Tokelauan language

Tokelauan () is a Polynesian language spoken in Tokelau and historically by the small population of Swains Island (or Olohega) in American Samoa. It is closely related to Tuvaluan and is related to Samoan 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 in New Zealand, 1,400 in Tokelau, and 17 in Swains Island. "Tokelau" means "north-northeast".

Loimata Iupati, Tokelau's resident Director of Education, has stated that he is in the process of translating the Bible 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, 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.

Tokelauan language documentation

Horatio Hale was the first person to publish a Tokelauan dictionary of sorts, which he did in 1846. Rather than being the accepted definition of dictionary, it was a reference that only contained 214 entries of vocabulary. Tokelau's language, Tokelauan, belongs to the Austronesian 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, Nukunonu, 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. 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.

Phonology and orthography

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"

|+ Vowel inventory

! rowspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | Front

! colspan="2" | Central

! colspan="2" | Back

! ||

! High

| ||

! Mid

| ||

! Low

| ||

To indicate whether a vowel is read short or long, Tokelauan language denotes a long vowel with a macron (a horizontal line) above the letter.

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.

Shown below is a table showing Tokelauan premodifying possessive pronouns.

{| class="wikitable"

! 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<br />ta ta, ta taue

| o ta, o taue<br />a ta, a taua

! 1 dual excl.

| to ma, to maua<br />ta ma, ta maua

| o ma, o maua<br />a ma, a maua

! 2 dual

| toulua, taulua

| oulua, aulua

! 3 dual

| to la, to laue<br />ta la, ta laue

| o la, o laua<br />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<br />haku, hata

| ni oku, ni ota<br />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<br />ha ta, ha taua

| ni o ta, ni o taue<br />ni a ta, ni a taua

! 1 dual excl.

| ho ma, ho maua<br />ha ma, ha maua

| ni o ma, ni o maua<br />ni a ma, ni a maua

! 2 dual

| houlua, haulua

| ni oulua, ni aulua

Complements

COMP:complementizer

TA:tense/aspect

</div><section end="list-of-glossing-abbreviations" />

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.

Ke: Complement used in sentences pertaining to purpose.