Mwotlap

Mwotlap is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. It belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family and is part of the Southern Oceanic subgroup, specifically within the Tanna–Mota group. The language has several dialects, the most prominent being the northwest, central, and south variants, which differ mainly in phonology and lexical choices. Mwotlap is primarily used in daily communication among residents of Tanna’s western and central settlements, and it coexists with Bislama and English, the nation's official languages.

The phonemic inventory features a relatively small set of consonants, including bilabial, alveolar, and velar stops, nasals, fricatives, and approximants. Vowel inventory consists of five stressed vowels, and a marked contrast exists between short and long vowels, which can change meaning. The orthography, influenced by missionary work in the 20th century, uses a Latin-based script with diacritics to indicate tone and length. Mwotlap is tonal, with two lexical tones that affect word meaning. The language follows a subject-verb-object word order and exhibits extensive use of evidentiality markers to indicate source of information.

Like many indigenous languages, Mwotlap faces intergenerational language shift. Community-based revitalization initiatives, such as bilingual education programs and the production of written materials, aim to sustain its usage. The language has a rich oral tradition, comprising myths, storytelling, and traditional chants that reflect Tannese cosmology and social values. Researchers documenting Mwotlap contribute to broader understanding of Austronesian typology, and the language is included in UNESCO’s Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.