Its 1,100 speakers live mostly in Merelava and Merig, but a fair proportion have also settled on the east coast of Gaua island.

[2] Besides, a number of Mwerlap speakers live in the two cities of Vanuatu, Port Vila and Luganville.

These include 9 monophthongs /i ɪ ɛ ʉ ɵ ɞ ʊ ɔ a/,[4] and 3 diphthongs /ɛ͡a ɔ͡ɞ ʊ͡ɵ/.

[5] The system of personal pronouns in Mwerlap contrasts clusivity, and distinguishes three numbers (singular, dual, plural).

[6] Spatial reference in Mwerlap is based on a system of geocentric (absolute) directionals.