Glottolog volo1238 | Extinct 1986 | |
Language family AustronesianMalayo-PolynesianOceanicSouthern OceanicVanuatuNorthern VanuatuEast VanuatuMwotlapVolow | ||
Volow (pronounced [βʊˈlʊw]; formerly known as Valuwa or Valuga) is an Oceanic language variety which used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, in Vanuatu.
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Sociolinguistics
Volow has receded historically in favour of the now dominant language Mwotlap. It is now only remembered by a single passive speaker, who lives in the village of Aplow — the new name of what was previously known as Volow.
The similarity of Volow with Mwotlap is such that the two communalects may be considered dialects of a single language.
Phonology
Volow, like Mwotlap, has 7 phonemic vowels, which are all short monophthongs:
The language also has a typologically rare consonant: a rounded, prenasalised voiced labial-velar plosive [ᵑᵐɡ͡bʷ]: e.g. [n.lɛᵑᵐɡ͡bʷɛβɪn] “woman” (spelled n-leq̄evēn in the local orthography).