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Tongan
lea faka-Tonga
Native to
Tonga; significant immigrant community in New Zealand and the United States
Tongan is one of the multiple languages in the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages, along with Hawaiian, Māori, Samoan, and Tahitian, for example. Together with Niuean, it forms the Tongic subgroup of Polynesian.
Tongan is unusual among Polynesian languages in that it has a so-called definitive accent. As with all Polynesian languages, Tongan has adapted the phonological system of proto-Polynesian.
Tongan has retained the original proto-Polynesian *h, but has merged it with the original *s as /h/. (The /s/ found in modern Tongan derives from *t before high front vowels). Most Polynesian languages have lost the original proto-Polynesian glottal stop /ʔ/; however, it has been retained in Tongan and a few other languages including Rapa Nui.[b]
In proto-Polynesian, *r and *l were distinct phonemes, but in most Polynesian languages they have merged, represented orthographically as ⟨r⟩ in most East Polynesian languages, and as ⟨l⟩ in most West Polynesian languages. However, the distinction can be reconstructed because Tongan kept the *l but lost the *r.[c]
Tongan has heavily influenced the Wallisian language after Tongans colonized the island of ʻUvea in the 15th and 16th centuries.[7]
The earliest attempts to transcribe the Tongan language were made by Willem Schouten and Jacob Le Maire of the Dutch East India Company when they first arrived in 1616. They transcribed a limited number of nouns and verbs using phonetic Dutch spelling and added them to a growing list of Polynesian vocabulary. Abel Tasman, also of the Dutch East India Company, attempted to converse with indigenous Tongans using vocabulary from this list when he arrived on Tongatapu on 20 January 1643, although he was poorly understood, likely using words added from different Polynesian languages.[8]
Alphabet
Tongan is presently written in a subset of the Latin script. In the old, "missionary" alphabet, the order of the letters was modified: the vowels were put first and then followed by the consonants: a, e, i, o, u, with variation of letter ā. That was still so as of the Privy Council decision of 1943 on the orthography of the Tongan language. However, C. M. Churchward's grammar and dictionary favoured the standard European alphabetical order, which, since his time, has been in use exclusively:
Tongan alphabet
Letter
a, ā
e
f
h
i
k
l
m
n
ng
o
p
s
t
u
v
ʻ (fakauʻa)
Pronunciation
/a/
/e/
/f/
/h/
/i/
/k/
/l/
/m/
/n/
/ŋ/1
/o/
/p/2
/s/3
/t/
/u/
/v/
/ʔ/4
Notes:
written as g but still pronounced as [ŋ] (as in Samoan) before 1943
The above order is strictly followed in proper dictionaries. Therefore, ngatu follows nusi, ʻa follows vunga and it also follows z if foreign words occur. Words with long vowels come directly after those with short vowels. Improper wordlists may or may not follow these rules. (For example, the Tonga telephone directory for years now ignores all rules.[citation needed])
The original j, used for /tʃ/, disappeared in the beginning of the 20th century, merging with /s/. By 1943, j was no longer used. Consequently, many words written with s in Tongan are cognate to those with t in other Polynesian languages. For example, Masisi (a star name) in Tongan is cognate with Matiti in Tokelauan; siale (Gardenia taitensis) in Tongan and tiare in Tahitian. This seems to be a natural development, as /tʃ/ in many Polynesian languages derived from Proto-Polynesian /ti/.
Each syllable has exactly one vowel. The number of syllables in a word is exactly equal to the number of vowels it has.
Long vowels, indicated with a toloi (macron), count as one, but may in some circumstances be split up in two short ones, in which case, they are both written. Toloi are supposed to be written where needed, in practice this may be seldom done.
Each syllable may have no more than one consonant.
Consonant combinations are not permitted. The ng is not a consonant combination, since it represents a single sound. As such it can never be split, the proper hyphenation of fakatonga (Tongan) therefore is fa-ka-to-nga.
Each syllable must end in a vowel. All vowels are pronounced, but an i at the end of an utterance is usually unvoiced.
