The Are'are Alphabet

Are'are is an Oceanic language ^[1] spoken by approximately 18,000 people in South Malaita province and on Small Malaita island in the Solomon Islands. The language is a member of the Southeast Solomonic branch of Oceanic Austronesian.

The Are'are people inhabit the southern coast of Malaita and the associated small islands. They are predominantly Christian today but maintain strong traditional cultural practices including panpipe music, shell money exchange, and elaborate funerary ceremonies.

Are and Are'are are the same language ^[2] — Are'are is the full name while Are is a shortened form. Both share the ISO 639-3 code alu. The apostrophe in Are'are indicates the glottal stop or pause between the two 'are syllables.

In academic linguistics, Are'are is the more commonly used form. Both names are used by the community itself. The full name Are'are more accurately represents the phonological structure of the language's name as spoken by native speakers.

The Are'are panpipe tradition is one of the most sophisticated music systems ^[1] in the Pacific. The 'au is a set of bamboo panpipes played in ensembles where each player contributes one or two notes in an interlocking pattern, creating complex melodic textures that no single player can produce alone.

This music has been studied by ethnomusicologists worldwide. Recordings were made starting in the 1970s and the tradition has attracted international academic attention. The music is performed at funerals, celebrations, and ceremonies and is considered essential to Are'are spiritual and social life.

Are'are uses a Latin orthography ^[1] developed primarily through missionary activity in the 20th century. The writing system is relatively straightforward, with vowel length written by doubling the vowel letter (aa, ee, ii, oo, uu for long vowels).

Published materials in Are'are include Bible translations, educational materials, and some oral tradition documentation. The Latin script is used in schools and churches, though much of the language's rich oral literature is transmitted orally.

Are'are is a living language ^[2] with around 18,000 speakers and active intergenerational transmission. It is used in the home and community in South Malaita, alongside Solomon Islands Pijin as the broader lingua franca.

The language has a small body of written literature and continues to be spoken by children in the community. The Are'are panpipe tradition also serves as a cultural anchor that supports the language's vitality by keeping ceremonial life in Are'are.

Are'are is a typical Oceanic language ^[2] with a system of possessive classifiers, verb-initial tendencies, and obligatory subject indexing on verbs. Like most Oceanic languages, it distinguishes inclusive and exclusive first-person plural forms.

Are'are uses serial verb constructions and a system of aspect marking on verbs. Nouns are classified by type of possession — inalienable possession (body parts, kinship terms) uses one construction while alienable possession (objects, food) uses another.

Malaita is one of the most linguistically diverse ^[1] provinces in the Solomon Islands, home to dozens of distinct languages including Kwaio, Lau, Fataleka, Baelelea, and others in the north and central areas, and Are'are and Sa'a in the south.

All Malaita languages belong to the Southeast Solomonic branch of Oceanic Austronesian. Despite the linguistic diversity, Solomon Islands Pijin serves as the inter-community lingua franca. Malaita\'s linguistic richness is a treasure for comparative Oceanic linguistics.

Shell money (tafuliae in Pijin) ^[1] is a traditional medium of exchange used across Malaita including the Are'are area. It consists of strings of disk-shaped shell beads ground from red or white shells and strung together in standard lengths.

Shell money is used in bride payments, compensation, and ceremonial exchanges. The Are'are language has a rich vocabulary related to shell money transactions, reflecting the central role this institution plays in social relations. It remains in ceremonial use today.