Tuvaluan language

Spoken in

Austronesian

• Tuvaluan language

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Tvl

Tuvaluan ( proper name te ggana Tuuvalu " Tuvaluan language " or te ggana a taatou " our language " ) is a Polynesian language that is spoken by the approximately 11,000 inhabitants of Tuvalu. It is in addition to English the official language of the State of Tuvalu and is also spoken by migrant communities in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru and New Zealand. Tokelauisch and Tuvalu are mutually intelligible.

• 2.1 The sound system
• 2.2 Phonotaktik
• 2.3 word stress
• 2.4 reduplication

• 3.1 syntax 3.1.1 Special classes of intransitive verbs
• 3.1.2 The Einkonstituentenneigung

• 8.1 General description and grammar

Geographical distribution

Tuvalu is spoken by about 11,000 speakers ( number 1998 ) on the total of only 26 square kilometers of nine atolls of Tuvalu State, which is located in the foothills of the Polynesian triangle, as well as from Tuvaluan Migrants in Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru and New Zealand.

Dialects

Tuvaluan has seven dialects, the language area corresponds to the seven traditionally populated atolls, but they are so similar to each other, that the inhabitants of the islands can communicate with each other without any particular difficulty. Two dialect areas have emerged. The nordtuvaluischen dialects are spoken on the islands Nanumaga, Nanumea and Niutao that südtuvaluischen dialects on the islands Nukufetau, Vaitupu, Funafuti and Nukulaelae. Niulakita has been permanently settled only since the 20th century. On Nui a dialect of Kiribati is spoken. The seven dialects differ mainly in phonology and vocabulary. The dialects of Funafuti and Vaitupu have a hegemonic position as the seat of government located on Funafuti and Tuvalu radio and on Vaitupu until recently only secondary school.

Phonetics and phonology

The sound system

Like most Polynesian languages ​​Tuvaluan has a relatively small phoneme inventory. It has ten to eleven consonants and five vowels. Both consonants and vowels can occur as geminates.

The plosives are voiceless and not aspirated into ungeminiertem use. However, they can also occur as easily voiced plosives, or as voiceless or voiced fricatives easily. Geminate plosives are strongly aspirated. The glottal fricative [h ] only in the dialects of Nanumea and Nanumaga Phonemstatus. In Nukulaelae dialect only in a few words, it occurs as an allophone on morpheminitial of / s / or / f /. In the southern dialects stands in its place always / s / or / f /. The phoneme / l / can be realized in Nukulaelae dialect also as a flap.

Geminate vowels are realized as long vowels.

Phonotaktik

As in most Polynesian languages ​​is also available in Tuvaluan only open syllables. The frequenteste Morphemstruktur is KVKV.

There are no consonant clusters except the geminates resulting from Vowel Deletion. This occurs when two KV- sequences are identical in a word and carries the second the main accent. Vowel Deletion may exceed morpheme boundaries. It is optional in the northern dialects.

All possible clusters of two vowels are occupied. Cluster of three vowels occur less frequently. The combinations / eua / and / uau / are not occupied. There are some clusters of four vowels and two clusters of five vowels, eiauee in the interjections and oiauee that bring suffering and pain expressed.

The sequence / vu / can be used only in foreign words and / vo / only occurs in a word.

Word stress

The word stress is more dependent. Words with a More are unstressed. Words with two or more moras have an emphasis on the penultimate -More, such as ave [ 'ave ] " send " or maafatia [ ma: fa'tia ] " saddened ". Will this a non- geminate high vocal emphasis assigned immediately following a non- high vowel, the emphasis on the non- high vowel and the high vowel shift is realized as approximant, as in fetaui [ fe'tawi ] " meet " faiva [' fayva ] ( a fishing method ).

Reduplication

The Tuvaluan language uses both total and partial reduplication.

Total reduplication exists only for zweimorige roots and is only productive for verbs, thereby obtain the iterative or repetitive significance, z as tele tele tele from " race ".

Partial reduplication is very productive and can fulfill different functions. One can distinguish between external and internal partial reduplication.

The external partial reduplication the reduplicated element can be treated as a prefix or suffix. In zweimorigen words that emphasized More is reduplicated, as in the case of oola ola "alive". Standing in front of the accented More a consonant, the reduplication has an impact on him. The vowel is then repaid as two identical KV sequences follow each other, as in ttula of tula " bald ". For words with three or more Moren Moren the last two and them preceding consonants are concerned, as in uateetee of uatee "loud" or foolikiliki of fooliki " small".