The fakauʻa is a consonant. It must be followed (and, except at the beginning of a word, preceded) by a vowel. Unlike the glottal stops in many other Polynesian languages texts, the fakauʻa is always written. (Only sometimes before 1943.)
Stress normally falls on the next-to-last syllable of a word with two or more syllables; example: móhe (sleep), mohénga (bed). If, however, the last vowel is long, it takes the stress; example: kumā (mouse) (stress on the long ā). The stress also shifts to the last vowel if the next word is an enclitic; example: fále (house), falé ni (this house). Finally the stress can shift to the last syllable, including an enclitic, in case of the definitive accent; example: mohengá ((that) particular bed), fale ní (this particular house). It is also here that a long vowel can be split into two short ones; example: pō (night), poó ni (this night), pō ní (this particular night). Or the opposite: maáma (light), māmá ni (this light), maama ní (this particular light). There are some exceptions to the above general rules. The stress accent is normally not written, except where it is to indicate the definitive accent or fakamamafa. But here, too, people often neglect to write it, only using it when the proper stress cannot be easily derived from the context.
Although the acute accent has been available on most personal computers from their early days onwards, when Tongan newspapers started to use computers around 1990 to produce their papers, they were unable to find, or failed to enter, the proper keystrokes, and it grew into a habit to put the accent after the vowel instead of on it: not á but a´.[citation needed] But as this distance seemed to be too big, a demand arose for Tongan fonts where the acute accent was shifted to the right, a position halfway in between the two extremes above. Most papers still follow this practice.
By contrast, Tongan has three articles, and possessives also have a three-level definiteness distinction:
indefinite, nonspecific: ha. Example: ko ha fale ('a house', 'any house' - the speaker has no specific house in mind, any house will satisfy this description, e.g. 'I want to buy a house')
indefinite, specific: (h)e. Example: ko e fale ('a (particular) house' - the speaker has a specific house in mind, but the listener is not expected to know which house, e.g. 'I bought a house')
definite, specific: (h)e with the shifted ultimate stress. Example: ko e falé ('the house', - the speaker has a specific house in mind and the listener is expected to know which one from context, e.g. 'I bought the house I told you about').
derogatory words (used for informal contexts, or to indicate humility)
For example, the phrase "Come and eat!" translates to:
ordinary: haʻu ʻo kai (come and eat!); Friends, family members and so forth may say this to each other when invited for dinner.
honorific: meʻa mai pea ʻilo (come and eat!); The proper used towards chiefs, particularly the nobles, but it may also be used by an employee towards his boss, or in other similar situations. When talking about chiefs, however, it is always used, even if they are not actually present, but in other situations only on formal occasions. A complication to the beginning student of Tongan is that such words very often also have an alternative meaning in the ordinary register: meʻa (thing) and ʻilo (know, find).
regal: hāʻele mai pea taumafa (come and eat!); Used towards the king or God. The same considerations as for the honorific register apply. Hāʻele is one of the regal words which have become the normal word in other Polynesian languages.
Pronouns
The Tongan language distinguishes three numbers: singular, dual, and plural. They appear as the three major columns in the tables below.
The Tongan language distinguishes four persons: First person exclusive, first person inclusive, second person and third person. They appear as the four major rows in the tables below. This gives us 12 main groups.
Subjective and objective
In addition, possessive pronouns are either alienable (reddish) or inalienable (greenish), which Churchward termed subjective and objective. This marks a distinction that has been referred to, in some analyses of other Polynesian languages, as a-possession versus o-possession, respectively,[f] though more Tongan-appropriate version would be ʻe-possession and ho-possession.
Subjective and objective are fitting labels when dealing with verbs: ʻeku taki "my leading" vs. hoku taki "my being led". However, this is less apt when used on nouns. Indeed, in most contexts hoku taki would be interpreted as "my leader", as a noun rather than a verb. What then of nouns that have no real verb interpretation, such as fale "house"?
Churchward himself laid out the distinction thus:[9]
But what about those innumerable cases in which the possessive can hardly be said to correspond either to the subject or to the object of a verb? What, for example, is the rule or the guiding principle, which lies behind the fact that a Tongan says ʻeku paʻanga for ' my money' but hoku fale for 'my house'?
