Southwest Tanna language

{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Southwest Tanna

|altname=Nawal

|nativename=

|states=Vanuatu

|region=Tanna Island

|speakers=4,500

|date=2011

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Oceanic

|fam4=Southern Oceanic

|fam5=South Vanuatu

|fam6=Tanna

|iso3=nwi

|glotto=sout2869

|glottorefname=Southwest Tanna

|map = Lang Status 99-NE.svg

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

}}

Southwest Tanna is a dialect chain spoken on the southwestern coast of Tanna Island in Vanuatu. 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.{{cite journal|title=South-West Tanna Grammar Outline and Vocabulary|author=John Lynch|date=1982|journal=Papers in Linguistics of Melanesia|volume=4|url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/4c95529cbbaf062ae35c4c28e1b41170/1?pq-origsite=gscholar}}

References