| Tokelauan | |
|---|---|
| gagana Tokelau | |
| Native to | Tokelau,Swains Island (American Samoa,United States) |
| Ethnicity | Tokelauans |
Native speakers | 1,200 in Tokelau (2020)[1] 2,500 in New Zealand (2013 census)[1] 825 in Australia (2021 census)[2] |
Austronesian
| |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Tokelau |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | tkl |
| ISO 639-3 | tkl |
| Glottolog | toke1240 |
| ELP | Tokelauan |
 Tokelauan is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger (2010). | |
Tokelauan (/toʊkəˈlaʊən/)[3] is aPolynesian language spoken inTokelau and historically by the small population ofSwains Island (or Olohega) in American Samoa. It is closely related toTuvaluan and is related toSamoan and other Polynesian languages. Tokelauan has a co-official status with English in Tokelau. There are approximately 4,260 speakers of Tokelauan, of whom 2,100 live inNew Zealand, 1,400 in Tokelau, and 17 in Swains Island. "Tokelau" means "north-northeast".[4]
Loimata Iupati, Tokelau's resident Director of Education, has stated that he is in the process of translating theBible from English into Tokelauan.While many Tokelau residents are multilingual, Tokelauan was the language of day-to-day affairs in Tokelau until at least the 1990s,[5] and is spoken by 88% of Tokelauan residents.[6] Of the 4600 people who speak the language, 1600 of them live in the three atolls of Tokelau – Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo. Approximately 3000 people in New Zealand speak Tokelauan, and the rest of the known Tokelauan speakers are spread across Australia, Hawaii, and the West Coast of the United States.[7] The Tokelauan language closely resembles its more widely spoken and close genealogical relative,Samoan; the two maintain a degree ofmutual intelligibility.[8]
Horatio Hale was the first person to publish a Tokelauan dictionary of sorts, which he did in 1846.[9] Rather than being the accepted definition of dictionary, it was a reference that only contained 214 entries of vocabulary.[9] Hale's publication remained the only published Tokelauan reference until 1969.[9] However, Tokelauan had been instituted into schools in the late 1940s; prior to the publication, there was not much headway made in the teaching of the language.[9] In 1969, the New Zealand Department of Education published D. W. Boardman's Tokelau–English Vocabulary.[9] This second, more advanced reference was a collection of around 1200 vocabulary entries.[9] In the times that passed after the second publication, the necessity of a more detailed and in depth reference to the language for the purpose of education with the Tokelauan community was realized by Hosea Kirifi[9] (who later became the first Tokelau Director of Education) and J. H. Webster. In the year 1975, Kirifi and Webster published the first official precursory Tokelauan dictionary, which contained an estimated 3000 items, called the Tokelau–English Dictionary.[9] This entire movement was based on the fact that the Tokelauan people take a great deal of pride in their language. Tokelauan schools lacked an abundance of resources and materials that could be used to educate their children on the language.[9] It has a high place in their culture,[9] and the revitalization and renewal of the language for their younger generation had eventually reached a point where action had to be taken. One year after the publication of the 1975 Tokelau–English Dictionary, the government approved the installation of Ropati Simona who was to head the Tokelau Dictionary Project. This eventually led to the publication of the first comprehensive Tokelauan dictionary, Tokelau Dictionary by the Office of Tokelau Affairs in 1986.