It may be stated as follows: the use of ʻeku for 'my' implies that I am active, influential, or formative, &c., towards the thing mentioned, whereas the use of hoku for 'my' implies that the thing mentioned is active, influential, or formative, &c., towards me. Or, provided that we give a sufficiently wide meaning to the word 'impress', we may say, perhaps, that ʻeku is used in reference to things upon which I impress myself, while hoku is used in reference to things which impress themselves upon me.
ʻE possessives are generally used for:
Goods, money, tools, utensils, instruments, weapons, vehicles, and other possessions which the subject owns or uses (ʻeku paʻanga, "my money")
Animals or birds which the subjects owns or uses (ʻeku fanga puaka, "my pigs")
Things which the subject eats, drinks, or smokes (ʻeku meʻakai, "my food")
Things which the subject originates, makes, mends, carries, or otherwise deals with (ʻeku kavenga, "my burden")
Persons in the subject's employ, under their control, or in their care (ʻeku tamaioʻeiki "my male servant")
Ho possessives are generally used for
Things which are a part of the subject or 'unalienable' from the subject, such as body parts (hoku sino, "my body")
Persons or things which represent the subject (hoku hingoa, "my name")
The subject's relatives, friends, associates, or enemies (hoku hoa, "my companion (spouse)")
Things which are provided for the subject or devolve to them or fall to their lot (hoku tofiʻa, "my inheritance")
In general, persons or things which surround, support, or control the subject, or on which the subject depends (hoku kolo, "my village/town")
There are plenty of exceptions which do not fall under the guidelines above, for instance, ʻeku tamai, "my father". The number of exceptions is large enough to make the alienable and inalienable distinction appear on the surface to be as arbitrary as the grammatical gender distinction for Romance languages, but by and large the above guidelines hold true.
Cardinal pronouns
The cardinal pronouns are the main personal pronouns which in Tongan can either be preposed (before the verb, light colour) or postposed (after the verb, dark colour). The first are the normal alienable possessive pronouns, the latter the stressed alienable pronouns, which are sometimes used as reflexive pronouns, or with kia te in front the inalienable possessive forms. (There is no possession involved in the cardinal pronouns and therefore no alienable or inalienable forms).
Cardinal pronouns
Position
Singular
Dual
Plural
1st person
exclusive (I, we, us)
preposed
u, ou, ku
ma
mau
postposed
au
kimaua
kimautolu
inclusive (one, we, us)
preposed
te
ta
tau
postposed
kita
kitaua
kitautolu
2nd person
preposed
ke
mo
mou
postposed
koe
kimoua
kimoutolu
3rd person
preposed
ne
na
nau
postposed
ia
kinaua
kinautolu
all the preposed pronouns of one syllable only (ku, u, ma, te, ta, ke, mo, ne, na) are enclitics which never can take the stress, but put it on the vowel in front of them. Example: ʻoku naú versus ʻokú na (not: ʻoku ná).
first person singular, I uses u after kuo, te, ne, and also ka (becomes kau), pea, mo and ʻo; but uses ou after ʻoku; and uses ku after naʻa.
first person inclusive (I and you) is somewhat of a misnomer, at least in the singular. The meanings of te and kita can often rendered as one, that is the modesty I.
Examples of use.
Naʻa ku fehuʻi: I asked
Naʻe fehuʻi (ʻe) au: I(!) asked (stressed)
ʻOku ou fehuʻi au: I ask myself
Te u fehuʻi kiate koe: I shall ask you
Te ke tali kiate au: You will answer me
Kapau te te fehuʻi: If one would ask
Tau ō ki he hulohula?: Are we (all) going to the ball?
Sinitalela, mau ō ki he hulohula: Cinderella, we go to the ball (... said the evil stepmother, and she went with two of her daughters, but not Cinderella)
Another archaic aspect of Tongan is the retention of preposed pronouns.[citation needed] They are used much less frequently in Samoan and have completely disappeared in East Polynesian languages, where the pronouns are cognate with the Tongan postposed form minus ki-. (We love you: ʻOku ʻofa kimautolu kia te kimoutolu; Māori: e aroha nei mātou i a koutou).
