Marshallese Language - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Marshallese language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
11/9/15, 12:10 AM
Marshallese language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Marshallese language (Marshallese:

new orthography Kajin M aje or old
orthography Kajin Majl,
[k zin(e ) mz]), also known as
Ebon, is a Malayo-Polynesian language
spoken in the Marshall Islands by about
44,000 people, and the principal language
of the country. There are two major
dialects: Rlik (western) and Ratak
(eastern).
Marshallese
Ebon[1]
(new orthography) Kajin M
aje
(old orthography) Kajin Majl
Native to
Marshall Islands
Native
speakers
unknown (55,000 cited 1979)[2]
Language
family
Austronesian
Writing
system
Latin (Marshallese alphabet)
Malayo-Polynesian
Oceanic
Micronesian
Micronesian Proper
Nuclear Micronesian
Marshallese
Contents
1 Classification
2 Variation
3 Status
4 Phonology
Official status
Marshall Islands (with English)
Official
language in
4.1 Consonants
4.2 Vowels
4.3 Phonotactics
4.4 Timing
4.5 Historical sound changes
5 Orthography
Language codes
ISO 639-1
mh
ISO 639-2
mah
ISO 639-3
mah
Glottolog
mars1254
(http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/mars1254)[3]
5.1 Display issues

5.2 Differences in
orthography
6 Grammar
6.1 Morphology
6.2 Syntax
7 Vocabulary
7.1 Cardinal numbers
7.2 Months
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshallese_language
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7.3 Weekdays
7.4 Marshallese atolls and
islands
7.5 Other countries and
places
8 Text examples
8.1 Modern orthography
8.2 Older orthography
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 Further reading
12 External links
Classification
Marshallese, a Micronesian language, is a member of the Eastern Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian
languages.[4] The closest linguistic relatives of Marshallese are the other Micronesian languages, including
Chuukese, Gilbertese, Kosraean, Nauruan and Pohnpeian. Marshallese shows 33% lexican similarity with
Pohnpeian.[1]
Within the Micronesian archipelago, Marshallese along with the rest of the Micronesian language group is not
as closely related to the more ambiguously-classified Oceanic language Yapese in Yap State, or to the Polynesian
outlier languages Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro in Pohnpei State, and are even less closely related to the Sunda
Sulawesi languages of Palauan in Palau and Chamorro in the Mariana Islands.
Variation
The Republic of the Marshall Islands contains 34 atolls that are split into two chains, the eastern Ratak Chain and
the western Ralik Chain.[4] These two chains have different dialects, which differ mainly lexically, and are mutually
intelligible.[1][4] The atoll of Ujelang in the west used to have "slightly less homogeneous speech",[1] but it has been
uninhabited since 1980.[5]
The Ratak and Ralik dialects differ phonetically in how they deal with stems that begin with double consonants.[4]
Ratak Marshallese inserts a vowel to separate the consonants, while Ralik adds a vowel before the consonants (and
pronounced an unwritten consonant phoneme /j/ before the vowel).[4] For example, the stem kkure 'play' becomes
ukkure in Ralik Marshallese and kukure in Ratak Marshallese.[4]
Status
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Marshallese is the official language of the Marshall Islands and enjoys vigorous use.[1] As of 1979, the language
was spoken by 43,900 people in the Marshall Islands.[1] Additional groups of speakers in other countries including
Nauru and the United States bring the total number of Marshallese speakers to 49,550[1] Along with Pohnpeian and
Chuukese, Marshallese stands out among Micronesian languages in having tens of thousands of speakers; most
Micronesian languages have far fewer.[6] A dictionary and Bible translation have been published in Marshallese.[1]
Phonology
Consonants
Marshallese has a large consonant inventory, where each consonant has some type of secondary articulation
(palatalization, velarization, or rounding).[7] The palatalized consonants are regarded as "light", and the velarized
and rounded consonants are regarded as "heavy", with the rounded consonants being both velarized and
labialized.[8] (This is similar to "slender" and "broad" consonants in Goidelic languages, or "soft" and "hard"
consonants in Russian.) The "light" consonants are considered the more relaxed articulations.[8]
The following are the consonant phonemes of Marshallese:
Consonant phonemes of Marshallese[9]
Labial
Coronal
Dorsal
Palatalized Velarized Palatalized Velarized Rounded (Velar) Rounded

