Tongan (English pronunciation: ; ) is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch native to the island nation of Tonga. It has around 187,000 speakers. It uses the word order verb–subject–object and, although primarily spoken, the written form uses Latin script.
Related languages Tongan is one of the multiple languages in the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages, along with Hawaiian, Cook islander, Māori, and Tahitian, for example. Together with Niuean, and possibly Niuafo’ouan, 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 . (The found in modern Tongan derives from *t before high front vowels). Most Polynesian languages have lost the original proto-Polynesian glottal stop ; however, it has been retained in Tongan and a few other languages including Rapa Nui. In proto-Polynesian, *r and *l were distinct phonemes, but in most Polynesian languages they have merged, represented orthographically as in most East Polynesian languages, and as in most West Polynesian languages. However, the distinction can be reconstructed because Tongan kept the *l but lost the *r.
Tongan has heavily influenced the Wallisian language after Tongans colonized the island of ʻUvea in the 15th and 16th centuries. +Polynesian sound correspondencesPhonemeProto-PolynesianTonganNiueanSamoanRapa NuiTahitianMāoriCook Is. MāoriHawaiianEnglish*taŋataperson*sinagrey-haired*kanahemullet (fish)*tialegardenia*wakacanoe*fafinewoman*matuqaparent*ruatwo*toluthree
Writing History 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.
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 (fakaua) Pronunciation 1 2 3 4 Notes: written as g but still pronounced as (as in Samoan) before 1943 unaspirated; written as b before 1943 sometimes written as j before 1943 (see below) the glottal stop. It should be written with the modifier letter turned comma (Unicode 0x02BB) and not with the single quote open or with a mixture of quotes open and quotes close. See also okina.
The above order is strictly followed in proper dictionaries. Therefore, ngatu follows nusi, a 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.)
The original j, used for , disappeared in the beginning of the 20th century, merging with . 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 in many Polynesian languages derived from Proto-Polynesian .
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarVelarGlottalNasalPlosiveFricativevoicelessvoicedLateral
/l/ may also be heard as an alveolar flap sound .
Vowels Front Central Back High Mid Low
Syllabification 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 (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 fakaua 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 fakaua 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: (sleep), (bed). If, however, the last vowel is long, it takes the stress; example: (mouse) (stress on the long ā). The stress also shifts to the last vowel if the next word is an enclitic; example: (house), (this house). Finally the stress can shift to the last syllable, including an enclitic, in case of the definitive accent; example: ((that) particular bed), (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: (light), (this light), (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 but . 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.
Grammar
Articles English uses only two articles: indefinite a definite the
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').
Registers There are three registers which consist of ordinary words (the normal language) honorific words (the language for the chiefs) regal words (the language for the king) There are also further distinctions between polite words (used for more formal contexts) derogatory words (used for informal contexts, or to indicate humility) For example, the phrase "Come and eat!" translates to: ordinary: hau o kai (come and eat!); Friends, family members and so forth may say this to each other when invited for dinner. honorific: mea mai pea ilo (come and eat!); The proper used towards chiefs, particularly the nobles, but it may also be used by employees towards their bosses, 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: mea (thing) and ilo (know, find). regal: hāele mai pea taumafa (come and eat!); Used towards the king or God. The same considerations as for the honorific register apply. Hāele 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, though more Tongan-appropriate version would be e-possession and ho-possession.Subjective and objective are fitting labels when dealing with verbs: eku 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:
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 eku paanga for ' my money' but hoku fale for 'my house'?
It may be stated as follows: the use of eku 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 eku is used in reference to things upon which I impress myself, while hoku is used in reference to things which impress themselves upon me.
E possessives are generally used for:
Goods, money, tools, utensils, instruments, weapons, vehicles, and other possessions which the subject owns or uses (eku paanga, "my money") Animals or birds which the subjects owns or uses (eku fanga puaka, "my pigs") Things which the subject eats, drinks, or smokes (eku meakai, "my food") Things which the subject originates, makes, mends, carries, or otherwise deals with (eku kavenga, "my burden") Persons in the subject's employ, under their control, or in their care (eku tamaioeiki "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 tofia, "my inheritance")