Languages of Vanuatu

Vanuatu has three official languages, English, French, and Bislama, a creole language derived 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 Vanuatu islands. It is similar to Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea, and other nearby creoles.

In addition, 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 language; only Papua New Guinea comes close. Some of these languages are very endangered, with only a handful of speakers, and indeed several have become extinct in recent times. Generally however, despite the low numbers for most of the indigenous languages, they are not considered especially vulnerable for extinction.

In recent years, the use of Bislama as a first language has considerably encroached on indigenous languages, whose use in the population has receded from 73.1 to 63.2 percent between 1999 and 2009.

Indigenous languages

Vanuatu is home to approximately a hundred indigenous languages (112 are listed in the table below). Among them, three went extinct in recent decades. Many are named after the island they are spoken on, though some of the larger islands have several different languages. Espiritu Santo and Malakula are linguistically the most diverse, with about two dozen languages each.

Some language names refer to networks of dialects rather than unified languages. Uripiv, for example, is a dialect continuum spoken across several islands in Malampa Province. In such cases, the decision as to how many languages should be counted is notoriously difficult, and sometimes the object of controversy. The number of 112 listed below may differ from other counts proposed in the literature, depending partly on these difficulties.

All indigenous languages of Vanuatu are Oceanic. Three are Polynesian languages of the Futunic group: Emae, Mele-Fila and Futuna-Aniwa. The remaining languages belong to various branches of the Southern Oceanic branch of Oceanic.

List

Below is a list of all known indigenous languages of Vanuatu, which are still spoken or were until recently. It provides links to corresponding Ethnologue entries and to an OLAC list of media resources on the language.

Tip: Click on the column title to change the sort order.

