa | gmb | 1,568 | 0.2616 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Kahua | agw | 5,170 | 0.8625 | Makira | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Kwaio | kwd | 13,249 | 2.2103 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Kwara'ae | kwf | 32,433 | 5.4107 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Lau | llu | 16,937 | 2.8256 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Lengo | lgr | 13,752 | 2.2942 | Guadalcanal | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Longgu | lgu | 1,894 | 0.3160 | Guadalcanal | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Oroha | ora | 38 | 0.0063 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Owa | stn | 3,069 | 0.5120 | Makira | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Sa'a | apb | 11,519 | 1.9217 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Talise | tlr | 12,525 | 2.0895 | Guadalcanal | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Toqabaqita | mlu | 12,572 | 2.0974 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Wala | lgl | 6,978 | 1.1641 | Malaita | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Malango | mln | 4,135 | 0.6898 | Guadalcanal | Southeast Solomonic | Oceanic |
| Gilbertese | gil | 1,230 | 0.2052 | Gizo, Choiseul | Micronesian | Oceanic |
| Tanema | tnx | 1 | 0.0002 | Vanikoro | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Asubuo | aua | 10 | 0.0017 | Utupua | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Amba | utp | 593 | 0.0989 | Utupua | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Äiwoo | nfl | 8,400 | 1.4014 | Reef Islands | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Lovono | vnk | 4 | 0.0007 | Vanikoro | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Nanggu | ngr | 210 | 0.0350 | Nendö | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Natügu | ntu | 4,280 | 0.7140 | Nendö | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Nalögo | nlz | 1,620 | 0.2703 | Nendö | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Tanibili | tbe | 15 | 0.0025 | Utupua | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Teanu | tkw | 800 | 0.1335 | Vanikoro | Temotu | Oceanic |
| Rennellese Sign Language | | 0 | 0.0000 | Rennell and Bellona Province | Home sign | Oceanic |
| Rennellese | mnv | 3,191 | 0.5323 | Rennell and Bellona Province | Polynesian | Oceanic |
| Luangiua | ojv | 2,367 | 0.3949 | Ontong Java | Polynesian | Oceanic |
| Sikaiana | sky | 731 | 0.1220 | Sikaiana | Polynesian | Oceanic |
| Tikopia | tkp | 3,324 | 0.5545 | Tikopia, Vanikoro | Polynesian | Oceanic |
| Vaeakau-Taumako | piv | 1,142 | 0.1905 | Duff Is, Reef Is | Polynesian | Oceanic |
| Anuta | aud | 267 | 0.0445 | Anuta Island | Polynesian | Oceanic |
| Lungga | lga | 2,767 | 0.4616 | Ranongga | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Marovo | mvo | 8,094 | 1.3503 | New Georgia | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Mono | mte | 3,337 | 0.5567 | Shortland Is, Treasury Is | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Ririo | rri | 79 | 0.0132 | Choiseul Province | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Roviana | rug | 9,871 | 1.6468 | New Georgia | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Babatana | baa | 5,600 | 0.9342 | Choiseul Province | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Blablanga | blp | 1,772 | 0.2956 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Cheke Holo | mrn | 10,840 | 1.8084 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Duke | nke | 2,312 | 0.3857 | Kolombangara | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Ghanongga | ghn | 2,508 | 0.4184 | Ranongga | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Hoava | hoa | 459 | 0.0766 | New Georgia | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Kazukuru | kzk | 0 | 0.0000 | New Georgia | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Kokota | kkk | 530 | 0.0884 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Kusaghe | ksg | 2,395 | 0.3996 | New Georgia | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Simbo | sbb | 2,701 | 0.4506 | Simbo | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Ughele | uge | 1,202 | 0.2005 | Rendova Island | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Vaghua | tva | 1,960 | 0.3270 | Choiseul Province | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Vangunu | mpr | 907 | 0.1513 | Vangunu | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Varisi | vrs | 5,161 | 0.8610 | Choiseul Province | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Gao | gga | 1,215 | 0.2027 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Laghu | lgb | 15 | 0.0025 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Zabana | kji | 3,355 | 0.5597 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Zazao | jaj | 10 | 0.0017 | Santa Isabel | Western Oceanic | Oceanic |
| Lavukaleve | lvk | 1,783 | 0.2975 | Russell Islands | Central Solomonic | Central Solomonic |
| Savosavo | svs | 2,415 | 0.4029 | Savo | Central Solomonic | Central Solomonic |
| Touo | tqu | 1,874 | 0.3126 | Rendova Island | Central Solomonic | Central Solomonic |
| Bilua | blb | 8,740 | 1.4581 | Vella Lavella | Central Solomonic | Central Solomonic |
Italics indicate that a language is extinct.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Tryon & Hackman (1983).
* ↑ Ples Blong Iumi: Solomon Islands the Past Four Thousand Years, Hugh Laracy (ed.), University of the South Pacific, 1989, ISBN 982-02-0027-X
* ↑ Obata (2003:1)
* ↑ Ross & Næss (2007).
* ↑ François (2009)

## Sources

* François, Alexandre (2009), "The languages of Vanikoro: Three lexicons and one grammar" (PDF), in Evans, Bethwyn (ed.), Discovering history through language: Papers in honour of Malcolm Ross, Pacific Linguistics 605, Canberra: Australian National University, pp. 103–126
* Obata, Kazuko (2003). A Grammar of Bilua: a Papuan language of the Solomon Islands (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 540. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. The Australian National University. doi:10.15144/PL-540. hdl:1885/146708. ISBN 0-85883-531-2.
* Ross, Malcolm; Næss, Åshild (2007). "An Oceanic origin for Äiwoo, the language of the Reef Islands?". Oceanic Linguistics. 46 (2): 456–498. doi:10.1353/ol.2008.0003. hdl:1885/20053.
* Tryon, Darrell T.; Hackman, Bryan D. (1983). Solomon Islands languages: an internal classification. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. doi:10.15144/PL-C72.
** Data set derived from Tryon & Hackman (1983): Greenhill, Simon, & Robert Forkel. (2019). lexibank/tryonsolomon: Solomon Islands Languages (Version v3.0). Zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3535809
* Oceania portal
* Languages portal