Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Mafea, Mav̋ea
CLASSIFICATION		Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Northern Vanuatu
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		mkv
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Compare Sources (8)

Information from: “A Grammar of Mavea: An Oceanic Language of Vanuatu” (424) . Valerie Guerin (2011) University of Hawai'i Press

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
32
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
210
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
"Most of the grammatical descriptions derive from a corpus of texts of various genres (conversations, traditional stories, personal histories, etc.) gathered during the author’s fieldwork, conducted for eleven months between 2005 and 2007."

DATE OF INFO: 2005-2007

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

There are no fluent speakers younger than age 20. Most community members younger than 20 speak Bislama as their first language. Mavea is used mostly at home, but even in the home Bislama is often used.

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Apathetic with regard to language loss

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT

No government support

INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT

No institutional support

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Bislama

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

There are no schools where Mavea is the the language of instruction.

PLACES: Vanuatu

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Mavea Island

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
50
Native speakers worldwide

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
34
Native speakers worldwide

PLACES: Vanuatu

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Espiritu Santo, Mavea

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
200
Native speakers worldwide

PLACES: Mafea Island, Vanuatu

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: northern Vanuatu

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
34
Native speakers worldwide

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
250
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Data for the number of native speakers comes from Lynch and Crowley (2001).

PLACES: Vanuatu;

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
70
Native speakers worldwide
CHILDREN
10
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Mean age of children is 8.

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: pressure from the closely related larger Shark Bay language

PLACES: Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: East Espiritu Santo Island, on Mafea and Ais Islands off the southeastern coast of Santo Island

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
70
Native speakers worldwide

		May		2014	Personal Communication on Languages of Vanuatu										Alex Francois	Alex Francois. 2014. "Personal Communication On Languages of Vanuatu."			34		10-99									Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
				2005	"Discovering Mafea: texts, grammar, and lexicon" HRELP Abstract									http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=70	Guérin, Valérie	GuÃ©rin, Valérie. 2005. ""Discovering Mafea: Texts, Grammar, and Lexicon" HRELP Abstract." Online: http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=70.			200		100-999									Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Mafea Island, Vanuatu	northern Vanuatu
			16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International			Dallas, TX		http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		250		100-999	Data for the number of native speakers comes from Lynch and Crowley (2001).								Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Vanuatu;
			3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing			Paris		http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		70		10-99									Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)							-15.4219,167.2366
	Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia			2015	The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu	The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity	1–21	Alexandre François, Sebastien Lacrampe, Michael Franjieh, and Stefan Schnell	Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access			Canberra		http://hdl.handle.net/1885/14819	Alexandre François, Michael Franjieh, Sebastien Lacrampe, and Stefan Schnell	Alexandre François, Michael Franjieh, Sebastien Lacrampe, and Stefan Schnell. 2015. The exceptional linguistic density of Vanuatu. In "The Languages of Vanuatu: Unity and Diversity", ed. by Alexandre François, Sebastien Lacrampe, Michael Franjieh, and Stefan Schnell. Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia, 5. Canberra: Asia Pacific Linguistics Open Access. Pp. 1–21. http://hdl.handle.net/1885/14819			34		10-99									Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Vanuatu	Espiritu Santo, Mavea	-15.383995,167.229435; -15.431657,167.252781;
		November		2011	A Grammar of Mavea: An Oceanic Language of Vanuatu		424		University of Hawai'i Press	Oceanic Linguistics	39		University of Hawaii	http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-8629-9780824836399.aspx	Valerie Guerin	Valerie Guerin. 2011. "A Grammar of Mavea: An Oceanic Language of Vanuatu." In Oceanic Linguistics, 39: 424. University of Hawai'i Press. Online: http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-8629-9780824836399.aspx.		210	32	2005-2007	10-99	"Most of the grammatical descriptions derive from a corpus of texts of various genres (conversations, traditional stories, personal histories, etc.) gathered during the author’s fieldwork, conducted for eleven months between 2005 and 2007."	Most domains	Bislama	No government support	Apathetic with regard to language loss	There are no schools where Mavea is the the language of instruction.	No institutional support	Most of the community speaks Bislama	Critically Endangered (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14	There are no fluent speakers younger than age 20. Most community members younger than 20 speak Bislama as their first language. Mavea is used mostly at home, but even in the home Bislama is often used.	14	15	Vanuatu	Mavea Island	-15.384, 167.230
070071197X		3	1	2007	Australia and the Pacific	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	424-557		Routledge			Abingdon			Stephen A Wurm	Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australia and the Pacific. In Christopher Moseley, Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn., 424-557. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X	ll_pub		70		10-99	Mean age of children is 8.					pressure from the closely related larger Shark Bay language			Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu	East Espiritu Santo Island, on Mafea and Ais Islands off the southeastern coast of Santo Island
					World Oral Literature Project									http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			50		10-99									Severely Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Mavea

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

32

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

34

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

200

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

34

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

250

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

70

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

70

Discussion

Mavea

Language metadata

Language information by source

Critically endangered

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

32

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

50

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

34

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

200

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

34

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

250

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

70

Severely endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

70

Discussion

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