The Lau language is spoken by the inhabitants of the “ artificial islands ” in the lagoon off the north-east coast of Big Mala, Solomon Islands, and by the people who live on the natural island Ngwalulu (Manoba, of the Admiralty charts) which closes the northern entrance to the lagoon. The southern end of the lagoon is known as Ataa Cove, and the language of the islanders in that part of the lagoon has a closer affinity to the languages of the hill peoples of the mainland than has Lau proper. In Port Adam, Little Mala, there are two villages whose people also talk Lau. they being immigrants from Ataa Cove. The hill languages of the north end of Big Mala use certain sounds which do not appear in Lau. These sounds are ngg, i.e. ng in English “ finger ”, nd instead of pure d, mb instead of pure b. Also the Lau h appears as s or th.