Native to Vanuatu Native speakers ca. 1,100 (2012) Glottolog merl1237 | Region Merelava, Gaua ISO 639-3 mrm | |
Language family Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Oceanic
Southern Oceanic
Vanuatu
Northern Vanuatu
East Vanuatu
Mwerlap | ||
Mwerlap is an Oceanic language spoken in the south of the Banks Islands in Vanuatu.
Contents
Its 1100 speakers live mostly in Merelava and Merig, but a fair proportion have also settled the east coast of Gaua island. Besides, a number of Mwerlap speakers live in the two cities of Vanuatu, Port Vila and Luganville.
Names
Mwerlap is the name of Merelava island in the language, phonetically [ŋʷɞrlap]. The language is sometimes referred to as Merelava or Merlav in the literature.
Merelava reflects the name of the island in Mota, another language of the Banks Islands. Merlav represents an earlier attempt at transcribing the vernacular name of the island.
Phonology
Mwerlap has 12 phonemic vowels. These include 9 monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ a ɞ ɵ ʉ ɔ ʊ/ and 3 diphthongs /ɛ͡a ɔ͡ɞ ʊ͡ɵ/.