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Torres–Banks Languages
The Torres–Banks languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in the Torres Islands and Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu. Languages François (2011) recognizes 17 languages spoken by 9,400 people in 50 villages, including 16 living (3 of which are moribund) and one extinct language. François (2011). The 17 languages, ranked from northwest to southeast, are: : Comparative studies A. François has published several studies comparing various features of the Torres–Banks languages: * François (2005): Inventories of vowel systems, and their historical development; * François (2007): Systems of noun articles, and their historical development; * François (2009): How several languages grammaticalized a set of light personal pronouns into markers for “aorist” aspect; * François (2011): How Torres–Banks languages tend to show structural isomorphism, yet lexical diversity; * François (2013): Etymological reconstruction of spiritual terms in Torres– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torres Islands
The Torres Islands are an island chain in the Torba Province of the country of Vanuatu, the country’s northernmost island group. The chain of islands that make up this micro-archipelago straddles the broader cultural boundary between Island Melanesia and several Polynesian outliers located in the neighbouring Solomon Islands. To the island chain’s north is Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands, to its south is Espiritu Santo, and to its southeast are the Banks Islands. To the west, beneath the ocean surface, is the deep Torres Trench, which is the subduction zone between the Australian Plate and Pacific Plate. The seven islands in the Torres group, from north to south, are Hiw island, Hiw or ''Hiu'' (the largest), Metoma, Tegua, Ngwel (an uninhabited islet), Linua, Lo (island), Lo or ''Loh'', and Toga (island), Toga. The island chain stretches across . The highest point of the chain is only above sea level. These islands are less rugged than the other islands of Vanuatu th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lo Island
Lo (sometimes wrongly spelled ''Loh'') is an island in the Torres group of islands, in northern Vanuatu. The island is located 2.25 miles from the Toga Island. As of 2009, the population of the island was 210. They speak the Lo dialect of the Lo-Toga language. Name The name ''Lo'' comes from the Lo-Toga language, where it is spelt ''Lō'' . It is of obscure origin. Transportation The Torres islands are served by Torres Airport, which is located on the Linua Linua is an island in the Torres Islands archipelago in Torba Province of Vanuatu in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. Geography Linua has a length of 2.8 km and diameter of 1 km. The estimated terrain elevation above sea level is 23 me ... island, just off the north coast of Lo. The airport is mostly used by Lo residents. Lo is not frequently visited by outsiders. Villages Lo has two main villages: ''Lun̄haregi'' (a.k.a. ''Lunghariki'') and ''Rinuhe'' ; and a smaller hamlet, ''Telaqlaq'' . In 2018, the Vanua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mota Language
Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. It is the most conservative Torres–Banks language, and the only one to keep its inherited five-vowel system intact while also preserving most final vowels. Name The language is named after the island. History During the period 1840–1940, Mota was used as a missionary ''lingua franca'' throughout areas of Oceania included in the Melanesian Mission, an Anglican missionary agency. Mota was used on Norfolk Island, in religious education; on other islands with different vernacular languages, it served as the language of liturgical prayers, hymns, and some other religious purposes. Elizabeth Fairburn Colenso translated religious material into the language. Robert Henry Codrington compiled the first dictionary of Mota (1896), and worked with George Sarawia and others to produce a large number of early publications in this language. Phonology Phoneme inventory Mota phon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwesen Language
Mwesen (formerly known by its Mota name ''Mosina'') is an Oceanic language spoken in the southeastern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 10 speakers. François (2012): 88). Mwesen shows many similarities with the island's dominant language Vurës, to such an extent that they have sometimes been considered dialects of a single language. However, studies have shown that Mwesen and Vurës have various dissimilarities, e.g. in their vowel systems, in their noun articles, in their pronoun paradigms. François (2009), François (2016). Name The name ''Mwesen'' is originally the name of a village, in the eastern part of Vanua Lava; it is spelled ''M̄ēsēn'' both in Mwesen itself, and in neighbouring Vurës. The village is known as ''Am̄sēn'' (with locative prefix ''a-'') in Mwotlap, and as ''M̄osina'' (modern: ''M̄osna'' ) in Mota. All these different names are derived from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *''mʷosina''. The old Mot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vurës Language
Vurës (Vureas, Vures) is an Oceanic language spoken in the southern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 2000 speakers. Vurës was described by linguist Catriona Malau, in the form of a grammar and a dictionary. Name The name ''Vurës'' is named after the bay located in southwestern Vanua Lava in the language itself. In Mota, the bay is referred to as ''Vureas'' . Cognates in other Torres-Banks languages include Mwotlap ''Vuyes'' and Mwesen ''Vures'' . These come from a reconstructed Proto-Torres–Banks form ''*βureas(i,u)'', with an unknown final high vowel. Dialectology Vurës shows enough similarities with the neighbouring language Mwesen that the two have sometimes been considered dialects of a single language, sometimes called ''Mosina'' (after the name of Mwesen village in the language Mota). And indeed, a 2018 glottometric study has calculated that Vurës and Mwesen share 85% of their historical innovations, revealing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanua Lava