Possessive pronouns
The possessives for every person and number (1st person plural, 3rd person dual, etc.) can be further divided into normal or ordinary (light colour), emotional (medium colour) and emphatic (bright colour) forms. The latter is rarely used, but the two former are common and further subdivided in definite (saturated colour) and indefinite (greyish colour) forms.
Possessive pronouns
definite or not
type
singular
dual
plural
alienable2,5
inalienable2,5
alienable2,5
inalienable2,5
alienable2,5
inalienable2,5
1st person (exclusive) (my, our)
definite
ordinary
heʻeku1
hoku
heʻema1
homa
heʻemau1
homau
indefinite
haʻaku
haku
haʻama
hama
haʻamau
hamau
definite
emotional
siʻeku
siʻoku
siʻema
siʻoma
siʻemau
siʻomau
indefinite
siʻaku
siʻaku
siʻama
siʻama
siʻamau
siʻamau
emphatic3
haʻaku
hoʻoku
haʻamaua
hoʻomaua
haʻamautolu
hoʻomautolu
1st person (inclusive)4 (my, our)
definite
ordinary
heʻete1
hoto
heʻeta1
hota
heʻetau1
hotau
indefinite
haʻate
hato
haʻata
hata
haʻatau
hatau
definite
emotional
siʻete
siʻoto
siʻeta
siʻota
siʻetau
siʻotau
indefinite
siʻate
siʻato
siʻata
siʻata
siʻatau
siʻatau
emphatic3
haʻata
hoʻota
haʻataua
hoʻotaua
haʻatautolu
hoʻotautolu
2nd person (your)
definite
ordinary
hoʻo
ho
hoʻomo
homo
hoʻomou
homou
indefinite
haʻo
hao
haʻamo
hamo
haʻamou
hamou
definite
emotional
siʻo
siʻo
siʻomo
siʻomo
siʻomou
siʻomou
indefinite
siʻao
siʻao
siʻamo
siʻamo
siʻamou
siʻamou
emphatic3
haʻau
hoʻou
haʻamoua
hoʻomoua
haʻamoutolu
hoʻomoutolu
3rd person (his, her, its, their)
definite
ordinary
heʻene1
hono
heʻena1
hona
heʻenau1
honau
indefinite
haʻane
hano
haʻana
hana
haʻanau
hanau
definite
emotional
siʻene
siʻono
siʻena
siʻona
siʻenau
siʻonau
indefinite
siʻane
siʻano
siʻana
siʻana
siʻanau
siʻanau
emphatic3
haʻana
hoʻona
haʻanaua
hoʻonaua
haʻanautolu
hoʻonautolu
Notes:
the ordinary definite possessives starting with he (in italics) drop this prefix after any word except ʻi, ki, mei, ʻe. Example: ko ʻeku tohi, my book; ʻi heʻeku tohi, in my book.
all ordinary alienable possessive forms contain a fakauʻa, the inalienable forms do not.
the emphatic forms are not often used, but if they are, they take the definitive accent from the following words (see below)
first person inclusive (me and you) is somewhat of a misnomer. The meanings of heʻete, hoto, etc. can often rendered as one's, that is the modesty me.
the choice between an alienable or inalienable possessive is determined by the word or phrase it refers to. For example: ko ho fale '(it is) your house' (inalienable), ko ho'o tohi, '(it is) your book' (alienable). *Ko ho tohi, ko hoʻo fale* are wrong. Some words can take either, but with a difference in meaning: ko ʻene taki 'his/her leadership'; ko hono taki 'his/her leader'.
