Ni-Vanuatu

Ni-Vanuatu
Total population
245,100 in Vanuatu
Regions with significant populations
 New Zealand 160,000
 Australia 100,000
 United States 200,000
Languages
English, Bislama, French, Melanesian languages
Religion
Christian (Presbyterian, Anglican, Roman Catholic), Animism, Islam
Related ethnic groups
other Melanesian peoples

Ni-Vanuatu is a demonym used to refer to all Melanesian ethnicities originating in Vanuatu. It also refers, more generally, to nationals and citizens of Vanuatu, whatever their ethnicity.[1][2][3][4] It is more frequently used than the demonym Vanuatuan.

This recent coinage builds on the particle ni, which in some indigenous languages encodes the genitive, similar to the English ‘of’. Thus Ni-Vanuatu literally means ‘of Vanuatu’.

The term is mostly used in English and French, and is hardly used in Bislama, the country’s lingua franca,[5] let alone in the indigenous languages of the archipelago.

NiVan is a commonly used abbreviation of Ni-Vanuatu.

See also

References

  1. "RAMSI Mourns Death of Senior ni-Vanuatu Police Officer". Solomon Times. 28 April 2009. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  2. "Ni-Vanuatu arrested NZ", Radio Vanuatu, March 10, 2009
  3. "Des Ni-Vanuatu en final des Masters", Agence universitaire francophone, July 31, 2008
  4. "Ni-Vanuatu workers employed under RSE scheme set to increase". Radio New Zealand International. February 18, 2008. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  5. Bislama more commonly uses phrases such as man Vanuatu (“V. person” or “V. people”) or blong Vanuatu (“from V.”).
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