In the internal partial reduplication the reduplicated element must be treated as an infix. It affects only words with three or more moras. If the stressed vowel of a word with three Moren preceded by a consonant directly, the reduplication acts on that consonant and the vowel preceding it out, but separately on each segment, as in siinnaa of Sinaa " white ( hair ) ". If the stressed vowel no consonant immediately preceding, the reduplication affects the stressed vowel itself and the vowel preceding it, as in gaaoofe " curved " by gaofe. Is at the dreimorigen word to reduplizierendes segment already geminiert, the reduplication which only affects the other segment of how " bitten " in maauu of mauu. For words with four or more moras only the consonant preceding the stressed vowel directly, reduplicated, or, if no consonant precedes directly the stressed vowel itself, as in foollloki of fooliki "small" and fakaeeke of fakaeke " to something increased support. " Through internal partial reduplication of the Number disagreement is marked with the subject in intransitive verbs.

Grammar

Syntax

Tuvaluan is a Ergativsprache. Absolutive are not usually marked, but can be optionally marked by the absolutive contrastive marker a. Ergative be characterized by the neck Kasusmarker.

The worst position of intransitive sentences is VS or SV:

• VS: Koo fano | Niu

• SV: Niu koo fano

The basic word order of transitive sentences is VSO. VOS and OVS are also in use, as well as SVO. However, get in preverbal position no Ergativmarkierung the subject. In its place, can occur optionally, the absolutive contrastive markers.

In ditransitive sentences, the indirect object must be realized always postverbal; the unmarked order is VSdOiO. Indirect objects are rarely marked by the directional preposition ki ( in written language also ki luga ) by the preposition benefaktive moo.

Special classes of intransitive verbs

Some intransitive verbs take two arguments. These include a) verbs of bringing, business, and encountering some verbs that describe the ownership, b ) verbs with experiencer argument, and c ) verbs that a cause-effect diagram (English: describe cause- target). These verbs take a Patiensargument in the absolutive and a) an Agen argument, which is characterized by the komitative preposition mo as Oblique, b) an experiencer argument, which is characterized by the lokationale preposition i as Oblique, or c ) an agent or Cause argument, which is marked by the preposition i lokationale as Oblique.

In addition, the Tuvaluan language means verbs that govern a subject in the absolutive and an agent object that is marked by directional preposition i or ki lokationale preposition. Middle verbs are basically defined lexically, for the Tuvaluan can be stated, however, that many verbs, the emotions or volitional senses ( so " listen " for example fakalogo as opposed to " hear " ) encode, be counted among the middle verbs. Besnier expects the means verbs to intransitive verbs, since they behave like intransitive verbs in different morphological processes. Means verbs occur in different Polynesian languages ​​, including in Samoan.

The Einkonstituentenneigung

The Tuvaluan shows in natural discourse tends to sets (in the sense of engl. " Clause" ), which consist of a verb and a single NP. This has an impact on intransitive and transitive sentences.

For intransitive sentences that no subjectless constructions are allowed. Likewise, the Tuvaluan no semantically empty subjects. Weather verbs take, for example, is always a subject that a weather phenomenon encoded.

• Koo PPAA | fattili

In transitive sentences affects the Einkonstituentenneigung by, where possible arguments are reduced. Subjects must not be implemented if they encode a generic, or unidentifiable non- referential agent, or if it is not important to the context to identify the agent. Subjects and objects must not be realized if their identity through linguistic or außerlinguitischen context is apparent. Also, certain verbs allow the Equi -NP -deletion, or raising verbs can be used. These cause a constituent of the underlying transitive sentence becomes the argument of the Equi- or Anhebungsverbs and the other constituent is an argument of the embedded transitive verb. Equi and Raising verbs have little in such a context, or no semantic content. Often the agent of a transitive verb is expressed as a possessor of the undergoer. An OV position then, in contrast to the term " genuine" ownership is not possible. The coding of the agent as Posserssor the undergoer is in fact the unmarked form, the Ergativkasus is really only used when the agent carries a high level of responsibility for the action described.

• Ne kkati | telotou niu.

• Ne kkati | nee laatou | niu.

It is interesting that there are evidence for the coding of an agent as a possessor of the undergoer in the Popol Vuh, a colonial temporal document in the Maya Quiché language. However, this construction can only be used there if the agent is actually Possessor of patientive, or obtained by the action expressed by the verb complete control of the undergoer.

Vocabulary

Tuvaluan has in common with other Polynesian languages ​​parts of the vocabulary. So does te Atua on Tuvaluan how to Māori "God."

Font

Tuvaluan has no uniform orthography. Most speakers use a ajar to the Samoische orthography in the Latin alphabet.

History of Research

Until the beginning of the 20th century was relatively isolated Tuvalu, although Spanish explorers had sighted the islands Nui and Niulakita already in 1568 and 1595.

The Tuvaluan language was the first time in 1846, mentioned by Horatio Hale, a member of the United States Exploring Expedition, who published a 120 -word list of Vaitupu dialect in his philological memoirs. Various other word lists were published in the early 20th century. Since the 1980s, Niko Besnier has published numerous articles on Tuvalu. Other notable works are by Donald G. Kennedy, Peter Ranby, Geoffrey W. Jackson and Jay Noricks.