Mwerlap language

{{Infobox language

|name=Mwerlap

|altname=Merelava, Merlav

|nativename=N̄wërlap

|pronunciation={{IPA|mrm|ŋʷɞrˈlap|}}

|states=Vanuatu

|region=Merelava, Gaua

|speakers=ca. 1,100

|date=2012

|ref={{sfn|François|2012|p=88}}

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Oceanic

|fam4=Southern Oceanic

|fam5=North-Central Vanuatu

|fam6=North Vanuatu

|fam7=Torres-Banks

|iso3=mrm

|glotto=merl1237

|glottorefname=Merlav

|notice=IPA

|map = Lang Status 99-NE.svg

|mapcaption = {{center|{{small|Mwerlap is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

}}

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.{{sfn|François|2012|p=97}} 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.{{sfn|Henri|2023|}}

Name

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

Phonology

=Consonants=

Mwerlap has 16 phonemic consonants.

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" \|+Mwerlap consonants ! colspan="2" \| !Labiovelar !Labial !Alveolar !Velar
rowspan="2" \|Plosive !voiceless \|{{IPA link\|kʷ}} {{angbr\|q}} \|{{IPA link\|p}} {{angbr\|p}} \|{{IPA link\|t}} {{angbr\|t}} \|{{IPA link\|k}} {{angbr\|k}}
prenasal \| \|{{IPA link\|ᵐb}} {{angbr\|b}} \|{{IPA link\|ⁿd}} {{angbr\|d}} \|
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|{{IPA link\|ŋʷ}} {{angbr\|n̄w}} \|{{IPA link\|m}} {{angbr\|m}} \|{{IPA link\|n}} {{angbr\|n}} \|{{IPA link\|ŋ}} {{angbr\|n̄}}
colspan="2" \|Fricative \| \|{{IPA link\|v}} ~ {{IPA link\|β}} {{angbr\|v}} \|{{IPA link\|s}} {{angbr\|s}} \|{{IPA link\|ɣ}} {{angbr\|g}}
colspan="2" \|Rhotic \| \| \|{{IPA link\|r}} {{angbr\|r}} \|
colspan="2" \|Lateral \| \| \|{{IPA link\|l}} {{angbr\|l}} \|
colspan="2" \|Approximant \|{{IPA link\|w}} {{angbr\|w}} \| \| \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Mwerlap consonants

! colspan="2" |

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|kʷ}} {{angbr|q}}

|{{IPA link|p}} {{angbr|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}} {{angbr|t}}

|{{IPA link|k}} {{angbr|k}}

prenasal

|{{IPA link|ᵐb}} {{angbr|b}}

|{{IPA link|ⁿd}} {{angbr|d}}

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|ŋʷ}} {{angbr|n̄w}}

|{{IPA link|m}} {{angbr|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}} {{angbr|n}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}} {{angbr|n̄}}

colspan="2" |Fricative

|{{IPA link|v}} ~ {{IPA link|β}} {{angbr|v}}

|{{IPA link|s}} {{angbr|s}}

|{{IPA link|ɣ}} {{angbr|g}}

colspan="2" |Rhotic

|{{IPA link|r}} {{angbr|r}}

colspan="2" |Lateral

|{{IPA link|l}} {{angbr|l}}

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPA link|w}} {{angbr|w}}

/v/ is also heard as [β] when geminated in syllable-initial position.

/s/ may also be heard as alveolo-palatal [ɕ] when in geminated positions.{{Harvtxt|Henri|2023|pp=165–167}}; see [https://journals.openedition.org/lalies/495#tocto2n7 online].

= Vowels =

Mwerlap has 12 phonemic vowels. These include 9 monophthongs {{IPA|/i ɪ ɛ ʉ ɵ ɞ ʊ ɔ a/}}, and 3 diphthongs {{IPA|/ɛ͡a ɔ͡ɞ ʊ͡ɵ/}}.{{sfn|François|2005|pp=445, 460}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" \|+ Mwerlap vowels ! \| ! \|Front ! \|Central rounded ! \|Back ! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;"\| ! \|Diphthongs
Close \| {{IPA link\|i}} {{angbr\|i}} \|\| {{IPA link\|ʉ}} {{angbr\|u}} \|\| ({{IPA link\|u}}) {{angbr\|u}}\|\|
Near-close \| {{IPA link\|ɪ}} {{angbr\|ē}} \|\| {{IPA link\|ɵ}} {{angbr\|ö}} \|\| {{IPA link\|ʊ}} {{angbr\|ō}} \|\| {{IPA\|ʊ͡ɵ}} {{angbr\|ōö}}
Open-mid \| {{IPA link\|ɛ}} {{angbr\|e}} \|\| {{IPA link\|ɞ}} {{angbr\|ë}} \|\| {{IPA link\|ɔ}} {{angbr\|o}} \|\| {{IPA\|ɔ͡ɞ}} {{angbr\|oë}}
Open \| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"\| {{IPA link\|a}} {{angbr\|a}} \|\| {{IPA\|ɛ͡a}} {{angbr\|ea}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+ Mwerlap vowels

! |

! |Front

! |Central
rounded

! |Back

! rowspan="5" style="text-align:center;"|

! |Diphthongs

| {{IPA link|i}} {{angbr|i}} || {{IPA link|ʉ}} {{angbr|u}} || ({{IPA link|u}}) {{angbr|u}}||

Near-close

| {{IPA link|ɪ}} {{angbr|ē}} || {{IPA link|ɵ}} {{angbr|ö}} || {{IPA link|ʊ}} {{angbr|ō}} || {{IPA|ʊ͡ɵ}} {{angbr|ōö}}

Open-mid

| {{IPA link|ɛ}} {{angbr|e}} || {{IPA link|ɞ}} {{angbr|ë}} || {{IPA link|ɔ}} {{angbr|o}} || {{IPA|ɔ͡ɞ}} {{angbr|oë}}

Open

| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;"| {{IPA link|a}} {{angbr|a}} || {{IPA|ɛ͡a}} {{angbr|ea}}

/ʉ/ may also be heard as back [u] among speakers.

