This articleshould specify the language of its non-English content using{{lang}} or{{langx}},{{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and{{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriateISO 639 code. Wikipedia'smultilingual support templates may also be used - notablygil for Gilbertese.See why.(December 2024)
Map showing the pre-colonial distribution of theMicronesian languages; Gilbertese-speaking region is shaded blue and does not include theLine Islands andRabi in Fiji
The wordKiribati, the current name of the islands, is the local adaptation of the European name "Gilberts" to Gilbertesephonology. Early European visitors, including CommodoreJohn Byron, whose ships happened onNikunau in 1765, had named some of the islands theKingsmill or Kings Mill Islands or for the Northern grouples îles Mulgrave in French[2] but in 1820 they were renamed, in French,les îles Gilbert by AdmiralAdam Johann von Krusenstern, after CaptainThomas Gilbert, who, along with CaptainJohn Marshall, had passed through some of these islands in 1788.Frequenting of the islands by Europeans, Americans and Chinese dates from whaling and oil trading from the 1820s, when no doubt Europeans learnt to speak it, as Gilbertese learnt to speak English and other languages foreign to them. The first ever vocabulary list of Gilbertese was published by the FrenchRevue coloniale (1847) by an auxiliary surgeon oncorvetteLe Rhin in 1845. His warship took on board a drift Gilbertese ofKuria, that they found nearTabiteuea. However, it was not untilHiram Bingham II took up missionary work onAbaiang in the 1860s that the language began to take on the written form known now.
Bingham was the first to translate the Bible into Gilbertese, and wrote several hymn books, a dictionary (1908, posthumous) and commentaries in the language of the Gilbert Islands. Alphonse Colomb, a French priest inTahiti wrote in 1888,Vocabulairearorai (îles Gilbert) précédé de notes grammaticales d'après un manuscrit du P. Latium Levêque et le travail deHale sur la langueTarawa / par le P. A. C.. Father Levêque named the GilberteseArorai (fromArorae) whenHoratio Hale called themTarawa. This work was also based on the first known description of Gilbertese in English, published in 1846, in the volumeEthnology and Philology of theU.S. Exploring Expedition, compiled byHoratio Hale.
The official name of the language iste taetae ni Kiribati, or 'the Gilbertese language', but the common name iste taetae n aomata, or 'the language of the people'.
The first complete and comprehensive description of this language was published inDictionnaire gilbertin–français of FatherErnest Sabatier (981 pp, 1952–1954), a Catholic priest. It was later partially translated into English by Sister Olivia, with the help of theSouth Pacific Commission.
97% of those living in Kiribati are able to read in Gilbertese, and 80% are able to readEnglish.[3] It is one of the Oceanic languages. The largest individual Oceanic languages areEastern Fijian with over 600,000 speakers, andSamoan with an estimated 400,000 speakers. The Gilbertese,Tongan,Tahitian,Māori,Western Fijian andTolai (Gazelle Peninsula) languages each have over 100,000 speakers.
The Gilbertese language has two maindialects, Northern and Southern. Their main differences are in thepronunciation of some sounds. The islands ofButaritari andMakin also have their own dialect that differs from the standard Kiribati in some vocabulary and pronunciation.
^Short/i/ and/u/ may become semivowels[j] and[w] when followed by more sonorous vowels./ie/ →[je] ('sail').[14] Kiribati has syllabic nasals, although syllabic/n/ and/ŋ/ can be followed only by consonants that are homorganic.[12]
^abLee (2019) describes the additionalmonophthongs[ɛ] and[æ], for a total of 14 vowel sounds.[15]
The/a/ pronunciation is closer to[ä] except after velarized/mˠ/ and/pˠ/.
The Gilbertese language is written in theLatin script, which was introduced in the 1860s whenHiram Bingham Jr, a Protestantmissionary, first translated theBible into Gilbertese. Until then, the language was unwritten. Since the independence of Kiribati in 1979, long vowels and consonants are represented by doubling the character, as inDutch andFinnish. A fewdigraphs are used for thevelarnasals (/ŋŋː/) and velarized bilabials (/pˠmˠ/). Bingham and the first Roman Catholic missionaries (1888) did not indicate in their script the vowel length by doubling the character. The discrepancies between the Protestant and Roman Catholic spellings have been an issue since 1895.[16] Neither clearly distinguished the pronunciation of the vowel /a/ after velarized bilabials, like/pˠ/ (bw) and/mˠ/ (mw), which result in discrepancies between old scripts and modern scripts. For example, the wordmaneaba should be writtenmwaneaba or evenmwaaneaba and the atoll ofMakin,Mwaakin. TheKiribati Protestant Church has also recently used a different script for both velarized bilabials, “b’a” and “m’a”, which are found in Protestant publications.
One difficulty in translating the Bible was references to words such as "mountain", a geographical phenomenon unknown to the people of the islands of Kiribati at the time, heard only in the myths fromSamoa. Bingham substituted "hilly", which would be more easily understood. Such adjustments are common to all languages as "modern" things require the creation of new words or the usage of loan words.
