Mota language

Mota
Native to Vanuatu
Region Mota island
Native speakers
750 (2012)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mtt
Glottolog mota1237[2]

Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu.[3]

History

During the period 1840-1940, Mota was used as a missionary lingua franca throughout areas of Oceania included in the Melanesian Mission, an Anglican missionary agency.[4] Mota was used on Norfolk Island, in religious education; on other islands with different vernacular languages, it served as the language of liturgical prayers, hymns, and some other religious purposes. Elizabeth Fairburn Colenso translated religious material into the language.[4]

Robert Henry Codrington compiled the first dictionary of Mota (1896), and worked with George Sarawia and others to produce a large number of early publications in this language.

Phonology

Mota has 5 phonemic vowels, /i e a o u/.[5]

Notes

  1. François (2012): 88).
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Mota". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Linguistic map of north Vanuatu, showing range of Mota.
  4. 1 2 Transcribed by the Right Reverend Dr. Terry Brown (2007). "ELIZABETH COLENSO: Her work for the Melanesian Mission; by her eldest granddaughter Francis Edith Swabey 1956". Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  5. François (2005:445, 460).

References

External links


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