Dr Martí working with elder Lulu Sopuso, head of the Imere museum
In June, Dr Coppe van Urk and Dr Luisa Martí carried out fieldwork on Atara Imere, supported by a British Academy Grant.
Atara Imere is a Polynesian outlier spoken by approximately 4,000 people in the village of Mele in Vanuatu, which is a country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, consisting of a chain of 13 principal and many smaller islands.
Dr van Urk and Dr Martí worked with elder Lulu Sopuso, head of the Imere museum, to interview speakers and learn more about the language.
One of the unique features of Atara Imere is that every word must contain at least three vowels. Dr Van Urk mapped out the prosody of the language, to better understand this requirement and how it affects syntax. Dr Martí investigated the rich article system of Atara Imere and why apparent definite articles can be used in many contexts where other languages require indefinites.
The trip was very successful, despite Dr van Urk breaking his ankle a few days before the trip, and hopefully lays the foundation for many future visits!