Language	Ethn.	OLAC	Other names	Speakers	Region	Family	Notes
Akei	tsr	tsr	Tasiriki	650	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Amblong	alm	alm		300	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Anejom̃	aty	aty	Aneityum	900	Aneityum	SV
Aore	aor	aor		0	Espiritu Santo, Aore	NCV
Apma	app	app		7,800	Pentecost	NCV
Araki	akr	akr		8	Araki	NCV
Aulua	aul	aul		750	Malekula	NCV
Avava	tmb	tmb	Katbol	700	Malekula	NCV
Axamb	ahb	ahb	Ahamb	750	Malekula	NCV
Baetora	btr	btr		1,330	Maewo	NCV
Baki	bki	bki	Burumba, Paki	350	Epi	NCV
Bierebo	bnk	bnk	Bonkovia-yevali	800	Epi	NCV
Bieria	brj	brj	Bieri, Vovo, Wowo	25	Epi	NCV
Burmbar	vrt	vrt	Banan Bay, Vartavo	900	Malekula	NCV
Butmas-Tur	bnr	bnr	Ati	520	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Central Maewo	mwo	mwo		1,400	Maewo	NCV
Daakie	ptv	ptv	Port-Vato	1,300	Ambrym	NCV
Daakaka	bpa	bpa	Baiap, South Ambrym	1,200	Ambrym	NCV
Dixon Reef	dix	dix		50	Malekula	NCV
Dorig	wwo	wwo	Wetamut	300	Banks Islands (Gaua)	NCV
Emae	mmw	mmw		400	Shepherd Islands (Emae)	Polynesian
Eton	etn	etn		500	Efate	NCV
Fortsenal	frt	frt	Kiai	450	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Futuna-Aniwa	fut	fut	West Futuna	1,500	Futuna, Aniwa	Polynesian
Hano	lml	lml	Raga	6,500	Pentecost	NCV
Hiw	hiw	hiw	Hiu	280	Torres Islands (Hiw)	NCV
Ifo	iff	iff		0	Erromango	SV
Kwamera	tnk	tnk		3,500	Tanna	SV
Koro	krf	krf		250	Banks Islands (Gaua)	NCV
Lamenu	lmu	lmu	Lamen, Varmali	850	Epi, Lamen	NCV
Lakon	lkn	lkn	Lakona; Vurē	800	Banks Islands (Gaua)	NCV
Lamap	psw	psw	Port Sandwich	1,200	Malekula	NCV
Larevat	lrv	lrv	Laravat	680	Malekula	NCV
Lehali	tql	tql		200	Banks Islands (Ureparapara)	NCV
Lelepa	lpa	lpa	Havannah Harbour	400	Lelepa, Efate	NCV
Lemerig	lrz	lrz	Sasar	2	Banks Islands (Vanua Lava)	NCV
Lenakel	tnl	tnl		11,500	Tanna	SV
Letemboi	nms	nms	Small Nambas	800	Malekula	NCV
Lewo	lww	lww	Varsu	2,200	Epi	NCV
Lonwolwol	crc	crc	West Ambrym	1,200	Ambrym	NCV
Lorediakarkar	lnn	lnn		850	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Lo-Toga	lht	lht	Loh, Toga	580	Torres Islands (Lo, Toga, Tegua)	NCV
Löyöp	urr	urr	Lehalurup	240	Banks Islands (Ureparapara)	NCV
Mae	mme	mme	Dirak	1,000	Malekula	NCV
Maii	mmm	mmm		180	Epi	NCV
Malfaxal	mlx	mlx	Na’ahai	600	Malekula	NCV
Malua Bay	mll	mll	Middle Nambas	500	Malekula	NCV
Maragus	mrs	mrs		15	Malekula	NCV
Maskelynes	klv	klv		1,100	Malekula, Maskelynes Islands	NCV
Mavea	mkv	mkv	Mav̋ea, Mafea	34	Mavea	NCV
Mele-Fila	mxe	mxe	Ifira-Mele	3,500	Efate, Mele, Ifira	Polynesian
Merei	lmb	lmb		400	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Morouas	mrp	mrp		150	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Mota	mtt	mtt		750	Banks Islands (Mota)	NCV
Mpotovoro	mvt	mvt		430	Malekula	NCV
Mwerlap	mrm	mrm	Merlav	1,100	Banks Islands (Merelava)	NCV
Mwesen	msn	msn	Mosina	10	Banks Islands (Vanua Lava)	NCV
Mwotlap	mlv	mlv	Motlav	2,100	Banks Islands (Motalava)	NCV
Nahavaq	sns	sns	South West Bay	700	Malekula	NCV
Nakanamanga	llp	llp		9,500	Efate, Shepherd Islands (Nguna, Tongoa)	NCV
Namakura	nmk	nmk	Makura	3,750	Efate, Shepherd Islands (Tongoa, Tongariki)	NCV
Naman	lzl	lzl	Litzlitz	15	Malekula	NCV
Narango	nrg	nrg		160	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Nasarian	nvh	nvh		5	Malekula	NCV
Navut	nsw	nsw		520	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Nese				160	Malekula	NCV
Neverver	lgk	lgk	Lingarak	1,250	Malekula	NCV
Ninde	mwi	mwi	Labo	1,100	Malekula	NCV
Nisvai	–		Vetbon	140	Malekula	NCV	Unesco
Nokuku	nkk	nkk		160	Espiritu Santo	NCV
North Tanna	tnn	tnn		5,000	Tanna	SV
North Ambrym	mmg	mmg		5,250	Ambrym	NCV
Northeast Ambae	omb	omb	Lolovoli; Aoba	5,000	Ambae	NCV
Nume	tgs	tgs	Tarasag	700	Banks Islands (Gaua)	NCV
Olrat	olr	olr		3	Banks Islands (Gaua)	NCV
Paama	paa	paa	Paamese	6,000	Paama	NCV
Piamatsina	ptr	ptr		150	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Polonombauk	plb	plb		220	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Repanbitip	rpn	rpn		90	Malekula	NCV
Rerep	pgk	pgk	Pangkumu, Tisman	380	Malekula	NCV
Roria	rga	rga	Mores	75	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Saa	sax	sax	Sa	2,500	Pentecost	NCV
Sakao	sku	sku	Hog Harbour, N'kep	4,000	Espiritu Santo, Sakao	NCV
Shark Bay	ssv	ssv		450	Espiritu Santo, Litaro	NCV
Sie	erg	erg	Se, Erromanga	1,900	Erromango	SV
Ske	ske	ske	Seke	300	Pentecost	NCV
South Efate	erk	erk	Erakor	6,000	Efate	NCV
Southeast Ambrym	tvk	tvk		3,700	Ambrym	NCV
Southwest Tanna	nwi	nwi		5,000	Tanna	SV
Sowa	sww	sww		0	Pentecost	NCV
Sungwadia	mrb	mrb	Marino; North Maewo	500	Maewo	NCV
Tamambo	mla	mla	Malo; Tamabo	4,000	Malo	NCV
Tambotalo	tls	tls		50	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Tangoa	tgp	tgp		800	Tangoa	NCV
Tasmate	tmt	tmt		150	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Tiale	mnl	mnl		400	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Tolomako	tlm	tlm		900	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Tutuba	tmi	tmi		500	Espiritu Santo, Tutuba	NCV
Unua	onu	onu	Onua	520	Malekula	NCV
Ura	uur	uur		6	Erromango	SV
Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin	upv	upv	Uripiv	9,000	Malekula	NCV
Valpei	vlp	vlp		300	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Vao	vao	vao		1,900	Vao, Malekula	NCV
V’ënen Taut	nmb	nmb	Big Nambas	3,350	Malekula	NCV
Vera’a	vra	vra	Vatrata	500	Banks Islands (Vanua Lava)	NCV
Vinmavis	vnm	vnm	Neve’ei	500	Malekula	NCV
Volow	mlv	mlv	Valuwa	0	Banks Islands (Mota Lava)	NCV
Vunapu	vnp	vnp		380	Espiritu Santo	NCV
Vurës	msn	msn	Vureas, Mosina	2,000	Banks Islands (Vanua Lava)	NCV
Wailapa	wlr	wlr		100	Espiritu Santo	NCV
West Ambae	nnd	nnd	Duidui	8,700	Ambae	NCV
Whitesands	tnp	tnp		7,500	Tanna	SV
Wusi	wsi	wsi		300	Espiritu Santo	NCV

References

• .
• Lynch, John; Crowley, Terry (2001). Languages of Vanuatu: A new survey and bibliography. Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. ISBN 0-85883-469-3

External links

• Ethnologue report for Vanuatu, including maps
• The language situation in Vanuatu by Terry Crowley