For example, the Gilbertese word for airplane iste wanikiba, "the canoe that flies". Some words changed to translate Western words into Gilbertese. For example,te aro (species or colour) is now used in translating religion.Te kiri (the dog), found in 1888 vocabulary, is now less used thante kamea (from English, loan word).[clarification needed]
Catholic missionaries arrived at the islands in 1888 and translated the Bible independently of Bingham, which led to differences (Bingham wroteJesus as "Iesu", but the Catholics wrote "Ietu") that would be resolved only in the 20th century. In 1954, FatherErnest Sabatier published the larger and more accurate Kiribati to French dictionary (translated into English by Sister Olivia):Dictionnaire gilbertin–français, 981 pages (edited by South Pacific Commission in 1971). It remains the only work of importance between the Kiribati language and a Western language. It was then reversed by Frédéric Giraldi in 1995 to creating the first French-Kiribati dictionary. In addition, a grammar section was added by Father Gratien Bermond (MSC). The dictionary is available at theFrench National Library Rare Language Department and at the headquarters of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC),Issoudun.
When arriving, the translation of the Bible (te Baibara) was the first duty of the missionaries. Protestants (1860) and Roman Catholics (1888) had to find or create some words that were not in use in theGilbert Islands, like mountain (te maunga, borrowing it from Hawaiianmauna or Samoanmaunga), and likeserpents, but also to find a good translation for God (te Atua). Many words were adapted from English, likete moko (smoke),te buun (spoon),te beeki (pig),te raiti (rice),te tai (time, a watch),te auti (house),te katamwa (cat, from expressioncat-at-me). Some words of theSwadesh list did not exist in Gilbertese likete aiti (ice) orte tinoo (snow). But things that did not exist previously also were interpreted to form new Gilbertese words:te rebwerebwe (motorbike),te wanikiba (plane, a flying canoe),te momi (pearl, from Hawaiian).[17]
Gilbertese lacks a morphological noun-marker system. This means that—by itself—a noun cannot be identified as such. However, singular nouns can be distinguished from other words, as they are preceded by the article "te". However, not all singular nouns can take the article. These include names of people and places, words for cardinal directions, and other specific nouns.
Any noun can be formed from a verb or an adjective by preceding it with the article "te".
nako (to go)
te nako (the going)
uraura (red)
te uraura (the redness)
Nouns can be marked for possession (by person and number). Plurality is only marked in some nouns by lengthening the first vowel.[18] Even then, the singular form might be used—despite plural referents—if no other indicators of their plurality are present.
te boki (book)
booki (books)
There is no obligatory marked gender. Sex or gender can be marked by addingmmwaane (male) oraiine (female) to the noun.
te moa (chicken)
te moa mmwaane (rooster) (writingmwane is more usual)
te moa aiine (hen) (writingaine is more usual)
tariu[19] (my brother or my sister, if he or she has the same sex as the speaker)
maneu[20] (my brother or my sister, if he or she has a different sex from the speaker)
In Gilbertese, nouns can be classified as eitheranimate orinanimate. The category of animate nouns includes humans and most animals, whereas inanimate nouns refer to all other entities.
Possession, when the possessor is inanimate, is marked with the "n" clitic. In writing, it may be joined with the previous word, or written separately. In cases where the "n" marker would be otherwise incompatible with the language's phonotactics, one might use "in" or "ni" instead. In phrases where the possessor is animate, a special possessive pronoun needs to be employed (seePronouns).
Nouns can also be classified asalienable orinalienable. Inalienable nouns include, among others, parts of the body, family, and feelings. Words which are newly introduced into the language are never considered to be inalienable. The meanings of certain words may vary according to whether or not they are considered alienable.
Adjectives can also be formed from nouns byreduplication with the meaning of "abundant in", e.g.,karau ("rain"),kakarau ("rainy").
Neither of them implies definiteness, therefore both can be translated as "a(n)" and "the".
When preceding collective nouns or names of substances, "te" can be translated as "some." A limited set of nouns, typically referring to unique entities, dispense withte. This includes words liketaai“sun”,karawa “sky”,taari/marawa “sea”, among others. Interestingly,Te Atua, “God”, is an exception. The articlete also acts as anominalizer, transforming adjectives into nouns. Whilete marks singular nouns, the language possesses a plural articletaian. However, its use is restricted to countable nouns inherently implying plurality. Collective nouns typically don't taketaian. In certain situations, when plurality is evident from surrounding words,taian can be omitted.
Personal articles
Masculine
Feminine
Personal article
te (tem, ten, teng) — Na Nan Nang form could be used inButaritari andMakin
nei
The personal articles are used before personal names. The masculine form is 'te' before names beginning with <i, u, w, b', ng>, 'tem' before <b, m>, 'ten' before <a, e, o, n, r, t> and 'teng' before <k, (ng)>.