Vanua Lava is the second largest of the Banks Islands in Torba Province, Vanuatu, after slightly larger Gaua. It is located about 120 km north-northeast of Espiritu Santo and north of Gaua. Name The name ''Vanua Lava'' comes from the Mota language, which was used as the primary language of the Melanesian Mission. Locally, the island is called ''Vōnōlav'' / in Vurës and Mwesen, ''Vunulava'' in Vera'a, and ''Vunulāv'' in Lemerig. In the immigrant language Mwotlap, it is referred to as ''Apnōlap'' (with the locative prefix ''a-''). Cognates in other Torres-Banks languages include Lo-Toga ''Venielave'' and Lakon ''Vanōlav'' . All of these terms come from a Proto-Torres–Banks form *'' βanua laβa'' "Large Land". History Vanua Lava was first sighted by Europeans during the Spanish expedition of Pedro Fernández de Quirós from 25 to 29 April 1606. The island’s name was then charted as ''Portal de Belén'' (“Nativity scene” in Spanish). Vanua Lava was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemerig Language
Lemerig is an Oceanic language spoken on Vanua Lava, in Vanuatu. The language is no longer actively spoken. The 2 remaining speakers live on the northern coast of the island. Lemerig has receded in favour of its neighbours Mwotlap and Vera'a. Name The name ''Lemerig'' refers to a now abandoned village in northern Vanua Lava; it is spelled in the language of the same name. It reflects an earlier Proto-Torres-Banks form ''*lemeriɣi'', where the ''*riɣi'' component likely means "small". Dialects Lemerig has sometimes been referred to using the names of its local varieties: ''Päk''; ''Sasar''; ''Alo-Teqel''. Judging from wordlists published by missionary and linguist Robert Codrington, these three varieties were very close to each other. The little differences there were went extinct during the 20th century. Phonology Lemerig has 11 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs .See François 2021. Grammar The system of personal pronouns in Lemerig contrasts c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mwotlap Language
Mwotlap (pronounced ; 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 any detail 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. The language Name The Mwotlap language is named after the island of Motalava, which is locally known as ''Mwotlap''. Geographic distribution Mwotlap is spoken by about 2,100 people in the Banks Islands, in the North of Vanuatu. Among them, 1,640 live on the island of Mota Lava and its neighbor island, Ra. It is also spoken by a few hundred people living elsewhere in Vanuatu: * Vanua Lava, particularly in the northeast * Sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mota Lava
Mota Lava or Motalava is an island of the Banks group, in the north of Vanuatu. It forms a single coral system with the small island of Ra. The 2009 census figures give a population of 1,640 inhabitants (Mota Lava + Ra), which amounts to a population density of 67 people per km2. Geography Geography and geology With an area of 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi), Mota Lava is the fourth largest island in the Banks Islands, after Gaua, Vanua Lava and Ureparapara. It is the highest () of the eastern chain of islands, as well as the largest. Ra, a small island of , is located off the southern coast of Mota Lava. It is attached to it by high corals that one can wade through at low tide. The climate on Mota Lava is humid tropical. The average annual rainfall exceeds 4000 mm. The island is subject to frequent earthquakes and cyclones. The island is served by Mota Lava Airport. Geology Mota Lava is composed of at least five basaltic stratovolcanoes. Two of the cones, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volow Language
Volow (formerly known as ''Valuwa'' or ''Valuga'') is an Oceanic language variety that used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, Vanuatu. Name The name ''Volow'' is originally a placename: it corresponds to the area known today as Aplow, but in the former language Volow rather than in Mwotlap. Now that the Volow dialect has ceased to be used, the name ''Volow'' has been forgotten by the modern population. The place is only known through its Mwotlap name ''Aplow''; as for the language variety, it is often referred to, in the Mwotlap language, as ''na-vap te-Plōw'' “the language of Aplow”. The language variety is sometimes also referred to as ''na-vap ta Dagmel'' “the language of Dagmel” (in Mwotlap), after the name of an ancient, now abandoned, village. Sociolinguistics Volow has receded historically in favor of the now dominant language Mwotlap. It is now only remembered by a single passive speaker, who lives in the vill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Löyöp Language
Löyöp (formerly known as ''Lehalurup'') is an Oceanic language spoken by about 240 people, on the east coast of Ureparapara Island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu.List of Banks islands languages François (2012). It is distinct from Lehali, the language spoken on the west coast of the same island. The language was originally native to the Rowa Islands, having been brought to Ureparapara around the 1930s when a tsunami struck the Reef Islands and forced the speakers to relocate. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