Light
Heavy
Light
Heavy
Heavy
Stop
/p/
/p/
/t/
/t/
Nasal
/m/
/m/
/n/
/n/
/n/
Rhotic
/r/
/r/
/r/
Lateral
/l/
/l/
/l/
Glide
/j/
/k/
/k/
//
//
(//)
/w/
Marshallese has no voicing contrast in consonants.[7] However, stops may be allophonically partially voiced:
[pb], [td], [k].[9] This occurs when they are between vowels and not geminated.[10] Final consonants are
often unreleased.[9]
The glides /j w/ are posited to vanish in many environments, coloring their surrounding vowel(s) in backness and
roundedness.[11] This is motivated by the limited surface distribution of these phonemes, as well as other evidence
that backness and roundedness are not specified phonemically for Marshallese vowels.[11] In fact, the consonant //
never surfaces phonetically, but is used to explain the preceding phenomenon.[9] (/j/ and /w/ may surface
phonetically, but only in word-initial and word-final positions, and even then not consistently.[9])
The consonant /t/ may be phonetically realized as [t], [ts], [s], [c], or [] (or any of their voiced variants [d], [dz],
[z], [], or []), in free variation.[8][9][10] Word-internally it usually assumes a voiced fricative articulation as [z] (or
[]), but not when geminated.[10] /t/ is used to adapt foreign sibilants into Marshallese.
Marshallese has no distinct /t/ phoneme.
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The dorsal consonants /k k / are usually velar, but with the tongue a little further back [k k ],
making them somewhere between velar and uvular in articulation.[10] All dorsal phonemes are "heavy" (velarized or
rounded), and none are "light" (palatalized).[8] As stated before, the palatal consonant articulations [c], [], [] and
[] are treated as allophones of the palatalized coronal obstruent /t/, even though palatal consonants are physically
dorsal.
/n/ and /n/ are usually articulated as retroflex nasals [] and [].[12]
The consonants /r/, /r/ and /r/ are all coronal consonants and full trills. /r/ is similar to Spanish rr with a trill
position on the alveolar ridge. But /r/ is a palatalized dental trill [r], articulated further forward behind the front
teeth.[10] The MarshalleseEnglish Dictionary (MED) and Willson (2003) describe the rhotic consonants as
"retroflex", but are not clear how this relates to their dental or alveolar trill positions.[8][13] (See retroflex trill.)
The heavy lateral consonants /l/ and /l/ are dark Ls, articulated [] and [] respectively.[10]
The velarized consonants (and, by extension, the rounded consonants) may actually be velarized or
pharyngealized.[8] This is similar to the emphatic consonants in Arabic or Mizrahi Hebrew.
Vowels
Marshallese has a vertical vowel system of just four vowel phonemes, each with several allophones depending on
the surrounding consonants.[14]
MED (1976), Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) notate some Marshallese vowels differently. Choi (1992) observes
only three vowel phonemes, but theorizes there may be a historical process of reduction from four to three. This
article uses the notation of the MED.
Marshallese vowels
Surface realizations
Phoneme
MED[8]
Choi[15]
Willson[16]
unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded

front
back
Close
//
[i]
[]
[u]
Close-mid
//
[e]
[]
[o]
Open-mid
//
[]
[]
[]
Open
/a/
[]
[]
[]
front
back
[i]
[]
[u]
[e]
[]
[o]
[]
[a]
[]
front
back
[i]
[]
[u]
[]
[]
[]
[e]
[]
[o]
[]
[a]
[]
Superficially, twelve Marshallese vowel allophones appear in minimal pairs, a common test for phonemicity.[17] For
example, [m ] (m, 'breadfruit'), [m ] (ma, 'but'), and [m ] (mo, 'taboo') are separate Marshallese
words.[17] However, the uneven distribution of glide phonemes suggests that these underlyingly end with the glides
(thus /maj/, /ma/, /maw/).[11] When glides are taken into account, it emerges that there are only four vowel
phonemes.[11]
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When a vowel phoneme appears between consonants with different secondary articulations, the vowel surfaces as a
smooth transition from one vowel allophone to the other.[16] For example, jok 'shy', phonemically /tk/, is realized
phonetically as [tk].[16] It follows that there are twenty-four possible diphthongs in Marshallese:[16]
_ _ _ _ _ _
[i ] [i u]
[i] [u]
[u i]
[u ]
[e ]
[e o]
[ e]
[ o]
[o e]
[o ]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
Some syllables appear to contain long vowels, e.g. naaj 'future'.[18] These syllables are thought to contain an
underlying glide (/j/, // or /w/) which is not present phonetically.[19][20] For instance, the underlying form of naaj
is /naat/.[18] Although the medial glide is not realized phonetically, it affects vowel quality; thus in a word like
/naat/, the vowel smoothly transitions from [] to [] and then back to [], as [n t].[21]
Phonotactics
Syllables in Marshallese follow CV, CVC, and VC patterns.[18] Marshallese words always underlyingly begin and
end with consonants.[20] Initial, final, and long vowels may be explained as the results of underlying glides which
are not present on the phonetic level.[20] Initial vowels are sometimes realized with an onglide [j] or [w], but not
consistently:[22]
/jat/ [ t ~ jt] 'weave'[23]
Only homorganic consonant sequences are allowed in Marshallese.[24] This includes geminate varieties of each
consonant.[9] Non-homorganic clusters are separated by vowel epenthesis, even across word boundaries.[24] Some
homorganic clusters are also disallowed.[24] Specifically:
Obstruent-obstruent, nasal-nasal, liquid-liquid, nasal-obstruent, and nasal-liquid clusters undergo assimilation
of the secondary articulation, except if the first consonant is a labialized coronal or a labialized dorsal, in
which case the clusters undergo assimilation of the labialized articulation.[25]
Obstruent-liquid and liquid-obstruent clusters besides /lt/ and /lt/ undergo epenthesis.[25]
Liquid-nasal clusters undergo nasal assimilation[25]
Obstruent-nasal clusters undergo epenthesis (if coronal) or nasal assimilation (if non-coronal)[25]
This creates the following assimilations, with empty combinations representing epenthesis.
Bilabials
/p/ /m/
Dorsals
/k/ //
/p/ /p/
/k/ /k/
/m/ /mp/
/m/
// /k/
//
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Coronals
/t/ /n/ /r/ /l/
/t/ /t/
/n/ /nt/
/r/
/l/
/nr/ /nl/
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Secondary
//
//
/n/ /r/ /rl/
//
/lr/ /l/
//
//
//
// // //
//
The height of an epenthetic vowel is transitional between the two nearest vowels.[18] Certain westernized
Marshallese place names spell out these epenthetic vowels, including:
Ebeye, from earlier Ebeje, from Epj[26]
Erikub, from dkup[26]
Kwajalein, from Kuwajleen[26]
Majuro, from Mjro[26]
Namorik, from Namdik[26]
Omelek, from Komle ("Komle, Komle")[26]
Rongelap, from Ron ap[26]
Rongerik, from Ron dik[26]
Ujelang, from Wjlan [26]
Uliga, from Wlka[26]
Utirik, from Utrk[26]
This article uses parentheses in IPA pronunciations to indicate epenthetic vowels in words, as they can be omitted
altogether without affecting the meaning, such as in song or in enunciated syllable breaks.
Timing
The short vowel phonemes /a / and the approximant phonemes /j w/ each occupy a roughly equal duration of
time.[27] Though they occupy time, the approximants are generally not articulated as glides, and Choi (1992) does
not rule out a deeper level of representation.[28] In particular, /V/ short vowels occupy one unit of time, and /VGV/
long vowels (where /G/ is an approximant phoneme) are three times as long.[29] For phonemic clarity, this article
uses the IPA symbols [ e i ] for /j/, [ ] for // and [ o u] for /w/ where they occupy time as
consonants at syllable boundaries.
As a matter of prosody, each /C/ consonant and /V/ vowel phonemic sequence carries one mora in length, with the
exception of /C/ in /CV/ sequences where the vowel carries one mora for both phonemes. All morae are thus
measured in /CV/ or shut /C/ sequences:[30]
/CVC/ is two morae: /CV-C/. It is also the shortest possible length of Marshallese word.
/CVCVC/ is three morae: /CV-CV-C/. Since approximants are also consonants, long vowel sequences of
/CVGVC/ are also three morae.
/CVCCVC/ is four morae: /CV-C-CV-C/.
Prefixes like ri- are /CV-/ sequences occupying only one mora, but are attached to words rather than standing
as words on their own.
Suffixes like -in are /-VC/ sequences. Though the syllable itself occupies two morae, it only adds one mora to
the word because the vowel attaches itself to the last consonant phoneme in the word, changing /-C/ to /-CVhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshallese_language
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C/.
This makes Marshallese a mora-rhythmed language in a fashion similar to Finnish, Gilbertese, Hawaiian or
Japanese.
Historical sound changes

