Page created in collaboration with Alexandre François (LACITO-C.N.R.S.; Australian National University), 2011.

Data on the Mwesenlanguage

The last speakers of Mwesen © Alexandre François

Alternative names: Mosina, Mosin

This language should not be confused with Vurës, sometimes also known as Mosina.

Classification: Austronesian language family, Oceanic languages.

Certain sources (including the SIL’s Ethnologue, 16th ed.) consider Mwesen and Vurës as two variants of one and the same language known as Mosina.

All the languages of Vanuatu, the country home to the world’s largest linguistic diversity (110 languages for a population of around 200,000) belong to the same Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. However, they do show a surprising diversity for languages belonging to the same family.

For more on the linguistic diversity of Vanuatu, please refer to Alexandre François’ articles on the subject, available on the Sorosoro Blog.

Geographic area: Vanuatu, Banks Islands, island of Vanua Lava. The language is spoken in a few hamlets scattered around the village of Mwesen, in the southeastern part of the island.

Map of the Banks and Torres Islands, Vanuatu © Alexandre François

Number of speakers: Around 10, according to linguist Alexandre François.

Vitality & transmission: Spoken by a dozen elderly speakers, Mwesen is on the brink of extinction. It is no longer handed down, and is no longer actually used but in conversations among elderly speakers. The younger generations have given up Mwesen for Vurës, the dominant language of the island of Vanua Lava.

Linguist Alexandre François works on the documentation and the study of Mwesen. Among others, he has produced the only existing recordings of the language. Hear and read the Mwesen tale of « Kpwet, the joker god », for instance, on Alexandre François’ website.

Further sources & links

Alexandre François’ personal website

Access all the existing recordings of Mwesen available on the CRDO (“Oral Documentation Resource Centre”) website