| Olrat | |
|---|---|
| Ōlrat | |
| Pronunciation | [ʊlrat] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Gaua |
Native speakers | 3 (2012) [1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | olr |
| Glottolog | olra1234 |
| ELP | Olrat |
 Olrat is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Olrat was an Oceanic language of Gaua island, in northern Vanuatu. It became extinct in 2009, with the death of its last speaker Maten Womal. [2]
The name Olrat (spelled natively as Ōlrat [ʊlrat] ) is an endonym. Robert Codrington mentions a place south of Lakon village under the Mota name Ulrata. [3] A few decades later, Sidney Ray mentions the language briefly in 1926 under the same Mota name ‒ but provides no linguistic information. [4]
In 2003, only three speakers of Olrat remained, who lived on the middle-west coast of Gaua. [5] Their community had left their inland hamlet of Olrat in the first half of the 20th century, and merged into the larger village of Jōlap where Lakon is dominant. [1] [2]
Alexandre François identifies Olrat as a distinct language from its immediate neighbor Lakon, on phonological, [6] grammatical, [7] and lexical [8] grounds.
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/. [9] [2]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Near-close | i ⟨i⟩ ∙ iː ⟨ii⟩ | u ⟨u⟩ ∙ uː ⟨uu⟩ |
| Close-mid | ɪ ⟨ē⟩ ∙ ɪː ⟨ēē⟩ | ʊ ⟨ō⟩ ∙ ʊː ⟨ōō⟩ |
| Open-mid | ɛ ⟨e⟩ ∙ ɛː ⟨ee⟩ | ɔ ⟨o⟩ ∙ ɔː ⟨oo⟩ |
| Open | a ⟨a⟩ ∙ aː ⟨aa⟩ | |
Historically, the phonologization of vowel length originates in the compensatory lengthening of short vowels when the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ was lost syllable-finally. [10]
The system of personal pronouns in Olrat contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural). [11]
Spatial reference in Olrat is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is typical of Oceanic languages. [12]
Mwotlap is an Oceanic language spoken by about 2,100 people in Vanuatu. The majority of speakers are found on the island of Motalava in the Banks Islands, with smaller communities in the islands of Ra and Vanua Lava, as well as migrant groups in the two main cities of the country, Santo and Port Vila.
Mota is an Oceanic language spoken by about 750 people on Mota island, in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. It is the most conservative Torres–Banks language, and the only one to keep its inherited five-vowel system intact while also preserving most final vowels.
The North Vanuatu languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in northern Vanuatu.
Lakon is an Oceanic language, spoken on the west coast of Gaua island in Vanuatu.
Koro is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 280 speakers live in the village of Koro, on the south coast of Gaua.
Lo-Toga is an Oceanic language spoken by about 580 people on the islands of Lo and Toga, in the Torres group of northern Vanuatu. The language has sometimes been called Loh(sic) or Toga, after either of its two dialects.
Mwerlap is an Oceanic language spoken in the south of the Banks Islands in Vanuatu.
Hiw is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Hiw, in the Torres Islands of Vanuatu. With about 280 speakers, Hiw is considered endangered.
Dorig(formerly called Wetamut) is a threatened Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu.
Lemerig is an Oceanic language spoken on Vanua Lava, in Vanuatu.
Nume is an Oceanic language spoken on Gaua island in Vanuatu. Its 700 speakers live on the northeast coast of Gaua.
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.
Vurës is an Oceanic language spoken in the southern area of Vanua Lava Island, in the Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu, by about 2000 speakers.
Löyöp is an Oceanic language spoken by about 240 people, on the east coast of Ureparapara Island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu. It is distinct from Lehali, the language spoken on the west coast of the same island.
Lehali is an Oceanic language spoken by about 200 people, on the west coast of Ureparapara Island in Vanuatu. It is distinct from Löyöp, the language spoken on the east coast of the same island.
Volow is an Oceanic language variety that used to be spoken in the area of Aplow, in the eastern part of the island of Motalava, Vanuatu.
The Torres–Banks languages form a linkage of Southern Oceanic languages spoken in the Torres Islands and Banks Islands of northern Vanuatu.
Proto-Torres-Banks is the reconstructed ancestor of the seventeen languages of the Torres and Banks Islands of Vanuatu. Like all indigenous languages of Vanuatu, it belongs to the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian languages.