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by | Mar 21, 2018 | Ipomoea

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Malua Bay (also called Middle Nambas) is an Oceanic language spoken in northwest Malekula, Vanuatu. It has two main dialects: one spoken in Malua Bay and the other spoken in Espiegles Bay.

Classification

Malua, as an Oceanic language, belongs to the Austronesian language family. Furthermore, it belongs to the Malekula grouping within the Central Vanuatu subgroup, along with Nese, Botovro, Vovo, Vao, and others.[2]

Community

Malua is mainly spoken in Malua and Espiegles Bay, with a small amount of speakers in Port Vila. The majority of speakers are bilingual in Bislama, English, or French.[3]

Grammar

Malua contains a distinction between alienable and inalienable possession. Verbal predicates are marked for either realis or irrealis mood. It also exhibits nominative-accusative alignment.[4]

External links

References

  1. ^ a b Malua Bay at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Lynch, John (2016). "Malakula Internal Subgrouping: Phonological Evidence". Oceanic Linguistics. 55 (2): 399–431. ISSN 0029-8115.
  3. ^ Barbour, Julie; Wessels, Kanauhea; McCarter, Joe (2018-07-31). "Language Contexts: Malua (Malekula Island, Vanuatu)". Language Documentation and Description. 15 (0). doi:10.25894/ldd142. ISSN 2756-1224.
  4. ^ Wessels, Kanauhea Janion (2013). Malua Bay: A description of the Malua Bay language (Malekula, Vanuatu) (masters thesis). University of Waikato.


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