Mota Lava
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Mota Lava or Motalava (coordinates ) is the third-largest island in the Banks Islands. It is the largest and highest (411 m) of the eastern chain of islands. Off its southern coast, attached by high corals that one can wade through at low tide, is the tiny islet of Ra.
Mota Lava is also the name of the stratovolcano on the island. It last erupted 300,000 years ago.
There is an airport on the island (IATA code: MTV).
The habit of designating the island as Mota Lava was borrowed by XIXth-century missionaries from the neighbouring language Mota. The inhabitants of Mota Lava call their own island Mwotlap [ŋ͡mʷɔtˈlap].
Mwotlap also designates the language spoken by the inhabitants of Mota Lava. It is the most widely spoken of the languages in the Banks Islands, with about 1,800 speakers.
[edit] External links
- Tourism site with map
- Site of the linguist Alexandre François, including an introduction to the culture of Mota Lava and its language (Mwotlap), as well as photos, maps, songs, a myth, and a traditional story
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