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Mwerlap language

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Mwerlap
Merelava, Merlav
N̄wërlap
Pronunciation[ŋʷɞrˈlap]
Native toVanuatu
RegionMerelava, Gaua
Native speakers
ca. 1,100 (2012)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mrm
Glottologmerl1237
Mwerlap is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Mwerlap is an Oceanic language spoken in the south of the Banks Islands in Vanuatu.

Its 1,100 speakers live mostly in Merelava and Merig, but a fair proportion have also settled on the east coast of Gaua island.[2] Besides, a number of Mwerlap speakers live in the two cities of Vanuatu, Port Vila and Luganville.

The language has been studied by Alexandre François, and more recently by Agnès Henri.[3]

Name

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The language is named after Mwerlap, the native name of Merelava island.

Phonology

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Mwerlap has 12 phonemic vowels. These include 9 monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ ʉ ɵ ɞ ʊ ɔ a/,[4] and 3 diphthongs /ɛ͡a ɔ͡ɞ ʊ͡ɵ/.[5]

Mwerlap vowels
Front Central
rounded
Back Diphthongs
Close i ⟨i⟩ ʉ ⟨u⟩
Near-close ɪ ⟨ē⟩ ɵ ⟨ö⟩ ʊ ⟨ō⟩ ʊ͡ɵ ⟨ōö⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨e⟩ ɞ ⟨ë⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩ ɔ͡ɞ ⟨oë⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩ ɛ͡a ⟨ea⟩

Grammar

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The system of personal pronouns in Mwerlap contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers (singular, dual, plural).[6]

Independent pronouns in Mwerlap[7]
Singular Dual Plural
1st inclusive no ~ në /nɔ/~/nœ/ dōrō /ⁿdʊrʊ/ gean /ɣɛ͡an/
exclusive kamar /kamar/ kemem /kɛmɛm/
2nd neak /nɛ͡ak/ kamrō /kamrʊ/ kemi /kɛmi/
3rd (ki)sean /(ki)sɛ͡an/ karar /karar/ kear /kɛ͡ar/

Spatial reference in Mwerlap is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals.[8] That system is partly typical of Oceanic languages, and yet innovative.[9]

References

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  1. ^ François 2012, p. 88.
  2. ^ François 2012, p. 97.
  3. ^ Henri 2023.
  4. ^ Henri (2023, pp. 165–167); see online.
  5. ^ François 2005, pp. 445, 460.
  6. ^ François 2016, p. 51.
  7. ^ François 2016, p. 33-35.
  8. ^ Henri (2023, pp. 205–212); see online.
  9. ^ François 2015, pp. 173–175.

Bibliography

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  • François, Alexandre (2005). "Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF). Oceanic Linguistics. 44 (2): 443–504. doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0034. S2CID 131668754.
  • —— (2011). "Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence" (PDF). Journal of Historical Linguistics. 1 (2): 175–246. doi:10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra. hdl:1885/29283.
  • —— (2012). "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF). International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 2012 (214): 85–110. doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022. S2CID 145208588.
  • —— (2015). "The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages" (PDF). In Alexandre François; Sébastien Lacrampe; Michael Franjieh; Stefan Schnell (eds.). The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. pp. 137–195. hdl:1885/14819. ISBN 978-1-922185-23-5.
  • —— (2016). "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF). In Pozdniakov, Konstantin (ed.). Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles. Faits de Langues. Vol. 47. Bern: Peter Lang. pp. 25–60.
  • Henri, Agnès (2023). "Éléments de description du mwerlap (langue du Nord-Vanuatu)". Lalies. 41: 157–221. doi:10.4000/1232y. Retrieved 2024-10-12.
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