Löyöp
Löyöp language
Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu
Löyöp [løjøp] (formerly known as Lehalurup) is an Oceanic language spoken by about 240 people, on the east coast of Ureparapara Island in the Banks Islands of Vanuatu.[1][2] It is distinct from Lehali, the language spoken on the west coast of the same island.
| Löyöp | |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | [løjøp] |
| Native to | Vanuatu |
| Region | Ureparapara, formerly Rowa Islands |
Native speakers | 240 (2010)[1][2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | urr |
| Glottolog | leha1244 |
| ELP | Löyöp |
Löyöp is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
The language was originally native to the Rowa Islands, having been brought to Urepapapara around the 1930s when a tsunami struck the Reef Islands and forced the speakers to relocate.[3]
It’s considered a vulnerable language by UNESCO.
The name Löyöp [løjøp] used since 2009[4][5][6] refers to the area called "Divers' Bay" in English, in the eastern part of Ureparapara. It derives from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *loroβi, though no cognates in other languages exist. The now-deprecated name Lehalurup once used by certain authors (e.g. Tryon) is likely a result from a transcription error, possibly under the influence of neighboring Lehali.
Löyöp phonemically contrasts 16 consonants and 11 vowels.[6]
Consonants
Vowels
These are ten short monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ æ a œ ø y ɔ ʊ/, and one diphthong /i͡ɛ/.[5][6]
The system of personal pronouns in Löyöp contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).[7]
Spatial reference in Löyöp is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is in part typical of Oceanic languages, and yet innovative.[8]
- Tryon, D. T. (1972). "The languages of the New Hebrides: A checklist and general survey". In Beaumont, C.; Tryon, D. T.; Wurm, S. A. (eds.). Papers in Linguistics of Melanesia, Series A-33. Pacific Linguistics.
- François, Alexandre (2009), "Verbal aspect and personal pronouns: The history of aorist markers in north Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pawley, Andrew; Adelaar, Alexander (eds.), Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: A festschrift for Bob Blust, vol. 601, Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, pp. 179–195
- François, Alexandre (2011), "Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence" (PDF), Journal of Historical Linguistics, 1 (2): 175–246, doi:10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra, hdl:1885/29283, S2CID 42217419.
- —— (2012), "The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages" (PDF), International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2012 (214): 85–110, doi:10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022, S2CID 145208588
- —— (2015). "The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages" (PDF). In Alexandre François; Sébastien Lacrampe; Michael Franjieh; Stefan Schnell (eds.). The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia. Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. pp. 137–195. hdl:1885/14819. ISBN 978-1-922185-23-5.
- —— (2016), "The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu" (PDF), in Pozdniakov, Konstantin (ed.), Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles, Faits de Langues, vol. 47, Bern: Peter Lang, pp. 25–60
- François, Alexandre (2021). "Presentation of the Löyöp language and audio archive". Pangloss Collection. Paris: CNRS. Retrieved 21 Feb 2022.
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