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.

Malua Bay
Middle Nambas
Native toVanuatu
RegionMalekula
Ethnicity720 (2001)[1]
Native speakers
500 (2009)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mll
Glottologmalu1245
ELPMalua Bay
Malua Bay is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Classification

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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

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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

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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]

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References

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  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.