The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, with the Italian sounds. All of these
vowels may be long or short, the long sound being represented by a
doubling of the vowel. Closed syllables do not occur, and every word
ends with a vowel. The vowel o in Lau frequently represents a in
Sa'a: _fou_ rock, Sa'a _hau_; _finau_ hook, Sa'a _hinou_; _loulou_
quick, Sa'a _lauleu_. Where in Sa'a a changes to e in certain words
after a preceding i or u, no such change is made in Lau in the same
words: _ia_ fish, Sa'a _i'e_; _ua_ still, Sa'a _ue_; _i asi_ at sea,
Sa'a i _'esi_.
The diphthongs are ae, ai, ao, eu, ei, ou, as in _sae_, _mai_,
_rao_, _dau_, _mei_, _fou_, pronounced, respectively, as in the
English words eye, iron, hour, how, hey, oh.
The consonants are f, k, g; d, t; b; q, gw; l, r; s; m; mw; n, ng.
The f replaces an h in Sa'a: _fera_ village, Sa'a _hera_ courtyard;
_fuli fera_ village, Sa'a _huli_ bed, _huli nume_ site of house.
The sound represented by f often approximates to v.
Both k and g are hard. The Melanesian g is not heard; as in Sa'a, it
has been dropped in certain words, _ia_ fish, but there is no
noticeable break in the pronunciation. In certain other words this g
is replaced by k: _take_, to stand. Mota _sage_, Sa'a _ta'e_. The g
in Lau may replace a k in Sa'a: _igera_ they, Sa'a _ikire_. A g also
appears in personal pronoun plural 1, excl., where Sa'a has a break:
_igami_ we, Sa'a _i'emi_. A g may also replace an h in Sa'a: _luga_
to loose, Sa'a _luhe_.
There is no preface of n in the sound of d.
In many words a t has been dropped: _angi_ to cry, Oceanic _tangi_;
_asi_ sea, Oceanic _tasi_; _ola_ canoe, Florida _tiola_, Sa'a
_'iola_.
There is no w in Lau. Where it occurs in Sa'a its place is supplied
in Lau by q, the sound of which is kw or ku: _qalu_ eight, Sa'a
_walu_. In Lau the island Ulawa is known as Ulaqa. A q in Lau may
represent an h in Sa'a: _qai_, the reciprocal prefix, is in Sa'a
_hai_. The letter gw may represent a q (pw) in Sa'a: _gwou_ head,
Sa'a _qau_; _gwini_ wet, Sa'a _qini_; _gwou_ deserted, Mota _wou_.
The sound of d is not followed by r, as is the case in Sa'a, nor is
d before i sounded any way differently, as is the case in Sa'a.
Nasal m, i.e., mw, is not so common a sound as it is in Sa'a, but it
is heard in _mwane_ male, _mwela_ child.
There is an interchange between n and l: _nima_ or _lima_ five;
_daluma_ middle, Sa'a _danume_; _inala_ to discern, Sa'a _ilala_.
Both l and r are used and the sounds are distinct; both sounds are
trilled.