Niuean (/njuˈeɪən/;[2]ko e vagahau Niuē) is aPolynesian language, belonging to theMalayo-Polynesian subgroup of theAustronesian languages. It is most closely related toTongan and slightly more distantly to other Polynesian languages such asMāori,Samoan, andHawaiian. Together, Tongan and Niuean form theTongic subgroup of the Polynesian languages. Niuean also has a number of influences from Samoan and Eastern Polynesian languages.
Niuean was spoken by 1,600 people onNiue Island (97.4% of the inhabitants) in 1991, as well as by speakers in theCook Islands,New Zealand, andTonga, for a total of around 8,000 speakers. There are thus more speakers of Niuean outside the island itself than on the island. Most inhabitants of Niue are bilingual inEnglish.
In the early 1990s, 70% of the speakers of Niuean lived in New Zealand.[3]
Niuean consists of two main dialects, the olderMotu dialect from the north of the island and theTafiti dialect of the south. The words mean, respectively,the people of the island andthe strangers (orpeople from a distance).
The differences between the dialects are mainly in vocabulary or in the form of some words.
Examples of differences in vocabulary arevolu (Tafiti) vsmatā (Motu) forscrape, scraper andlala (Tafiti) vskautoga (Motu) forguava (plant); examples of differences in form includehafule (T) /afule (M),aloka/haloka,nai/nei,ikiiki/likiliki, andmalona/maona.
[s] is anallophone of/t/ beforefront vowels (both long and short/i/ and/e/); this most likely arose from theaffrication of/t/ to[ts] before these vowels and subsequent change of[ts] to[s]. While older foreign borrowings (such astī from English 'tea') underwent this change along with (or perhaps by analogy with) native words, words borrowed into Niuean after this development retain the original[t] (for example,telefoni andtikulī from 'telephone' and 'degree').
/r/ and/s/ are marginal phonemes, only appearing in foreign borrowings. Some speakers substitute[l] and[t], respectively.
Vowel length is distinctive in Niuean; vowels are either long or short. Furthermore, two adjacent identical vowels (whether short-short, short-long, long-short, or long-long) form arearticulated vowel; the sound is distinct from one long vowel.
Both short and long vowels can occur in any position.
All short vowels may combine with one another to form diphthongs. The possible diphthongs are outlined in the table below.
Hiatus is the separate pronunciation of two adjacent vowels, as opposed todiphthongs, which are written as two letters but pronounced as one sound. These two vowels may be the same or be different ones.
Hiatus typically occurs acrossmorpheme boundaries, such as when a prefix ending with a vowel comes before a root beginning with that same vowel. It may also occur, rarely, within monomorphemic words (words that consist of only one morpheme) as a result of the elision of a historical intervocalic consonant.
Two adjacent identical short vowels are always pronounced separately, as are combinations of any two long vowels or a short and a long vowel; two adjacent different short vowels may undergo hiatus or form a diphthong. This must be determined from the morphology oretymology of the word.
The basic structure of a Niuean syllable is (C)V(V); all syllables end in a vowel or diphthong, and may start with at most one consonant. Consonant clusters in borrowed words are broken up withepenthetic vowels, e.g. English 'tractor' becomestuleketā.
The stress on a Niuean word is nearly always on the penult (second-to-last syllable), though multi-syllable words ending in a long vowel put primary stress on the final long vowel and secondary stress on the penult. Long vowels in other positions also attract a secondary stress.
The Niuean language does not contain theglottal stop, which is present in its closest relative,Tongan. This has caused some distinct words to merge. For example, Tongantaʻu ('year') andtau ('fight') have merged in Niuean astau ('year; fight').
The traditional alphabet order, given with the traditional names of the letters, isā, ē, ī, ō, ū, fā, gā, hā, kā, lā, mō, nū, pī, tī, vī, rō, sā. Note thatrō andsā as introduced letters are ordered at the end.
Sperlich (1997) uses an alphabetical order based on English for his dictionary:a, ā, e, ē, f, g, h, i, ī, k, l, m, n, o, ō, p, s, t, u, ū, v (r is left out since no words start with this letter). He recommends that consonants be named consistently with a following ā:fā, gā, hā, kā, lā, mā, nā, pā, tā, vā, rā, sā.
Vowel length can be marked with amacron; however, this is not always done.
As with many languages, writing was brought to Niue in connection with religion, in this case withChristianity by missionaries educated inSamoa. This has led to some Samoan influences in morphology and grammar and also to a noticeable one in spelling: as in Samoan, the sound/ŋ/ (Help:IPA) is writteng, rather thanng as in Tongan and some other Polynesian languages with this sound. (McEwen (1970) usesng in his dictionary; however, this feature of his spelling was not popular, particularly since it conflicted with the spelling used in the Niuean Bible.)
