Mwesen language


Mwesen is an Oceanic language spoken in the southeastern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 10 speakers.
Mwesen shows many similarities with the island's dominant language Vurës, to such an extent that they have sometimes been considered dialects of a single language. However, studies have shown that Mwesen and Vurës have various dissimilarities, e.g. in their vowel systems, in their noun articles, in their pronoun paradigms.

Phonology

Mwesen has 7 phonemic vowels. These are all short monophthongs :

Grammar

The system of personal pronouns in Mwesen contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers.
Spatial reference in Mwesen is based on a system of geocentric directionals, which is in part typical of Oceanic languages, in part innovative.