Examples of use.
ko haʻaku/haku kahoa: my garland (any garland from or for me)
ko ʻeku/hoku kahoa: my garland (it is my garland)
ko ʻeku/hoku kahoá: my garland, that particular one and no other
ko heʻete/hoto kahoa: one's garland {mine in fact, but that is not important}
ko siʻaku kahoa: my cherished garland (any cherished garland from or for me)
ko siʻeku/siʻoku kahoa: my cherished garland (it is my cherished garland)
ko haʻakú/hoʻokú kahoa: garland (emphatically mine) – that particular garland is mine and not someone else's
ko homa kahoa: our garlands (exclusive: you and I are wearing them, but not the person we are talking to)
ko hota kahoa: our garlands (inclusive: you and I are wearing them, and I am talking to you)
Other pronouns
These are the remainders: the pronominal adjectives (mine), indirect object pronouns or pronominal adverbs (for me) and the adverbial possessives (as me).
Other pronouns
type
singular1
dual
plural
alienable
inalienable
alienable
inalienable
alienable
inalienable
1st person (exclusive) (my, our)
pronominal adjective
ʻaʻaku
ʻoʻoku
ʻamaua
ʻomaua
ʻamautolu
ʻomautolu
pronominal adverb
maʻaku
moʻoku
maʻamaua
moʻomaua
maʻamautolu
moʻomautolu
adverbial possessive
maʻaku
moʻoku
maʻama
moʻoma
maʻamau
moʻomau
1st person (inclusive) (my, our)
pronominal adjective
ʻaʻata
ʻoʻota
ʻataua
ʻotaua
ʻatautolu
ʻotautolu
pronominal adverb
maʻata
moʻota
maʻataua
moʻotaua
maʻatautolu
moʻotautolu
adverbial possessive
maʻate
moʻoto
maʻata
moʻota
maʻatau
moʻotau
2nd person (your)
pronominal adjective
ʻaʻau
ʻoʻou
ʻamoua
ʻomoua
ʻamoutolu
ʻomoutolu
pronominal adverb
maʻau
moʻou
maʻamoua
moʻomoua
maʻamoutolu
moʻomoutolu
adverbial possessive
maʻo
moʻo
maʻamo
moʻomo
maʻamou
moʻomou
3rd person (his, her, its, their)
pronominal adjective
ʻaʻana
ʻoʻona
ʻanaua
ʻonaua
ʻanautolu
ʻonautolu
pronominal adverb
maʻana
moʻona
maʻanaua
moʻonaua
maʻanautolu
moʻonautolu
adverbial possessive
maʻane
moʻono
maʻana
moʻona
maʻanau
moʻonau
Notes:
the first syllable in all singular pronominal adjectives (in italics) is reduplicated and can be dropped for somewhat less emphasis
the pronominal adjectives put a stronger emphasis on the possessor than the possessive pronouns do
the use of the adverbial possessives is rare
Examples of use:
ko hono valá: it is his/her/its clothing/dress
ko e vala ʻona: it is his/her/its (!) clothing/dress
ko e vala ʻoʻona: it is his/her/its (!!!) clothing/dress
ko hono valá ʻona: it is his/her/its own clothing/dress
ko hono vala ʻoná: it is his/her/its own clothing/dress; same as previous
ko hono vala ʻoʻoná: it is his/her/its very own clothing/dress
ʻoku ʻoʻona ʻa e valá ni: this clothing is his/hers/its
ʻoku moʻona ʻa e valá: the clothing is for him/her/it
ʻoange ia moʻono valá: give it (to him/her/it) as his/hers/its clothing
Numerals
0-9
0
noa
1
taha
2
ua
3
tolu
4
fā
5
nima
6
ono
7
fitu
8
valu
9
hiva
In Tongan, "telephone-style" numerals can be used: reading numbers by simply saying their digits one by one.[10][11] For 'simple' two-digit multiples of ten both the 'full-style' and 'telephone-style' numbers are in equally common use, while for other two-digit numbers the 'telephone-style' numbers are almost exclusively in use:
10-90 'tens'
#
'full-style'
'telephone-style'
10
hongofulu
taha-noa
20
ungofulu/uofulu
ua-noa
30
tolungofulu
tolu-noa
...