Marshallese reflexes of Proto Oceanic consonants[31]
ProtoOceanic
*mp *mp,p *p *m *m,m *k *k * *y *w *t
Proto*p
Micronesian
Marshallese /p/
*p
/p/
*s,nj *ns,j *j *nt,nd *d,R *l *n *
*f *m
*m
*k *x * *y *w *t *T *s
/j/ /m/
/k,
/,
/j/ /w/ /t/ /t/ /t/

/m/
k/
/
*S *Z
/t/
*c
*r
*l *n *
/r/
/l, /n,
/r,
l, n, /n/
r/
l/ n/
The Marshallese consonants showing splits were conditioned by the surrounding Proto-Micronesian vowels. ProtoMicronesian *k * *r become rounded next to *o, or next to *u except in bisyllables whose other vowel is
unrounded. The default outcomes of *l and *n are palatalized; they become velarized or rounded before *a, or
sometimes *o, if there is no high vowel in an adjacent syllable, and in this event roundedness is determined by the
same rule as above.
Orthography
Marshallese is written in the Latin alphabet. There are two competing orthographies.[32] The "old" orthography was
introduced by missionaries.[32] This system is not highly consistent or faithful in representing the sounds of
Marshallese, but until recently had no competing orthography.[33] It is currently widely used, including in
newspapers and signs.[33] The "new" orthography is gaining popularity, especially in schools and among young
adults and children.[32] The "new" orthography represents the sounds of the Marshallese language more faithfully,
and it is the system used in the MarshalleseEnglish dictionary by Abo et al., currently the only complete published
Marshallese dictionary.[32][33]
Here is the current alphabet, as promoted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It consists of 24 letters.
O O P R T U W
ABDEIJKLMM
NN
a b d eij k l mm
n n o o p r t u w
Orthographic consonants of Marshallese[10]
Labial
Coronal
Dorsal
Orthographic vowels of
Marshallese[10]
Unrounded Rounded
Palatalized Velarized Palatalized Velarized Rounded (Plain) Rounded
Stop
b(w)
Nasal
m
(w)
(w)
Liquid
ld
(w) r(w)
Glide
e/i/-
k(w)
n(w)
w/-
Front
Back
Close
Mid
Open
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Marshallese spelling is based on pronunciation rather than a phonemic analysis. Therefore, backness is marked in
vowels despite the fact that this is allophonic, and many instances of the glides /j/ // /w/ which have been
proposed on the phonemic level are unwritten, because they do not surface as consonants phonetically. In particular,
the glide //, which never surfaces as a consonant phonetically, is always unwritten (though bimorphemic words
like Bok-ak, where the phoneme // is present after a morpheme juncture, may alternatively be written with a
doubled vowel, as in Bokaak [pk] "Bokak"[34]).
The letter w is generally only used in two situations:
1. To mark a labialized consonant (one of kw w w n w rw) or approximant phoneme (w) before a vowel that
will be spelt one of a e i (before an unrounded consonant phoneme).
2. To mark a velarized bilabial consonant (either bw or mw) before a vowel that will be spelt one of e i (before
a palalatalized consonant phoneme).
w is never written out word-finally or before another consonant.
Kuwajleen / Kuajleen [ku z()ln] "Kwajalein".[35]
The palatal approximant phoneme /j/ may also be written out, but only either as e before one of a o o, or as i
before one of either u . The approximant is never written before any of e i. For historical reasons, certain words
like iokwe may be written as yokwe[36] with a y that does not otherwise exist in the Marshallese alphabet.
One source of orthographic variation is in the representation of vowels. Pure monophthongs are written consistently
based on vowel quality. However, diphthongs may often be written with either one of the two vowel sounds they
contain:
wtm / otem [oo d em] "all; every".[37]
Modern orthography has a bias in certain spelling choices where both possibilities are equally clear between two
non-approximant consonants.
a is preferred over .
ap [ p] "big", not *p[38]
i is preferred over .
dik [r i k] "small", not *dk[39]
Historically, both and e have been common and sometimes interchangeable. This is still true today with
some words. In the new orthography, is generally preferred over e in most such situations.
aeln [ele ] "atoll; island; land", not *aelen [40]
Epatn [b dn] "Ebadon", not *Epaten[41]
Krijmj [kriz(i )m et] "Christmas", not *Krijmej[42]
N [n] "Nell", not *Ne[43]
However, after one of d j m p and before one of unrounded b k m n r t, the spelling e is preferred over .
pinje [pinz] "pencil", not *pinj[44]
For the name of the Marshall Islands, the new orthography prefers e, but the spelling with is still found.
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M aje or M aj [mz], "Marshall Islands"[45][46]