Tokelau is a dependency of New Zealand and has three main parts, which consist of atolls:Atafu,Nukunonu, andFakaofo. Together these three atolls lie about two hundred sixty nautical miles away from Samoa. The three atolls of Tokelau are also known as theDuke of York,Duke of Clarence, andD'Wolf or Bowditch, respectively (on old maps). Together, they are known as The Union Islands, The Union Group, and as the Tokelau Islands.[10] Tokelau's language, Tokelauan, belongs to theAustronesian language family and is considered to be part of the subgroup of Polynesian languages. More than half of the speakers of the Tokelauan language reside in New Zealand, about thirty percent live in either Atafu, Nukuonono, or Fakaofo, and a minority live in Australia (geographically close to New Zealand) and states in the United States that touch the Pacific Ocean (Hawaii and other western states part of the mainland). Since Tokelau lies very close to Samoa, it is common to think that the Tokelauan language has some Samoan language influences, but due to the lack in extensive documentation, it is inaccurate to assume such a thing. Tokelauan was still only considered to be a spoken language up until the 1960s. During the 1960s schools began teaching their peoples how to read and write their own language. Short works were also produced in Tokelauan. Additionally, it was common for adults to be fluent in Samoan and Tokelauan.[7] The Tokelauan language is small, and has always been fairly small, even before the Europeans invaded, because of the limited resources that each atoll had, which limited the number of people that could be supported on each.[11]
| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | |
| High | i | iː⟨ī⟩ | u | uː⟨ū⟩ | ||
| Mid | e | eː⟨ē⟩ | o | oː⟨ō⟩ | ||
| Low | a | aː⟨ā⟩ | ||||
To indicate whether a vowel is read short or long, Tokelauan language denotes a long vowel with a macron over the letter symbol. Amacron is a horizontal line.
However, not all Tokelauan speaking peoples agree with the use of the macron. Those residing in the three atolls of Tokelau are known to have shown much resistance to the macron, while the Tokelauan speakers of New Zealand are more open and accepting of adopting the use of this linguistic symbol.[7]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ⟨g⟩ | |
| Plosive | p | t | k | |
| Fricative | ɸ⟨f⟩v | (s)[a] | h | |
| Lateral | l |
There are some phonetic similarities between sounds in the language, such as /h/ and /ɸ/, which results in some variation in orthographic practice. For example,toha andtofa both mean goodbye but can be pronounced differently.[7] The sounds for h, s, f and wh can all be used interchangeably.[8] There are two dialects in Polynesia, which has shaped the Tokelauan language to sound how it does. The h and wh sounds are from the older dialect, while the f and s sounds are from the newer one. The fact that all these sounds are interchangeable regardless of when it arrived at the islands suggests that no one dialect surpassed the other.[8] Although Tokelauan is closely related to the Samoan language, there is a distinct difference between their pronunciation of words. For example, Samoan words containing the k sound can sound like g with words such ashiki often mistakenly heard ashigi. Tokelauan language does not allow the k's to drop.[8]
Tokelauan is written in theLatin script, albeit using only 15 letters:A,E,I,O,U,F,G,K,L,M,N,P,H,T, andV.
Although there is not a lot of available systemic data for Tokelauan word stressing, linguistics have developed three rules relating word stress and vowels based upon some previous evidence. The first rule is that a long vowel will receive the main stress. Secondly, with some exceptions to rule number one, the second to last vowel would bear the main stress (if the long vowel is not the main stress). And thirdly, words do not lose their normal stress when compounded with another word. Furthermore, monosyllabic grammatical morphemes are left unstressed.[7]
Similarly to English, each Tokelauan clause has a predicate. There are five types of predicate including verbal, locative, existential, possessive, and nominal. Each predicate is available for an interrogative and declarative statement, and can also have multiple predicates conjoined.[7]
A verbal phrase will follow a verbal clause.
(An evaluative predicate can and usually does occur with no argument.)
Preposition⟨i⟩ and a noun phrase following a tense-aspect particle.
Below is a table displaying the predicative possessive pronouns in the Tokelauan language.
| Singular | Dual | Plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | incl | o oku, o kita a aku, a kite | o taua, o ta a taua, a ta | o tatou a tatou |
| excl | o maua, o ma o a maua, a ma a | matou matou | ||
| 2nd person | o ou/o koe a au/a koe | o koulua a koulua | o koutou a koutou | |
| 3rd person | o ona a ona | o laua, o la a laua, a la | o latou a latou | |
Shown below is a table showing Tokelauan premodifying possessive pronouns.
