Languages of Vanuatu 4503849 150882735 2007-08-13T02:54:51Z Enlil Ninlil 442600 /* External links */ [[Vanuatu]] has three official languages, [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], and [[Bislama]], a [[creole language]] evolved from English. Bislama is the first language of many urban [[ni-Vanuatu]], that is, the residents of [[Port Vila]] and [[Luganville]]. It is the most common second language elsewhere in the archipelago. It is similar to [[Tok Pisin]] of [[Papua New Guinea]], and other nearby creoles. In addition, however, there are over one hundred local languages spread over the archipelago. Vanuatu is considered to be the country with the highest density of languages per capita in the world, with an average of about 2,000 speakers for each indigenous languages; only [[Papua New Guinea]] comes close. Some of these languages are very [[endangered language|endangered]], with only a handful of speakers, and indeed several have become [[extinct language|extinct]] in recent times. All of the unofficial languages of Vanuatu are in the [[Austronesian language]] family. Most of them are in the group of [[North and Central Vanuatu languages]]. The Melanesian languages of [[Tafea]] province in the south are [[South Vanuatu languages]]. Many of the languages are named after the island they are spoken on, though some of the larger islands have several different languages. [[Espiritu Santo]] and [[Malakula]] are the most linguistically diverse, with about two dozen languages each. Many of these languages are very little-studied. There are three [[Polynesian outlier]] languages, [[Emae]] on the island of the same name, [[Mele-Fila language|Mele-Fila]] on the southern part of [[Efate]], and [[West Futunan language|West Futunan]] on [[West Futuna]] and [[Aniwa]]. These are all [[Futunic languages]]. According to [[Ethnologue]]'s somewhat outdated statistics, the eight most commonly spoken local languages are: [[Raga language|Raga]] (wrongly called Hano by Ethnologue; 7,000 speakers), [[Lenakel language|Lenakel]] (6,500), [[Paama language|Paama]] (6,000), [[Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin]] (6,000), [[East Ambae language|East Ambae]] (5,000), [[West Ambae]] (4,500), [[Apma language|Apma]] (4,500), and [[South Efate]] (3,750). However, because none of these languages have a standard form, and generally diverse dialects, it is difficult to distinguish when these represent separate languages or merely dialects. This is compounded by the fact that many of the languages have not received adequate linguistic treatment. Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin, whose name is composed of the names of several islands in [[Malampa Province]] with similar speech, is such a [[dialect continuum]] of languages similar to [[Uripiv language|Uripiv]]. Despite the low numbers for most of the indigenous languages, they are not considered especially vulnerable for extinction.<ref>Daniel Nettle and Suzanne Romaine. ''Vanishing Voices: The Extinction of the World's Languages''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Page 9.</ref> ==Languages== *[[Oceanic languages]] **''[[North Vanuatu languages]]'' **[[East Santo languages]] ***[[North East Santo languages]] ***[[South East Santo languages]] **[[Malekula Interior languages]] ***[[Labo language|Labo]] ***[[Malekula Central languages]] ***[[Small Nambas languages]] **[[Northeast Vanuatu-Banks Islands languages]] ***[[East Vanuatu languages]] ***[[Epi languages]] ***[[Malekula Coastal languages]] ***[[West Santo languages]] **''[[South Vanuatu languages]]'' ***[[Aneityum language|Aneityum]] ***[[Erromanga languages]] ***[[Tanna languages]] **[[Polynesian]] ***[[Futunic languages]] ****West Futunan or Futuna-Aniwa ([[Futuna Island, Vanuatu|Futuna]] and [[Aniwa Island|Aniwa]] in [[Vanuatu]]) ****Emae ([[Emae]] in [[Vanuatu]]) ****Mele-Fila ([[Mele]], southern [[Éfaté]] island in [[Vanuatu]]) ==References== <div class="references-small"><references/> </div> ==External links== *[http://coombs.anu.edu.au/SpecialProj/VAN/vanlangs.html An annotated bibliography of Vanuatu languages], by [[John Lynch (linguist)|John Lynch]] (last update January 1996; now outdated) *[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=VU Ethnologue report for Vanuatu, including maps] *[http://alex.francois.free.fr/ A.François, a linguist involved in the documentation and preservation of northern Vanuatu languages] *[http://www.massey.ac.nz/~wwpubafs/2003/masseynews/oct/oct20/stories/24-18-03.html A linguist active in preserving Vanuatu languages] *[http://www.multilingual-matters.net/cilp/001/0047/cilp0010047.pdf The language situation in Vanuatu by Terry Crowley] {{Oceania in topic|Languages of}} [[Category:Languages of Vanuatu| ]]