Mwotlap language

Mwotlap
Motlav
Pronunciation	[ŋ͡mʷɔtˈlap]
Native to	Vanuatu
Region	Mota Lava island, Banks Islands
Native speakers	2100 (2012)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic Northern Vanuatu Mwotlap
Dialects	Volow
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mlv
Glottolog	motl1237

Mwotlap (pronounced [ŋ͡mʷɔtˈlap]; formerly known as Motlav) is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra (or Aya) and Vanua Lava, as well as migrant groups in the two main cities of the country, Santo and Port Vila.

Mwotlap was first described in 2001, by the linguist Alexandre François.

Volow, which used to be spoken on the same island, may be considered a dialect or a separate language.

Phonology

Mwotlap has 7 phonemic vowels, which are all short monophthongs:

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Near-close	ɪ	ʊ
Open-mid	ɛ	ɔ
Open	a

References

• François, Alexandre (2001), Contraintes de structures et liberté dans l'organisation du discours. Une description du mwotlap, langue océanienne du Vanuatu. PhD dissertation, Université Paris-IV Sorbonne. 1078 pp.

• .

External links

• (French) Alexandre François's site, including introduction to Mwotlap and Motalava culture, photos, maps, songs, myths and stories
• Two stories in Mwotlap: “The three wives of the Gecko” and “The Fairy from the Other World” (with English and French translations).
• Access to the Mwotlap–English–French dictionary
• Access to audio recordings in Mwotlap (from the Pangloss Collection, LACITO–CNRS).
• Nalne Genyon Ta Melanesia A Liturgy for Melanesia in Mwotlap (1970)