| Possessor | Singular reference | Plural reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 singular | toku, taku, tota, tata | oku, aku, ota, ata |
| 2 singular | to, tau | o, au |
| 3 singular | tona, tana | ona, ana |
| 1 dual incl. | to ta, to taua ta ta, ta taue | o ta, o taue a ta, a taua |
| 1 dual excl. | to ma, to maua ta ma, ta maua | o ma, o maua a ma, a maua |
| 2 dual | toulua, taulua | oulua, aulua |
| 3 dual | to la, to laue ta la, ta laue | o la, o laua a la a laua |
| 1 plural incl. | to tatou, ta tatou | o tatou, a tatou |
| 1 plural excl. | to matou, ta matou | o matou, a matou |
| 2 plural | toutou, tautau | outou, autou |
| 3 plural | to latou, ta latau | o latou, a latou |
| NON-SPECIFIC/INDEFINITE | ||
| 1 singular | hoku, hota haku, hata | ni oku, ni ota niaku, niata |
| 2 singular | ho, hau | ni o, ni au |
| 3 singular | hona, hana | ni ona, ni ana |
| 1 dual incl. | ho ta, ho taua ha ta, ha taua | ni o ta, ni o taue ni a ta, ni a taua |
| 1 dual excl. | ho ma, ho maua ha ma, ha maua | ni o ma, ni o maua ni a ma, ni a maua |
| 2 dual | houlua, haulua | ni oulua, ni aulua |
There are two articles that are used in the English language. These articles arethe anda/an. The usage for the wordthe when speaking of a noun is strictly reserved for the case in which the receiver of the word should be aware of its context, or if said item has been referred to previously. This is because in English, the wordthe acts as what is known as a definite article, meaning that a defined object or person is being spoken of. However, in the case of definite article usage in Tokelauan language, if the speaker is speaking of an item in the same manner as the English languages usesthe, they need not to have referred to it previously so long as the item is specific.[9] The same can be said for the reference of singular being.[9] Because of the difference in grammatical ruling, although the definite article in the Tokelauan language iste, it is very common for it to translate to the English indefinite articlea. An indefinite article is used when there is no specification of the noun being referred to.[9] The usage of the wordhe, the indefinite article in Tokelauan is 'any such item'.[9] In negative statements the wordhe is used because that is where it is most often found[clarification needed], as well as when phrasing a question.[9] However, it is important to remember that just because these two types of statements are wherehe occurs the greatest it does not mean thathe does not occur in other types of statements as well.[9] Examples of bothte andhe are as such:
The use ofhe andte in Tokelauan are reserved for when describing a singular noun.[9] When describing a plural noun, different articles are used. For plural definite nouns,nā is the article that is used.[9] However, in some cases, rather than usingnā, plural definite nouns are subject to the absence of an article represented by0.[9] The absence of an article is usually used if a large amount or a specific class of things are being described.[9] An example of an exception to this commonality would be if one was describing an entire class of things, but in a nonspecific way.[9] In this case, rather thannā as the article, the singular definite noun te would be used.[9] The articleni is used for describing a plural indefinite noun.[9] Examples ofnā, a0 exception, andni are as such:
(Notice that this is the use of an indefinite article in an interrogative statement. As mentioned above, the use of indefinite articles in these types of statements is very common.)
The particles of the Tokelauan language areia,a (or ā),a te, andia te.[9] When describing personal names as well as the names of the month, pronouns (the use here is optional and it is most commonly used when there are words in between the pronoun and verb), and collaborative nouns that describe a group of people working together the most common particle is used.[9] This particle isia, which is used so long as none of the nouns listed above follow the prepositionse,o,a, orko.[9] When the subject of a sentence is a locative or name of a place,ia is also used as the particle in those particular, as well as other specific instances. The particlea is used before a person's name as well as the names of months and the particlea te is used before pronouns when these instances are following the prepositionsi orki.[9] If describing a pronoun and using the prepositionmai, the article that follows isia te.[9]
There are four main classes oflexemes in the Tokelauan language, and are as follows:
Majority of the lexemes can be used in both position 1 & 2, meaning they can function as nouns and verbs, depending on the context.[13]
COMP:complementizerTA:tense/aspect
The Tokulauan language makes use of complementizers pe, ke, oi, and ona. The complementizer pe is used for indicative complements, while ke, oi, and ona are used for non-indicative complements.