In a syllable where the first consonant is labialized and the second consonant is palatalized, it is common to see the
vowel between them written as one of a , usually associated with a neighboring velarized consonant. For
instance:
Okwj [t] "August".[47]
Wjlan [uu iz(e)l ] "Ujelang".[48]
The exception to this variation is long vowels and long diphthongs made up of two mora units, which are written
with the vowel quality closer to the phonetic nucleus of the long syllable:
jouj [te ou it] "kindness".[49]
naaj [n t] "will be".[50]
tkji [t ()zii ] "taxicab".[49]
If the syllable is phonetically open, the vowel written is usually the second vowel in the diphthong. For example, the
word bwe [p][51] is usually not written any other way. But there can still be exceptions, such as aeln (/
ajl/ [ele ] "land; country; island; atoll"[40]), which is preferred over *eln because the a spelling
emphasizes that the first (unwritten) approximant consonant phoneme is dorsal rather than palatal.
The spelling of grammatical affixes, such as ri- (/r-/[52]) and -in (/-n/) is less variable, despite the fact that their
vowels become diphthongs with second member dependent on the preceding/following consonant.. For instance, the
prefix ri- may be pronounced as any of [ri r ru] depending on the stem, e.g. the term Ri-M aje
("Marshallese people") is actually pronounced [r-mz], as if it were Rmaje.[53]
Display issues
In the most polished printed text, the letters M
m
O o always appear with unaltered cedillas directly beneath,
and the letters N n always appear with unaltered macrons directly above. Regardless, these diacritics
are often replaced by ad hoc spellings using more common or more easily displayable characters. In particular, the
Marshallese-English Online Dictionary (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/) (but not the print version), or MOD, uses
the following characters:[26]
Standard
O
M
N
m
n o
MOD
n O ofor now, they

As of 2013, there are no dedicated precomposed characters in Unicode for the letters M
m
N
can only be displayed as plain Latin letters with combining diacritics, and even many Unicode fonts will not display
these combinations properly and neatly. And though do exist as precomposed characters in Unicode, these
letters also do not display properly as Marshallese letters in most Unicode fontsUnicode defines the letters as
having a cedilla, but fonts usually display them with a comma below because of rendering expectations of the
Latvian alphabet.
Both systems already require fonts that display Basic Latin (with A a B b D d E e I i J j K k L l M m N n O o P p R r
T t U u W w) and Latin Extended-A (with ). The standard orthography also requires Spacing Modifier
Letters for the combining diacritics. The MOD's alternative letters have the advantage of being neatly displayable as
all-precomposed characters in any Unicode fonts that support Basic Latin, Latin Extended-A along with Latin-1
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Supplement (with ) and Latin Extended Additional (with ). If a font comfortably displays both
the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration and the Vietnamese alphabet, it can also display MOD
Marshallese.
This chart highlights the display issues in common web fonts and common free Unicode fonts that are known to
support standard or MOD Marshallese lettering. Distinct typefaces only appear if your operating environment
supports them. Some fonts have combining diacritic alignment issues, and the vast majority of the fonts have the
Latvian diacritic issue.
Typeface
Arial
Calibri
Cambria
Candara
Charis SIL
Code2000
Consolas
Standard Letters
M m N n O o
'
'
&

