Northeast Malakula language

Northeast Malakula
Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin
Native toVanuatu
RegionMalakula
Native speakers
9,000 (2001)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3upv
Glottologurip1239
Northeast Malakula is not endangered according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Northeast Malakula, or Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin, is a dialect chain spoken on the islands of Uripiv, Wala, Rano, and Atchin and on the mainland opposite to these islands. Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin is spoken today by about 9,000 people. Literacy rate of its speakers in their own language is 10–30%.

Uripiv-Wala-Rano-Atchin forms a dialect chain. The Uripiv dialect is the most southerly of these and has 85% of its words in common with Atchin, the most northerly dialect. Uripiv is spoken on the north-east coast of Malakula.

The Uripiv dialect is one of the few documented languages that use the rare bilabial trill, a feature that is not found in the Atchin dialect.

  1. ^ Northeast Malakula at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)