Pe: Complement used in sentences pertaining to knowledge.
Ko
fakatatau
guess
lava
pe
na
maua
obtain
lava
te
vaiaho.
week
Ko taku fakatatau lavape na maua lava te vaiaho.
TOP 1sg.POSS guess INT COMP TA obtain INT DET week
'My guess was that a full week had passed.'[14]
Ke: Complement used in sentences pertaining to purpose.
Kua
fiu
fed-up
foki
indeed
ke-iru-au
a!
Kua fiu fokike-iru-au a!
TA fed-up indeed COMP-drink-1sg EXCLAM
'[They] were tired of trying to get me to drink.'[14]
Ona: Complement used in sentences pertaining to "phasal, modal, and commentative predicates."
Kua
tatau
necessary
ono
fai
make
he
a
fale.
house
Kua tatauono fai he fale.
TA necessary COMP make a house
'It had become necessary to acquire a house'[14]
Oi: Complement used in sentences pertaining to items of sequence.
Kuo
toeitiiti
be-soon
oi
nofo
sit
mai
te
fetū
star
tēia.
Kuo toeitiitioi nofo mai te fetū tēia.
TA be-soon COMP sit DIR DET star DEM
'Very soon that star will be in the ascendant.'[14]
The Tokelauan language also must take into mind the systematics of its complements. There is a bonding hierarchy between the complements and its sentences. According to Hooper's research, there are four elements that in Tokelauan semantics that determine the strength of the bond between the complement and rest of the sentence. In the binding system, the complements act inversely to the verb of the sentence. Therefore, if the strength of the verb is higher on the binding scale, the complement is unlikely to appear as its own separate clause. The four elements are: Subject/agent case marking, Verb modalities, Fusion or co-lexicalization, and Separation.[14]
Tokelauan is a quite free flowing language as the sentence structures can vary greatly. Although there is a preferred method of ordering the phrase (i.e., argument, subject, case complement), the language allows for different variations. There are certain rules when it comes to sentence permutations when it comes to "subject shifting" or "case scrambling." Generally, across these sentence permutations, the parts of speech, such as argument, subject, and case complements, have to stay together. Meaning, the argument is one section that would shift together and subject is its own unit.[15]
Subject shift:
na havali
argument
mai te fale i te auala
case complement
te teine
subject
{na havali} {mai te fale i te auala} {te teine}
argument {case complement} subject
Walked from the house along the road the girl[15]
na havali
argument
te teine
subject
mai te fale i te auala
case complement
{na havali} {te teine} {mai te fale i te auala}
argument subject {case complement}
Walked the girl from the house along the road[15]
Case scramble:
na kai
na kai
na kai
te ika
e au
e au
e au
te ika
i te hiipuni
i te hiipuni
i te hiipuni
te ika
{na kai} {te ika} {e au} {i te hiipuni}
{na kai} {e au} {te ika} {i te hiipuni}
{na kai} {e au} {i te hiipuni} {te ika}
All of which still mean, The fish was eaten by me with a spoon.[15]
Tokelauan is mutually intelligible with the Tuvaluan language. Samoan literature is recognised mostly due to the early introduction of Christian Samoan missionaries to which the Samoan language was held as the language of instruction at school and at church.[5] It also has marked similarities to theNiuafo'ou language ofTonga.[16]
| Tokelauan | English |
|---|---|
| Fanatu au là? | Shall I come too? |
| Ko toku nena e i Nukunonu. | My grandmother lives in Nukunonu. |
| Malo ni, ea mai koe? | Hello, how are you? |
| Ko ai tō igoa? | What is your name? |
| Fakafeiloaki | Greetings |
| Mālo ni! | Hello |
| Ulu tonu mai | Welcome |
| E fakafeiloaki atu | We greet you |
| Fakafetai | Thank you |
| Tōfā ni | Good bye |
| Te malie o te meakai | The food is delicious. |
| Tokelauan (Fuainūmela) | English | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Hēai / Helo / Kole | Zero | 0 |
| Tahi | One | 1 |
| Lua | Two | 2 |
| Tolu | Three | 3 |
| Fā | Four | 4 |
| Lima | Five | 5 |
| Ono | Six | 6 |