'
N2 n O
N1 n O
N1 n O
n O
N
n O
N
N
O
2 n
Constantia
( M m N3 n O
Corbel
' M m N2 n O
Courier New
M
N
nO
m

n O
DejaVu Sans
M
m
N
n O
DejaVu Sans Mono
M
m
N
n O
DejaVu Serif
M
m
N
n O
Gentium
M
m
N
n O
Gentium Plus
M
m
N
Lucida Sans Unicode M m N n O
n O
Segoe UI
M
m
N
n O
Source Code Pro
M
m
N
n O
Source Sans Pro
M
m
N
Tahoma
Times New Roman
M m
M m
M m
M
m
M
m
m
M
o
o
o
o
o
MOD Alternates

'
'
&
'
o (
o '
o

o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
M m N n O o
M m N n O o
Differences in orthography
The old orthography was still very similar to the new orthography, but made fewer phonological distinctions in
spelling than the new orthography does. The new orthography attempts phonological consistency while adhering to
most of the spelling patterns of the old orthography, especially in regard to vowels and w. This has made the new
orthography relatively easy for old orthography users to learn. The phonology of Marshallese was documented by
Bender (1969) with written examples using the old orthography. Some differences between the new and old
orthographies:
The new orthography uses the cedillaed letters m o. The old orthography did not use cedillas, and
ambiguously wrote these l m n o.
The new orthography uses p for "light" /p/ and b for "heavy" /p/. The old orthography used b for both.
Compare old binjel vs. new pinje [pinz], 'pencil'.
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The new orthography consistently uses d for "light" /r/ in all positions. The old orthography often wrote this
dr before vowels, and r after vowels.
Compare old Amerka vs. new Amedka [mr()], 'United States'.
Compare old indreo or indrio vs. new indeeo [i inree ], 'forever'.
Except in certain affixes like -an where the spelling of the vowels may be fixed, the new orthography spells
the vowel monophthong allophone [] as in all positions. The old orthography had but it was relatively
less common, and [] was sometimes written e instead.
Compare old Ebeje vs. new Epj [b()z ], 'Ebeye'.
Except in certain affixes like ri- where the spelling of the vowels may be fixed, the new orthography spells the
vowel monophthong allophone [] as in all positions. The old orthography spelt [] as i between
consonants.
Compare old Kirijmj vs. new Krijmj [kriz(i )m et], 'Christmas'.
The new orthography only uses the letters e o for allophones of the vowel phoneme //. In the old
orthography, some words used e o , but other words used i u () instead.
Compare old ailin vs. new aeln [ele ], 'land'.
The new orthography uses the letter o for the vowel monophthong allophone [] along with many of its
related diphthong allophones. The old orthography spelt [] as a between consonants, but o at the ends of
words.
Compare old iakwe vs. new iokwe [i ], 'hello; good bye; love'.
Compare old mo vs. new mo [m ], 'taboo'.
The new orthography tries to consistently write long vowels and geminated consonants with double letters.
The old orthography habitually wrote these as single letters.
kdk], 'study'.
Compare old ekatak vs. new ekkatak [
Compare old jab vs. new jaab [t p], 'no'.
The word iokwe [i ] ('hello; goodbye; love') and the phrase iokwe eok [i ee ok] ('hello [to
you]') are a special case. The new orthography's rules favor the spelling iokwe eok, while the old
orthography's rules favored the spelling iakwe iuk. But yokwe yuk has been historically more entrenched in
both orthographies, though the letter y does not exist in the normal spelling rules of either orthography. This
spelling has multilingual significance as well; yokwe (yuk) /jkwe (jk)/ is also the established spelling for
the greeting when used in Marshallese-influenced English and by anglophones in the Marshall Islands.
Grammar
Morphology
Nouns are not marked as nouns, and do not inflect for number, gender, or case.[54] Nouns are often verbalized and
verbs nominalized without any overt morphological marker:[54]
Je-n al al in plle.
1pl.in.agr-should sing.trans song of be.covered(=American)
'We should sing American songs.' (Willson 2008)
Page 11 of 18
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Marshallese has determiners and demonstratives which follow the noun they modify.[55] These are marked for
number, and in the plural also encode a human/nonhuman distinction.[56] For example, in the singular pinje eo 'the
pencil' and addik eo 'the boy' take the same determiner, but in the plural pinje ko 'the pencils' and addik ko have
different determiners.[56] Indefinites are an exception; in the singular they are expressed with the word juon 'one'
before the noun (e.g. juon al 'a song'), and there is no plural indefinite determiner.[57] The Marshallese
demonstrative system has five levels: near the speaker (sg. e / pl. human r / pl. nonhuman k), near the speaker and
listener (in / rein / kein), near the listener (e / rae / kae), away from both speaker and listener (e / ra / ka), and
distant but visible (uweo / roro / koko).[56]
Marshallese possesses two sets of 1st and 2nd person singular pronouns,
known as "absolutive" or "emphatic" pronouns and as "objective"
pronouns.[58] Marshallese 1st person plurals mark for clusivity.[58] Third
person objective pronouns may only be used for humans; nonhumans instead
Marshallese pronouns[58]
absolutive /
Person
objective
emphatic
take a null pronoun:[58]

