Malo | Ethnologue

A language of Vanuatu

ISO 639: mla
Autonym: Tamabo
Population: 4,000 (Lynch and Crowley 2001), increasing.
Location:: Sanma province: north Malo island; some in Port Vila and Santo.
Language Status: 5 (Developing).
Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, North and Central Vanuatu, Northeast Vanuatu-Banks Islands, West Santo
Dialects: Avunatari (North Malo), Ataripoe (South Malo), Tamambo, Tamapo. Reportedly similar to Araki [akr], Aore [aor] (extinct), and Tutuba [tmi].
Typology: Nominative-accusative, head-marking; extensive derivational morphology and serial verb constructions; 18 consonants and 5 vowels.
Language Use: Southern dialect used only by a few elderly people. Home, gardens, market. Used by all.
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: Low. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. NT: 1954.
Language Resources: OLAC resources in and about Malo
Writing: Latin script [Latn].

Location: Sanma province: north Malo island; some in Port Vila and Santo.