| Vurës | |
|---|---|
| Vureas | |
| Pronunciation | [βyˈrœs] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Vanua Lava |
Native speakers | 2,000 (2016)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | msn (shared withMwesen) |
| Glottolog | vure1239 |
| ELP | Vurës |
 Vurës is not endangered according to the classification system of theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Vurës (Vureas, Vures) is anOceanic language spoken in the southern area ofVanua Lava Island, in theBanks Islands of northernVanuatu, by about 2000 speakers.[2]
Vurës was described by linguist Catriona Malau, in the form of a grammar[2] and a dictionary.[3]
The nameVurës[βyˈrœs] is named after the bay located in southwesternVanua Lava in the language itself. InMota, the bay is referred to asVureas[βureas]. Cognates in otherTorres-Banks languages includeMwotlapVuyes[βuˈjɛs] andMwesenVures[βuˈrɛs]. These come from a reconstructedProto-Torres–Banks form*βureas(i,u), with an unknown final high vowel.
Vurës shows enough similarities with the neighbouring languageMwesen that the two have sometimes been considered dialects of a single language, sometimes calledMosina (after the name of Mwesen village in the languageMota). And indeed, a 2018glottometric study has calculated that Vurës and Mwesen share 85% of their historical innovations, revealing a long history of shared development between these two lects.[4]
However, studies have shown that Mwesen and Vurës have various dissimilarities, e.g. in theirvowel systems,[5] in theirnoun articles,[6] in theirpronoun paradigms[7][8] — enough to be considered clearly distinct.
| Labial- velar | Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | k͡pʷ⟨q⟩ | t̪⟨t⟩ | k⟨k⟩ | (ʔ) | ||
| prenasal | ᵐb⟨b⟩ | ⁿd̪⟨d⟩ | |||||
| Nasal | ŋ͡mʷ⟨m̄⟩ | m⟨m⟩ | n⟨n⟩ | ŋ⟨n̄⟩ | |||
| Fricative | β⟨v⟩ | s⟨s⟩ | ɣ⟨g⟩ | ||||
| Liquid | rhotic | r⟨r⟩ | |||||
| lateral | l⟨l⟩ | ||||||
| Semivowel | w⟨w⟩ | ||||||
Vurës has 9phonemicvowels. These are all shortmonophthongs/ieɛaœøyɔo/:[10][11]
| Front | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| plain | round | ||
| Close | i⟨i⟩ | y⟨u⟩ | (ʊ)⟨u⟩ |
| Close-mid | e⟨ē⟩ | ø⟨ö⟩ | o⟨ō⟩ |
| Open-mid | ɛ⟨e⟩ | œ⟨ë⟩ | ɔ⟨o⟩ |
| Open | a⟨a⟩ | ||
La masawre i no no gö mörös nana qan̄ris o qiat, nana qēs o ralēt, qēs lēt lēt qēt, na van me, na sēs o um. Na sēs qēt o um, nana le o ralēt, na tuwegev. No mö tuwegev kal qēt, nana bun kēl o vet ni van lē m̄ēkē qan̄ris, bun bun qēt o vet, mē qēt na ukëg o ev ni ës ti.
'When I want to bake taro, I break up the firewood, break up all the firewood, then I come and I take the stones out of the oven. I take out all the stones from the oven, I get the firewood, and I make the fire. I build up the fire, then I put the stones back on top of the oven, I put all the stones back, then I leave the fire to smoke.'[13]
