Mwotlap
Encyclopedia
Mwotlap is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people, on the island of Mota Lava
(or Motalava), in the Banks Islands
, in the northern part of Vanuatu
.
Mwotlap belongs to the East Vanuatu languages
, a branch of the Austronesian languages
family.
Mwotlap was first described in 2001, by the linguist Alexandre François.
vowels. These are 7 short monophthong
s /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ u/.
Mota Lava
Mota Lava or Motalava is the fourth largest island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu, after Gaua, Vanua Lava and Ureparapara, with an area of . It is the largest and highest of the eastern chain of islands...
(or Motalava), in the Banks Islands
Banks Islands
The Banks Islands are a group of islands in northern Vanuatu.Together with the Torres Islands to the northwest, they make up the northernmost province of Torba. The group lies about north of Maewo, and includes Gaua and Vanua Lava, two of the 13 largest islands in Vanuatu...
, in the northern part of Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
.
Mwotlap belongs to the East Vanuatu languages
East Vanuatu languages
-Languages:A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database included seven East Vanuatu languages. Three, the Paama–Ambrym languages, were found to form a separate family...
, a branch of the Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia that are spoken by about 386 million people. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic and Uralic as one of the...
family.
Mwotlap was first described in 2001, by the linguist Alexandre François.
Phonology
Mwotlap has 7 phonemicPhoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
vowels. These are 7 short monophthong
Monophthong
A monophthong is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation....
s /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ u/.