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Mwerlap contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers (singular, dual, plural).{{sfn|François|2016|p=51}}

colspan=2\|	Singular	Dual	Plural
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Independent pronouns in Mwerlap{{sfn\|François\|2016\|p=33-35}}
rowspan=2\|1st	inclusive \| rowspan=2\|no ~ në {{IPA\|/nɔ/}}~{{IPA\|/nœ/}} \|\| dōrō {{IPA\|/ⁿdʊrʊ/}} \|\| gean {{IPA\|/ɣɛ͡an/}}
exclusive \| kamar {{IPA\|/kamar/}} \|\| kemem {{IPA\|/kɛmɛm/}}
colspan=2\|2nd \| neak {{IPA\|/nɛ͡ak/}} \|\| kamrō {{IPA\|/kamrʊ/}} \|\| kemi {{IPA\|/kɛmi/}}
colspan=2\|3rd \| (ki)sean {{IPA\|/(ki)sɛ͡an/}} \|\| karar {{IPA\|/karar/}} \|\| kear {{IPA\|/kɛ͡ar/}}

Spatial reference in Mwerlap is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals.{{Harvtxt|Henri|2023|pp=205–212}}; see [https://journals.openedition.org/lalies/495#tocto3n54 online]. That system is partly typical of Oceanic languages, and yet innovative.{{sfn|François|2015|pp=173-175}}

References

Bibliography

{{cite journal

|doi=10.1353/ol.2005.0034

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-link = Alexandre François (linguist)

|year=2005

|title=Unraveling the history of the vowels of seventeen northern Vanuatu languages

|journal=Oceanic Linguistics

|volume=44

|issue=2

|pages=443–504

|s2cid=131668754

|url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_VowelsNorthernVanuatu_OL44-2.pdf

}}

{{cite journal

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|year=2011

|title=Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence

|journal=Journal of Historical Linguistics

|volume=1

|issue=2

|pages=175–246

|doi=10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra

|url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2011_JHL1-2_Social-ecology_Vanuatu.pdf

|ref=ecology

|hdl=1885/29283

|hdl-access=free

}}

{{cite journal

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|year=2012

|title=The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages

|journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language

|volume=2012

|issue=214

|doi=10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022

|pages=85–110

|s2cid=145208588

|url=https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2012_NorthVanuatuSocioling_IJSL.pdf

}}

{{Cite book

| publisher = Asia-Pacific Linguistics

| isbn = 978-1-922185-23-5

| pages = 137–195

|editor1= Alexandre François |editor2=Sébastien Lacrampe |editor3=Michael Franjieh |editor4=Stefan Schnell

| last = François

| first = Alexandre

|author-mask=2

| title = The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity

| chapter = The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages

| location = Canberra

| series = Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia

| url = http://hdl.handle.net/1885/14819

| contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2015_North-Vanuatu-space-directionals.pdf

| date = 2015

| hdl = 1885/14819

}}

{{cite book

|last=François

|first=Alexandre

|author-mask=2

|year=2016

|contribution = The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu

|editor1-last = Pozdniakov

|editor1-first = Konstantin

|title = Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles

|volume = 47

|pages = 25–60

|publisher = Peter Lang

|place = Bern

|series = Faits de Langues

|contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2016_History-personal-pronouns_north-Vanuatu_s.pdf

}}

{{Cite journal| doi = 10.4000/1232y| volume = 41| pages = 157–221| last = Henri| first = Agnès| title = Éléments de description du mwerlap (langue du Nord-Vanuatu)| journal = Lalies| access-date = 2024-10-12| date = 2023| url = https://journals.openedition.org/lalies/495 }}

External links

[http://alex.francois.online.fr/AlexFrancois_Torba-languages_map-e.htm Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of Mwerlap].
[http://www.language-archives.org/language/mrm Online material in Mwerlap (Merlav)]: audio recordings, documents, etc.
[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Melanesia/merelava_intro.html Na Buk Tatar, Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in the Merelava (Mwerlap) language], digitized by Richard Mammana
[https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Mwerlap?lang=en&mode=pro Audio recordings in the Mwerlap language], in open access, by A. François (source: Pangloss Collection, CNRS).
Materials on Mwerlap are included in the open access Arthur Capell collections ([http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC1 AC1] and [http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC2 AC2]) held by Paradisec.

Category:Languages of Vanuatu

Category:Banks–Torres languages

Category:Torba Province

colspan=2\|	Singular	Dual	Plural
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Independent pronouns in Mwerlap{{sfn\|François\|2016\|p=33-35}}
rowspan=2\|1st	inclusive \| rowspan=2\|no ~ në {{IPA\|/nɔ/}}~{{IPA\|/nœ/}} \|\| dōrō {{IPA\|/ⁿdʊrʊ/}} \|\| gean {{IPA\|/ɣɛ͡an/}}
exclusive \| kamar {{IPA\|/kamar/}} \|\| kemem {{IPA\|/kɛmɛm/}}
colspan=2\|2nd \| neak {{IPA\|/nɛ͡ak/}} \|\| kamrō {{IPA\|/kamrʊ/}} \|\| kemi {{IPA\|/kɛmi/}}
colspan=2\|3rd \| (ki)sean {{IPA\|/(ki)sɛ͡an/}} \|\| karar {{IPA\|/karar/}} \|\| kear {{IPA\|/kɛ͡ar/}}