Olrat language


Olrat is a moribund Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu.

The language

The three remaining speakers of Olrat live on the middle-west coast of Gaua. They merged into the larger village of Jōlap where Lakon is dominant, after they left their inland hamlet of Olrat in the first half of the 20th century.
Alexandre François identifies Olrat as a distinct language from its immediate neighbor Lakon, on phonological, grammatical, and lexical grounds.

Phonology

Olrat has 14 phonemic vowels. These include 7 short /i ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ u/ and 7 long vowels /iː ɪː ɛː aː ɔː ʊː uː/.
Historically, the phonologization of vowel length originates in the compensatory lengthening of short vowels when the voiced velar fricative was lost syllable-finally.

Grammar

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