Manus

Manus is the name given to the Oceanic languages spoken on Manus, the largest island of the Admiralty Islands in northern Papua New Guinea, and on its surrounding islets. About two dozen closely related tongues make up the group, divided into western, intermediate and eastern branches; they form a dialect continuum and share prenasalized trill sounds.

The name Manus, or Moanus, originally belonged to an ethnic group whose coastal villagers built their houses on stilts over the sea. The islanders were seasoned seafarers when the Spanish explorer Álvaro de Saavedra made the first recorded European sighting in 1528, circling the island and meeting natives who came out in canoes armed with bows; he charted it as Urays la Grande.