11-99
#
'full-style'
'telephone-style'
11
hongofulu ma taha
taha-taha
24
ungofulu ma fā
ua-fā
...
exceptions
#
Tongan
22
uo-ua
55
nime-nima
99
hive-hiva
100-999 'simple'
#
Tongan
100
teau
101
teau taha
110
teau hongofulu
120
teau-ua-noa
200
uongeau
300
tolungeau
...
100-999 'complex'
#
Tongan
111
taha-taha-taha
222
uo-uo-ua
482
fā-valu-ua
...
1000-
#
Tongan
1000
taha-afe
2000
ua-afe
...
10000
mano
100000
kilu
1000000
miliona
...
ʻOku fiha ia? (how much (does it cost)?) Paʻanga ʻe ua-nima-noa (T$2.50)
In addition there are special, traditional counting systems for fish, coconuts, yams, etc.[12] (Cf. Classifier (linguistics).)
Tongan has a very rich oral literature and is primarily a spoken, rather than written, language.
One of the first publications of Tongan texts was in William Mariner's grammar and dictionary of the Tongan language, edited and published in 1817 by John Martin as part of volume 2 of Mariner's Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean.[13] Orthography has changed since Mariner's time.
An annotated list of dictionaries and vocabularies of the Tongan language is available at the website of the Bibliographical Society of America under the resource heading 'Breon Mitchell": .
The Bible and the Book of Mormon were translated into Tongan and few other books were written in it.[14]
There are several weekly and monthly magazines in Tongan, but there are no daily newspapers.
Weekly newspapers, some of them twice per week:
Ko e Kalonikali ʻo Tonga
Ko e Keleʻa
Taimi ʻo Tonga
Talaki
Ko e Tauʻatāina
Tonga Maʻa Tonga
Monthly or two-monthly papers, mostly church publications:
The Tongan calendar was based on the phases of the moon and had 13 months. The main purpose of the calendar, for Tongans, was to determine the time for the planting and cultivation of yams, which were Tonga's most important staple food.
^Both pronunciations are used in English, although the one without /ɡ/ is preferred as it is closer to the Tongan pronunciation. In North America and the United Kingdom, both pronunciations are used, while the preferred pronunciation (i.e the one without /ɡ/) is almost always used in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
^The glottal stop in most other Polynesian languages are the reflexes of other consonants of proto-Polynesian; for example, the glottal stop of Samoan and Hawaiian is a reflex of the original *k; the glottal stop of Cook Islands Māori represents a merger of the original *f and *s. Tongan does not show changes such as the *t to /k/ and *ŋ to /n/ of Hawaiian; nor has Tongan shifted *f to /h/. Although Tongan, Samoan and other Western Polynesian languages are not affected by a change in Central Eastern Polynesian languages (such as New Zealand Māori) involving the dissimilation of /faf/ to /wah/, Tongan has vowel changes (as seen in monumanu from original manumanu) which are not a feature of other languages.
^This loss may be quite recent. The word lua'two' is still found in some placenames and archaic texts. Marama'light' thus became maama, and the two successive a's are still pronounced separately, not yet contracted to *māma. On the other hand, toro'sugarcane' already has become tō (still tolo in Samoan).
^Glottal stop is represented as 'q' in reconstructed Proto-Polynesian words.
^Archaic: the usual word in today's Tahitian is piti.
^These a and o refer to the characteristic vowel used in those pronouns. In Tongan, however, this distinction is much less clear, and rather a characteristic for the indefinite and definite forms respectively. Use of the a & o terms therefore is not favoured.
^Thompson, Christina (5 March 2020). Sea People: In Search of the Ancient Navigators of the Pacific. Glasgow, Scotland: William Collins. pp. 57–58. ISBN978-0-00-833905-0.
^Cocker, James; Cocker, Meliame. "Koe Ta'u Faka-Tonga". freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com (in Tongan). Archived from the original on October 27, 2011.
Bibliography
Churchward, C. Maxwell (1999) [1953, London: Oxford University Press; 1985, Tonga: Vavaʼu Press]. Tongan Grammar. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press. ISBN982-213-007-4.
Churchward, C.Maxwell (1999) [1959, London: Oxford University Press]. Tongan Dictionary: Tongan-English and English-Tongan. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press.
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