Solos love poem

Love poem translated into Solos, here in Mainland Solos (the different other names you coul find, including dialects, are: Toros, Nora Solos, Peit Solos, Coastal Solos, Pokai Tung, Kahule, Hetal).

Solos is a language spoken on the island of Buka (province of Bougainville) in Papua New Guinea. This Malayo-Polynesian language, Northwest Solomonic, has about 3,500 speakers.

Here is a list of about twenty villages where Solos is spoken: Tung, Sapani, Bei, Poka, Telatu, Hapan, Hetal, Tatarei, Kohiso, Kahule, Barikua, Noupan, Gagan, Bekut, Nova, Kohino , Nokia, Yagits, Taban, Tsitsigun.

If the use of this language seems to be maintained (adults and some children use it as a first intention), it is not learned at school. Also, with its low number of speakers, it remains to be monitored.

Solos is one of the Austronesian languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. It comes from groups originating in southern China, who arrived in the region 3 or 4,000 years ago, while Papuan populations, with languages of another origin, had occupied this region for 30,000 years.

In general, these new groups pushed inland the Papuan populations already present. Also, the languages of Austronesian origin are more present in the coastal regions, while the Papuan languages are more inland.

In the province of Bougainville, there are twice as many Austronesian languages as Papuan languages. This multiplication is perhaps linked to meetings with Papuan languages.