Niuean can be considered aVSO language; however, one analysis of Niuean usesergative terminology, in which case it may be better to speak of verb–agent–patient word order.
Because the unmarked case is the absolutive, Niuean transitive verb constructions often appear passive in a literal translation.
Niueanpronouns are differentiated byperson andnumber. Furthermore, first person non-singular (dual andplural) pronouns distinguishinclusive andexclusive forms, including and excluding the listener, respectively. However, they are not differentiated bygender orcase; for example,ia means bothhe andshe,him andher (inanimates ['it'] are not usually pronominalised).
pronouns
singular
dual
plural
1st person
inclusive
au
taua
tautolu
exclusive
maua
mautolu
2nd person
koe
mua
mutolu
3rd person
ia
laua
lautolu
Note that the endings of the dual and plural forms resemble the numbers 2 and 3,ua andtolu.
(*Note: Both McEwen (1970) and Sperlich (1997) givefā for four; however, Kaulima & Beaumont (1994) givefa with a short vowel.)
Tens and ones combine withma, e.g.hogofulu ma taha, 11;tolugofulu ma ono, 36.
The numbers from one to nine (and occasionally higher numbers) can take the prefixtoko- when used to count persons; for example,tokolimafive (for people).
Suppletion concerns closely related words (often singular and plural forms of nouns or verbs) which are based on very different forms, for examplefanoto go (used with a singular subject) andōto go (used with a plural subject). This can be compared to Englishgo andwent, which are forms of the same verb yet differ in form.
Reduplication is frequently used in Niuean morphology to derive different nouns. Reduplication is the process of taking the entire morpheme, or sometimes only the first or last syllable or two, and repeating it.
This is used for several purposes, including:
forming a "plural" verb from a "singular" one (that is, a verb form used when the subject is plural, as opposed to the form used when the subject is singular)
forming a "frequentative" form of a verb (an action that is carried out several times)
An example of a whole-morpheme reduplication indicating a plural verb ismolemoleto have passed by, to be gone frommoleto have passed by, to be gone[clarification needed]; an example of a whole-morpheme reduplication indicating a frequentative verb ismolomoloto keep squeezing frommoloto squeeze, to compress.
Examples of part-morpheme reduplication aregagauto bite fromgauto chew (first part of the syllable reduplicated),gegeleto make a crying sound fromgeleto start to cry (of babies) (first syllable reduplicated), andmolūlūto be very soft, to be very weak frommolūto be soft, to be weak (last syllable reduplicated).
Reduplication is also frequently employed together withaffixes.
Affixes (prefixes andsuffixes) are frequently used for a variety of purposes; there is also onecircumfix,fe- -aki (sometimesfe- -naki orfe- -taki), which is used to form reciprocal verbs ("to ... one another").
A common suffix is-aga, which is a nominaliser: it forms nouns from verbs.
A common prefix withfaka-, with a variety of meanings, the most common being a causative one (e.g.akoto learn,fakaakoto teach).
Words may also have more than one prefix or suffix, asfakamalipilipito break (used with a plural object), fromfaka-,ma-, and areduplicatedlipito break.
Many words are simply formed by joining together other words, for examplevakaleleaeroplane fromvakacanoe andlelefly (i.e. literally,flying canoe).Diane Massam has extensively studied a special type of compounding which she has termed pseudo noun incorporation, a type ofnoun incorporation.
Brown, Jason and Tukuitonga, Kara (2018)."Niuean". Illustrations of the IPA.Journal of the International Phonetic Association.48 (1):117–128.doi:10.1017/S0025100317000500{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link), with supplementary sound recordings.
Kaulima, Aiao & Beaumont, Clive H. (1994).A First Book for Learning Niuean. Auckland, New Zealand: Beaumont and Kaulima.ISBN0-9583383-0-2.
Kaulima, Aiao & Beaumont, Clive H. (2000).Learning Niuean, Book 2. Tohi Ako Vagahau Niue. Auckland, New Zealand: Beaumont and Kaulima.ISBN0-9583383-9-6.
McEwen, J. M. (1970).Niue Dictionary. Wellington, New Zealand: Department of Maori and Island Affairs. No ISBN.
Seiter, William J. (1980).Studies in Niuean Syntax. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc.ISBN0-8240-4560-2.
Sperlich, Wolfgang B. (1997).Tohi vagahai Niue - Niue language dictionary: Niuean–English, with English–Niuean finderlist. Honolulu, Hawai'i: University of Hawai'i Press.ISBN0-8248-1933-0.
Tregear, Edward & Smith, S. Percy (1907).A Vocabulary and Grammar of the Niue Dialect of the Polynesian Language. Wellington: Government Printer.
Anon. et al. (2003).Ko e Tohi Tapu | The Holy Bible in Niue. Suva, Fiji: The Bible Society in the South Pacific.ISBN0-564-00077-9.