| Fitu | Seven | 7 |
| Valu | Eight | 8 |
| Iva | Nine | 9 |
| Hefulu | Ten | 10 |
| Tokelauan (Fuainūmela) | English | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Hefulutahi | Eleven | 11 |
| Hefululua | Twelve | 12 |
| Hefulutolu | Thirteen | 13 |
| Hefulufā | Fourteen | 14 |
| Hefululima | Fifteen | 15 |
| Hefuluono | Sixteen | 16 |
| Hefulufitu | Seventeen | 17 |
| Hefuluvalu | Eighteen | 18 |
| Hefuluiva | Nineteen | 19 |
| Luahefulu | Twenty | 20 |
| Tokelauan (Fuainūmela) | English | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Toluhefulu | Thirty | 30 |
| Fāhefulu | Forty | 40 |
| Limahefulu | Fifty | 50 |
| Onohefulu | Sixty | 60 |
| Fituhefulu | Seventy | 70 |
| Valuhefulu | Eighty | 80 |
| Ivahefulu | Ninety | 90 |
| Helau | One Hundred | 100 |
| Tokeualuan (Fuainūmela) | English | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Tahi te afe /Afe | One Thousand | 1000 |
| Lua te afe / Luaafe | Two Thousand | 2000 |
| Tolu te afe / Toluafe | Three Thousand | 3000 |
| Fā te afe / Fāafe | Four Thousand | 4000 |
| Lima te afe / Limaafe | Five Thousand | 5000 |
The Tokelaukinship terms are used to definefamily organizations within the community. Tokelau has adopted theHawaiian-type kinship system and modified distinctions in sibling terms. The language has specific words for different members of the family, and some of these terms have multiple meanings.[17]
There are three terms that showcase the distinction of same-sex and opposite-sex sibling terms: Sibling of own sex (male or female); sibling of opposite sex (male); and sibling of opposite sex, (female). For example, 'mother's sister,' 'male cousin's brother' and 'sister's nephew' are all different terms in the Tokelauan language. In Tokelau, the term most closely translated to "incest" isholi kāiga which is made up of two words:holi meaning 'to tread' and also 'to desecrate' or 'violate'. The wordKāiga means 'kinship'. The termholi kāiga can be applied to not only a 'desecration of kinship' but in any cases that the order of kinship is changed, for example a child defying an elder. The most common use of the term, however, is used when speaking about the sexual contact between individuals. In the Tokelauan language,Kāiga has both adjectival and nominal linguistic functions:
When the word is used nominally, it may imply a diverse variety of social units that all have a shared ancestor. The Tokelau language contains terms for affinal relationships, however, there is no single word that can be transcribed as 'affinity'. The term opposite ofkāiga ('kin' or 'related') ishe kāiga ('not kin' or 'unrelated'), and that only those who arehe kāiga should be wedded. Violating the kinship relationship means breaching not only the current relationship but the whole kinship of all descendants.
With fewer than 5000 speakers, the Tokelauan language is endangered. There is a struggle to teach a language that is spoken by only handful of people, when learning a widely known language such asEnglish has a much greater benefit in their society. Theheritage language of the community starts to diminish as parents stray away from teaching their children the local language, in hopes that they will succeed in learning the more dominant language, and as Tokelauan speakers intermarry with non-speakers. Older generations of people living in Tokelau speak both Tokelauan and Samoan, but the younger generation, due to the newer schooling system, are apt to speak English rather than Samoan. In a census in 2001 in New Zealand, only 44 percent of the people with a Tokelauan background could hold a conversation in the language, compared to 53 percent in 1996. Comparably, a meager 29 percent of New Zealand-born Tokelauans reported being able to speak the language, compared to the 71 percent born in the three atolls.
Tokelauan travel guide from Wikivoyage
Tokelauan at Wikibooks
Authority control databases: National |
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