Southwest Tanna is a
dialect chain
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
spoken on the southwestern coast of
Tanna Island
Tanna (sometimes misspelled ''Tana'') is an island in Tafea Province of Vanuatu.
Name
The name ''Tanna'', first cited by James Cook, is derived from the word ''tana'' in the Kwamera language, meaning "earth".
Etymologically, ''Tanna'' goes bac ...
in
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
. Lynch (1982) names three major dialects: Nivhaal in the north-west of the language area (spelt "Nauvhal" in publicity for the 2015 film ''
Tanna''), Nivai in the south-west, and Nelpwaai in the north-east.
References
External links
Database of audio recordings in language of Tanna, Southwest - basic Catholic prayers*Paradisec has two collections of
Arthur Cappell's materials
AC1AC2
that include Southwest Tanna language materials.
*Nehrbass's Comprehensive lexicon contains data on the dialects of the Southwest Tanna language
Languages of Vanuatu
South Vanuatu languages
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