Tongan language

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This article is about the Polynesian language of the kingdom of Tonga. For unrelated languages with similar names, see Tonga language and Dungan language.

Tongan
lea faka-Tonga

Native to

Tonga;
significant immigrant community in New Zealand and the United States

Native speakers

187,000

96,000 in Tonga (1998)[1]
73,000 elsewhere (no date), primarily in NZ, U.S., and Australia[2]

Language family

Austronesian

Malayo-Polynesian

Oceanic

Polynesian

Tongic

Tongan

Writing system

Latin-based

Official status

Official language in

Tonga

Language codes
ISO 639-1 | to
ISO 639-2 | ton
ISO 639-3 | ton
Glottolog | tong1325
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Tongan (/ˈtɒŋən/ or /ˈtɒŋɡən/;[3] lea fakatonga) is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch spoken in Tonga. It has around 187,000 speakers[4] and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO (verb–subject–object) language.

Contents

1 Related languages

2 Alphabet

3 Phonology

3.1 Consonants

3.2 Vowels

4 Syllabification

5 Grammar

5.1 Articles

5.2 Registers

5.3 Pronouns

5.3.1 Subjective and objective

5.3.1.1 Cardinal pronouns

5.3.1.2 Possessive pronouns

5.3.1.3 Other pronouns

5.4 Numerals

6 Literature

7 Calendar

8 Notes

9 References

10 External links

Related languages[edit]

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 /q/; however, it has been retained in Tongan and a few other languages including Rapa Nui.[5]

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.[6]

Tongan has heavily influenced the Wallisian language after Tongans colonized the island of ʻUvea in the 15th and 16th centuries.[7]

| Polynesian sound correspondences
Phoneme | Proto-Polynesian | Tongan | Niuean | Sāmoan | Rapa Nui | Tahitian | Māori | Cook Is. Māori | Hawaiian | English
/ŋ/ | *taŋata | tangata | tagata | tagata | tangata | taʻata | tangata | tangata | kanaka | person
/s/ | *sina | hina | hina | sina | hina | hinahina | hina | ʻina | hina | grey-haired
/h/ | *kanahe | kanahe | kanahe | ʻanae | | ʻanae | kanae | kanae | ʻanae | mullet (fish)
/ti/ | *tiale | siale | tiale | tiale | tiare | tiare | tīare | tiare | kiele | gardenia
/k/ | *waka | vaka | vaka | vaʻa | vaka | vaʻa | waka | vaka | waʻa | canoe
/f/ | *fafine | fefine | fifine | fafine | vahine | vahine | wahine | vaʻine | wahine | woman
/ʔ/ | *matuqa[8] | matuʻa | matua | matua | matuʻa | metua | matua | metua, matua | makua | parent
/r/ | *rua | ua | ua | lua | rua | rua[9] | rua | rua | ʻelua | two
/l/ | *tolu | tolu | tolu | tolu | toru | toru | toru | toru | ʻekolu | three

Alphabet[edit]

Tongan is 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, etc. 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 | 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

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 ʻokina.

Note that 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/.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal
Nasal | m | n | ŋ |
Stop | p | t | k | ʔ
Continuant | f v | s l | | h

/l/ may also be heard as an alveolar flap sound [ɺ].

Vowels[edit]

| Front | Central | Back
High | i | | u
Mid | e | | o
Low | | a |

Syllabification[edit]

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.

Grammar[edit]

Articles[edit]

English, like most European languages, 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) 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[edit]

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: 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[edit]

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[edit]

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,[10] 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:[11]

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[edit]

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 uses 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 Sāmoan 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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.[12][13] 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.[14]

Literature[edit]

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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.[15] 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": https://bibsocamer.org/bibsite-home/list-of-resources/.

Tongan is primarily a spoken, rather than written, language. The Bible and the Book of Mormon were translated into Tongan and few other books were written in it.[citation needed]

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:

Taumuʻa lelei (Catholic Church)

Tohi fanongonongo (Free Wesleyan)

Liahona (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)[16]

ʻOfa ki Tonga (Tokaikolo)

Calendar[edit]

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.

Name | Compared to Modern Calendar
Lihamuʻa | mid-November to early December
Lihamui | mid-December to early January
Vaimuʻa | mid-January to early February
Vaimui | mid-February to early March
Fakaafu Moʻui | mid-March to early April
Fakaaafu Mate | mid-April to early May
Hilingakelekele | mid-May to early June
Hilingameaʻa | mid-June to early July
ʻAoʻaokimasisiva | mid-July to early August
Fuʻufuʻunekinanga | mid-August to early September
ʻUluenga | mid-September to early October
Tanumanga | early October to late October
ʻOʻoamofanongo | late October to early November.

[17]

Day | Tongan Term
Monday | Mōnite
Tuesday | Tūsite
Wednesday | Pulelulu
Thursday | Tuʻapulelulu
Friday | Falaite
Saturday | Tokonaki
Sunday | Sāpate

Month | Transliteration
January | Sānuali
February | Fēpueli
March | Maʻasi
April | ʻEpeleli
May | Mē
June | Sune
July | Siulai
August | ʻAokosi
September | Sēpitema
October | ʻOkatopa
November | Nōvema
December | Tisema

Notes[edit]

^ Tongan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)

^ Tongan language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)

^ "Tonga". Lexico. Retrieved 26 March 2020.

^ "Tongan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2017-12-13.

^ 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", meaning "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 Sāmoan).

^ Akihisa Tsukamoto (1994). LIT Verlag Münster (ed.). Forschungen über die Sprachen der Inseln zwischen Tonga und Saamoa (in German). p. 109. ISBN 3825820157.

^ 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.

^ Churchward, C.M. (1999). Tongan Grammar. Vava'u Press Limited. p. 81. ISBN 982-213-007-4.

^ Churchward, Clerk Maxwell (1953). Tongan grammar (Pbk. ed.). Tonga: Vava'u Press. p. 171. ISBN 0-908717-05-9. OCLC 21337535.

^ "UniLang • Tongan for Beginners". unilang.org. Retrieved 2020-04-08.

^ Churchward, C.M. (1999). Tongan Grammar. Vava'u Press Limited. pp. 184–189. ISBN 982-213-007-4.

^ https://archive.org/details/b29335784_0002/page/352/mode/2up

^ Online Tongan edition of Liahona, churchofjesuschrist.org

^ [1] Archived October 27, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

References[edit]

C.Maxwell Churchward, Tongan Grammar. 1999. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press ISBN 982-213-007-4 (previously: 1953. London: Oxford University Press ; 1985. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press ISBN 0-908717-05-9)

C.Maxwell Churchward, Tongan Dictionary: Tongan-English and English-Tongan. 1999. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press (previsouly: 1959. London : Oxford University Press)

Edgar Tuʻinukuafe, A Simplified Dictionary of Modern Tongan. 1993. Polynesian Press ISBN 0908597096, ISBN 978-0908597093

Harry Feldman, Some Notes on Tongan Phonology. 1978. Oceanic Linguistics 17. 133–139.

External links[edit]

| Tongan edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

| Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Phrasebook Tongan.

| Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Tongan

Planet Tonga

Omniglot on Tongan

Basic online Tongan–English and English–Tongan dictionary

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