Pronouns have different forms according to case: nominative (subject), accusative (object), emphatic (vocatives, adjunct pronouns), genitive (possessives).
The Gilbertese language employs a system of demonstratives to indicate the spatial proximity of the referent to the speaker. These demonstratives are postnominal, meaning they follow the noun they modify.[21]
Basic
Masculine
Feminine
Human
Neuter
Translation
singular
plural
singular
plural
singular
plural
singular
plural
singular
plural
Proximal
aei
aikai
teuaaei
uaakai
neiei
naakai
te baei
baikai
“this” (this here, near me)
“these”
Medial
anne
akanne
teuaanne
uakanne
neienne
naakanne
te baenne
baikanne
“that” (near you but far from me)
“those”
Distal
arei
akekei
teuaarei
uaakekei
neierei
naakekei
te baerei
baikekei
“that” (far away from both of us)
“those”
The feminine demonstrative has no plural form, as opposed to the masculine, and the human plural encapsulates groups of mixed gender.
Ngke is used for hypothetical scenarios that would have an effect today, have they changed in the past.Ngkana is used for situations whereof the outcome or truth is not yet known.
While they share many similarities with intransitive verbs, there are a few patterns that can be observed among adjectives. Many adjectives, such asmainaina (“white”), contain a repeated element. While some non-reduplicated adjectives exist, reduplication appears to be dominant.
Nouns typically lengthen their first vowel to indicate plural. Conversely, adjectives tend to shorten their first vowel for pluralization (e.g.,anaanau (long - singular) becomesananau (long - plural)).
Gilbertese employs distinct strategies for forming comparative and superlative constructions. Comparatives are relatively straightforward, achieved by adding the adverbriki (“more”) after the adjective (e.g.,ririeta (“high”) becomesririeta riki (“higher”)). Expressing “better than” requires the prepositionnakon (“than”) along with a construction that compares the noun-like qualities derived from the adjectives:
E
aki
bootau
an
aakoi
tar
im.
E aki bootau an aakoi tar im.
You are not as kind as your brother. (lit.Your kindness is not equal to that of your brother.)
Superlatives are formed with the intensifiermoan and the articlete preceding the adjective. For example,raoiroi (“good”) becomesmoan te raoiroi (“the best”).
Verbs do not conjugate according to person, number, tense, aspect or mood.[22] These verbal categories are indicated byparticles. Nonetheless, a passive suffix-aki is used as in:
E kabooa te raiti He bought the rice.
E kabooaki te raiti The rice was bought (by him).
Any adjective can also be an intransitive verb. Transitive verbs can be formed by the circumfixka- (...) -a creating a causative verb, e.g. "uraura" (to be red) becomes "kaurauraa" (to redden). Tense is marked by adverbs. However, the default interpretation of the unmarked (by adverbs) verb is a past tense. Below is a list of verbal particles:[23]
Gilbertese usesclassifiers for counting with numerals like Asian languages (Chinese, Vietnamese, etc.). These classifiers are suffixes to the numerals:-ua (general, for objects),-man (animate beings),-kai (plants, land, fish hooks),-ai (fish, elongated objects),-waa (transportation),-baa (leaves, flat objects) among many others. It is a decimal system with-bwi as a "10-counting" suffix. Zero ("akea") is just the word for 'nothing'.[24]
Multiple nouns may be joined with eitherao (“and”) orma (“and; with”). To join adjectives or verb, one may useman. The conjunctionke (“or”) can be used with any part of speech.
Insubordinate clauses, the main clause usually comes first, with an appropriate conjunction in-between the two.
^Henry Evans Maude (1961).Post-Spanish discoveries in the central Pacific. Journal of the Polynesian Society, 67-111. Very often, this name applied only to the southern islands of the archipelago.Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam Webster, 1997. p. 594.
^ab"Kiribati Census Report 2010 Volume 1"(PDF). National Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Government of Kiribati. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 30 September 2013. Retrieved17 March 2013.
^Trussel, Stephen (1979)."Lesson 13"(PDF).Kiribati (Gilbertese): Grammar Handbook. The Experiment Press: Vermont Peace Corps Language Handbook Series. pp. 85–86.
^abTrussel, Stephen (1979)."Lesson 19"(PDF).Kiribati (Gilbertese): Grammar Handbook. The Experiment Press: Vermont Peace Corps Language Handbook Series. pp. 126–129.
^Trussel, Stephen (1979)."Lesson 31"(PDF).Kiribati (Gilbertese): Grammar Handbook. The Experiment Press: Vermont Peace Corps Language Handbook Series. pp. 203–208.
^Trussel, Stephen (1979)."Lesson 37"(PDF).Kiribati (Gilbertese): Grammar Handbook. The Experiment Press: Vermont Peace Corps Language Handbook Series. pp. 239–245.
^Trussel, Stephen (1979)."Lesson 16"(PDF).Kiribati (Gilbertese): Grammar Handbook. The Experiment Press: Vermont Peace Corps Language Handbook Series. pp. 103–109.
