Malua Bay language

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 to	Vanuatu
Region	Malekula
Ethnicity	720 (2001)[1]
Native speakers	500 (2009)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Southern Oceanic North-Central Vanuatu Central Vanuatu Malakula Malakula Coastal Malua Bay
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mll
Glottolog	malu1245
ELP	Malua Bay
Malua Bay is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

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

• Paradisec has a number of collections that include Malua Bay language materials