Lakon is an Oceanic language, spoken on the west coast of Gaua island in Vanuatu.

Names

The language name Lakon refers originally to the area where it is spoken ‒ namely Lakona Bay, corresponding to the west coast of Gaua. The alternative name Lakona is from the Mota language. These names are derived from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *laᵑgona, of unknown meaning. Lakon had four dialects, named Qatareu (Qätärew ), Vure (Vurē ), Toglatareu, and Togla.

Phonology

Consonants

Lakon has 16 phonemic consonants. The glottal stop only occurs before vowels in syllable-initial position. While non-phonemic, it is sometimes noted in the orthography, using a ⟨’⟩ mark.

Vowels

Lakon has 16 phonemic vowels. These include 8 short /i ɪ ɛ æ a ɔ ʊ u/ and 8 long vowels /iː ɪː ɛː æː aː ɔː ʊː uː/. Historically, the phonemicisation of vowel length originates in the compensatory lengthening of short vowels when the alveolar trill was lost syllable-finally. This is considered to be a very recent change, perhaps within the last century, as Codrington still indicates the trill syllable-finally. However, the 1897 Book of Common Prayer in Lakon shows loss of the trill, as evidenced by tataa "prayer" (spelled as tata) for Mota tataro.

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Lakon contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural). Spatial reference in Lakon is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages.