Löyöp language
Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu
title: "Löyöp language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["banks–torres-languages", "languages-of-vanuatu", "vulnerable-languages"] description: "Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Löyöp_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Austronesian language spoken in Vanuatu ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Löyöp |
| pronunciation | |
| states | Vanuatu |
| region | Ureparapara, formerly Rowa Islands |
| speakers | 240 |
| date | 2010 |
| ref | |
| familycolor | Austronesian |
| fam2 | Malayo-Polynesian |
| fam3 | Oceanic |
| fam4 | Southern Oceanic |
| fam5 | North-Central Vanuatu |
| fam6 | North Vanuatu |
| fam7 | Torres-Banks |
| iso3 | urr |
| glotto | leha1244 |
| glottorefname | Lehalurup |
| map | Lang Status 80-VU.svg |
| mapcaption | |
| :: |
| name = Löyöp | altname = | nativename = | pronunciation = | states = Vanuatu | region = Ureparapara, formerly Rowa Islands | speakers = 240 | date = 2010 | ref = | familycolor = Austronesian | fam2 = Malayo-Polynesian | fam3 = Oceanic | fam4 = Southern Oceanic | fam5 = North-Central Vanuatu | fam6 = North Vanuatu | fam7 = Torres-Banks | iso3 = urr | glotto = leha1244 | glottorefname = Lehalurup | map = Lang Status 80-VU.svg | mapcaption =
Löyöp (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. It is distinct from Lehali, the language spoken on the west coast of the same island.
The language was originally native to the Rowa Islands, having been brought to Ureparapara around the 1930s when a tsunami struck the Reef Islands and forced the speakers to relocate.
It is considered a vulnerable language by UNESCO.
Name
The name Löyöp used since 2009 refers to the area called "Divers' Bay" in English, in the eastern part of Ureparapara. It derives from a Proto-Torres-Banks form *loroβi, with cognates in Lehali Loyēp . 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.
Phonology
Löyöp phonemically contrasts 16 consonants and 11 vowels.
Consonants
::data[format=table title="Löyöp consonants"]
| Labiovelar | Bilabial | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Dorsal | Nasal | Stop | voiceless | prenasalized | Fricative | Approximant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Vowels
These are ten short monophthongs , and one diphthong .
::data[format=table title="Löyöp vowels"]
| Front | Back | plain | round | Close | Near-close | Open-mid | Near-open | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Grammar
The system of personal pronouns in Löyöp contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes four numbers (singular, dual, trial, plural).
Spatial reference in Löyöp is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals, which is in part typical of Oceanic languages, and yet innovative.
References
Bibliography
- {{Citation | last = François | first = Alexandre | author-link = Alexandre François (linguist) | contribution = Verbal aspect and personal pronouns: The history of aorist markers in north Vanuatu | editor1-last = Pawley | editor1-first = Andrew | editor2-last = Adelaar | editor2-first = Alexander | title = Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: A festschrift for Bob Blust | contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2009_Aorist-pronouns_Festschrift-Blust.pdf | volume = 601 | pages = 179–195 | publisher = Pacific Linguistics | place = Canberra | year = 2009 | series = | ref = aorist
- {{citation |last=François |first=Alexandre | author-mask=2 |year=2011 |title=Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence |journal=Journal of Historical Linguistics |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=175–246 |doi=10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra |url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2011_JHL1-2_Social-ecology_Vanuatu.pdf |hdl=1885/29283 |s2cid=42217419 |hdl-access=free
- {{citation |last=François |first=Alexandre |author-mask=2 |year=2012 |title=The dynamics of linguistic diversity: Egalitarian multilingualism and power imbalance among northern Vanuatu languages |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |volume=214 |issue= |doi=10.1515/ijsl-2012-0022 |pages=85–110 |s2cid=145208588 |url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2012_NorthVanuatuSocioling_IJSL.pdf |ref=AF-diversity
- {{Cite book | publisher = Asia-Pacific Linguistics | isbn = 978-1-922185-23-5 | pages = 137–195 | editor=Alexandre François |editor2=Sébastien Lacrampe |editor3=Michael Franjieh |editor4=Stefan Schnell | last = François | first = Alexandre | author-mask=2 | title = The languages of Vanuatu: Unity and diversity | chapter = The ins and outs of up and down: Disentangling the nine geocentric space systems of Torres and Banks languages | location = Canberra | series = Studies in the Languages of Island Melanesia | url = http://hdl.handle.net/1885/14819 | contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2015_North-Vanuatu-space-directionals.pdf | date = 2015 | hdl = 1885/14819 | ref = updown }}
- {{citation |last=François |first=Alexandre |author-mask=2 |year=2016 |contribution = The historical morphology of personal pronouns in northern Vanuatu |editor1-last = Pozdniakov |editor1-first = Konstantin |title = Comparatisme et reconstruction : tendances actuelles |volume = 47 |pages = 25–60 |publisher = Peter Lang |place = Bern |series = Faits de Langues |contribution-url= https://marama.huma-num.fr/data/AlexFrancois_2016_History-personal-pronouns_north-Vanuatu_s.pdf |ref=pronouns
- {{cite web |url=https://pangloss.cnrs.fr/corpus/Löyöp?lang=en&mode=pro |title=Presentation of the Löyöp language and audio archive |last=François |first=Alexandre |author-link= |date=2021 |website=Pangloss Collection |location=Paris |publisher=CNRS |access-date=21 Feb 2022 |quote= |ref=pangloss}}
References
- [https://marama.huma-num.fr/AF-field.htm#Vanuatu List of Banks islands languages].
- [[#AF-diversity. François (2012)]].
- [[#TR_languages. Tryon (1972)]].
- [[#aorist. François (2009)]].
- {{Harvcoltxt. François. 2011
- [[#pangloss. François (2021)]].
- [[#pronouns. François (2016)]].
- [[#updown. François (2015:)]] 171-172).
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