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Vurës
Page created in collaboration with Alexandre François (LACITO-C.N.R.S.; Australian National University), 2011.
Data on the Vurës language
Alternative names: Vureas – Vetumboso – Mosina
This language should not be confused with Mwesen, sometimes also known as Mosina.
Classification: Austronesian language family, Oceanian 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 Oceanian 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. Mainly in the village of Vetuboso and in the surrounding hamlets. Vurës is also spoken by members of other communities of the island, where it has become the dominant language.
Number of speakers: Approximately 1,000 speakers, according to DoBes. This figure rises if one considers that many people living on Vanua Lava (ca. 2,000) speak it, at least as a second language. Alexandre François’ estimate accounts for 2,000 speakers.
Vitality & transmission:
Vurës is the dominant language of Vanua Lava; its intergenerational transmission is guaranteed, and it is spoken by people from other communities. The young generations of Mwesen, for instance, have given up their ancestral language in favor of Vurës. Thus Vurës is currently a very vivacious language.
However, like all the other languages of Vanua Lava, Vurës hasn’t been widely studied or documented so far. It is part of a documentation program led by DoBes and the HRELP. For more information, visit the DoBes or the HRELP website.
Further sources & links
Alexandre François’ personal website
Trilingual Vurës/English/Bislama basic dictionary, created by Catronia Malau
Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have more information on this language: contact@sorosoro.org