Mwotlap

E168149

Austronesian language Oceanic language language

Mwotlap is an Oceanic Austronesian language spoken on Mota Lava and nearby islands in northern Vanuatu.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Mwotlap canonical	11
Mwotlap (older literature, sometimes ambiguously)	1
Mwotlap proper	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1351983 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Mwotlap
Context triple: [Vanuatu languages, includesLanguage, Mwotlap]

A. Kasulu
Kasulu is a town in western Tanzania that serves as one of the main urban and commercial centers of the Kigoma Region.
B. Lomwe
Lomwe is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Mozambique and Malawi by the Lomwe people.
C. Mvita
Mvita is an alternative name for Kimvita, a historic Swahili settlement and cultural center on the coast of present-day Kenya.
D. Lusiana
Lusiana is a small town in the Veneto region of northern Italy, known as the birthplace of Indian politician Sonia Gandhi.
E. Nembe
Nembe is an Ijaw subgroup and town in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, known historically as a coastal trading center in the Niger Delta.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Mwotlap
Target entity description: Mwotlap is an Oceanic Austronesian language spoken on Mota Lava and nearby islands in northern Vanuatu.

A. Kasulu
Kasulu is a town in western Tanzania that serves as one of the main urban and commercial centers of the Kigoma Region.
B. Lomwe
Lomwe is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Mozambique and Malawi by the Lomwe people.
C. Mvita
Mvita is an alternative name for Kimvita, a historic Swahili settlement and cultural center on the coast of present-day Kenya.
D. Lusiana
Lusiana is a small town in the Veneto region of northern Italy, known as the birthplace of Indian politician Sonia Gandhi.
E. Nembe
Nembe is an Ijaw subgroup and town in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, known historically as a coastal trading center in the Niger Delta.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Austronesian language ⓘ Oceanic language ⓘ language ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Motlav ⓘ Mwotlap language ⓘ linked to: Mwerlap language
closelyRelatedTo	Lemerig ⓘ Mota language ⓘ Vera’a ⓘ Vurës ⓘ
country	Vanuatu ⓘ
endangeredStatus	vulnerable ⓘ
glottocode	mwot1237 ⓘ
hasDialects	Mwotlap proper ⓘ linked to: Mwotlap Volow ⓘ
hasDictionaryBy	Alexandre François ⓘ
hasLinguisticFeature	complex spatial deictic system ⓘ inclusive–exclusive distinction in first person plural pronouns ⓘ noun classifiers ⓘ serial verb constructions ⓘ
hasMorphologicalFeature	possessive classifiers ⓘ predominantly analytic morphology ⓘ verbal aspect markers ⓘ
hasPhonologicalFeature	contrastive vowel length ⓘ rich consonant inventory ⓘ
hasReferenceGrammarBy	Alexandre François ⓘ
iso639-3Code	mlv ⓘ
languageFamily	Austronesian ⓘ linked to: Austronesian languages Malayo-Polynesian ⓘ linked to: Malayo-Polynesian languages Northern Vanuatu ⓘ linked to: North and Central Vanuatu area Oceanic ⓘ Southern Oceanic ⓘ linked to: Western Oceanic
numberOfSpeakers	approximately 1800 ⓘ
numberOfSpeakersDate	early 21st century ⓘ
partOf	Torres–Banks languages continuum ⓘ linked to: Torres–Banks languages
region	Northern Vanuatu ⓘ linked to: North and Central Vanuatu area
spokenIn	Mota Island NERFINISHED ⓘ Mota Lava ⓘ linked to: Vanua Lava Mota Lava Island ⓘ Ra Island ⓘ Torres and Banks Islands ⓘ linked to: Banks Islands Vanua Lava ⓘ Vanuatu ⓘ
subclassOf	Torres–Banks language ⓘ linked to: Torres–Banks languages
usedFor	daily communication ⓘ local education (informal) ⓘ oral tradition ⓘ
wordOrder	SVO ⓘ
writingSystem	Latin script ⓘ linked to: Latin alphabet

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Vanuatu languages → includesLanguage → Mwotlap ⓘ

Mwerlap → closelyRelatedTo → Mwotlap ⓘ

Southern Oceanic languages → includesLanguage → Mwotlap ⓘ

Mwotlap → hasDialects → Mwotlap proper ⓘ

linked to: Mwotlap

Mota → closelyRelatedTo → Mwotlap ⓘ

Mosina → hasNeighbouringLanguage → Mwotlap ⓘ

Vera’a → hasLexicalSimilarityWith → Mwotlap ⓘ

Pak → hasLexicalSimilarityWith → Mwotlap ⓘ

Ra Island → languageSpoken → Mwotlap ⓘ

Volow → closelyRelatedTo → Mwotlap ⓘ

Volow → possiblyDialectOf → Mwotlap ⓘ

Volow → highlyDivergentFrom → Mwotlap ⓘ

Motlav → hasAlternativeName → Mwotlap (older literature, sometimes ambiguously) ⓘ