What does lanwis mean? Parallels between Indigenous languages of Vanuatu for young people in Mele Maat

Abstract

The Bislama word for ‘language’, lanwis, is prototypically used to refer to Vanuatu’s Indigenous languages as opposed to the national language Bislama, or the languages of education, English and French. This article first investigates the meaning and usage of lanwis in responses to a sociolinguistic survey of young members of Vatlongos-speaking communities, arguing that lanwis expresses one aspect of the relationship between people and places that is central to cultural identity in Vanuatu and wider Melanesia. The article then focuses on interviews with young people from Mele Maat, a peri-urban community near Port Vila which relocated from Southeast Ambrym in the 1950s, where intergenerational transmission of Vatlongos is disrupted. Young people in Mele Maat draw on national understandings of the purpose of lanwis, and explicit comparisons with other lanwis communities, to understand, discuss and challenge experiences of language endangerment in their own community. The article concludes by considering how the metalinguistic concept of lanwis in Bislama can support Indigenous language maintenance across Vanuatu.