E-ar den t er.
3s.agr-T(past) slap.trans 3pl.obj
'He slapped them (human).' (Willson 2008)
E-ar den t-i.
3s.agr-T(past) slap.trans-obj
'He slapped them (nonhuman).' (Willson 2008)
The emphatic pronouns serve as subjects of equational sentences, as
complements of prepositions, in order to emphasize objects, in coordination
pl
n a
kwe
eok
1 inc
kj
1 exc
km
kom (Ralik)
komi (Ratak)
er
structures, and with topicalized or focused subjects.[59] It is common in Oceanic languages for a special type of
pronoun to be used in equational sentences and for topicalization or focus.[59]
a rikaki.
N
1s.emph teacher
'I am a teacher.' (Willson 2008)
a i-j yokwe ajiri ro nej-.
N
1s.emph 1s.agr.T(pres) love child the.pl.h cher.poss-1s.gen
'Me, I love my children.' (Willson 2008)
Syntax
Marshallese, similarly to many Micronesian languages, divides sentences into two types: predicational sentences
and equational sentences.[60] Predicational sentences have SVO word order and a main verb:[60]
E-j kajan jan kita.
3rdS-PRES play guitar.
'He plays guitar.' (Willson 2002)
In equational sentences, both the subject and predicate are noun phrases:[60]
Nuknuk eo e-aibujuij.
Dress DET 3rdS-beautiful.
'The dress is beautiful.' (Willson 2002)
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Vocabulary
Marshallese vocabulary[26]
aaet
[e t]
Yes
aeln
[ele ]
Atoll, or island; the word for land in general
ej et am
mour
[z ee d
m
me ou r]
How are you? (Literally, "How is your life doing?") Notice that the m assimilates
before the m.
em
m
an
m n]
[
(It) is good.
enana
[n n ] (It) is bad.
io kwe;
yokwe
[i ]
Hello, goodbye and love, similar to the Hawaiian aloha; also an expression of
sympathy. Its literal, archaic meaning is "You are a rainbow".[36]
irooj
[i i r o et]
Iroij, the various paramount chieftains of Marshallese culture
jaab
[t p]
No.
kom
m
ool [km l
tata
dd]
Thank you very much. Kommool alone means "thank you".
kn jouj [k en ze ou it]
You're welcome. Literally "for kindness".
Krjin
[kr(i)zin]
Christian: The majority religion of the Marshall Islands
Cardinal numbers
This includes the cardinal numbers one through ten in the Rlik dialect. Where Ratak forms differ, they are listed in
parentheses.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
juon [ti un]

ruo [ru]
jilu [tili uu]
emn [mn]
alem [ lem]
jiljino [tizin] (the l is silent[61])
jimjuon [tim(i)zi un]
ralitk [rlii dk] (ejino)
ratimjuon [rdim(i)zi un] (ejilimjuon)
jonoul [te oou il]
Months
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Jnwde [tnr], 'January'

Ppode [pbr ], 'February'
M
aaj [mt], 'March'
Epr [b()r], 'April'
Me [mee], 'May'
Juun [ti u in], 'June'
Juae [ti uu ], 'July'
O
kwj [t], 'August'
Jeptm
ba [tb()dmb], also Jebtm
ba [tb()dmb], 'September'
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10. Oktoba [()db], 'October'

11. Nobm
ba [nbmb], also Nopem
ba [nbmb], 'November'
12. Tijem
ba [tii z mb], 'December'
Weekdays
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Jabt [t bt], 'Sunday; Sabbath'

M
ande [m nr], 'Monday'
Juje [ti uuz], 'Tuesday'
Wnje [nz], 'Wednesday'
Taije [t i iz], 'Thursday'
Braide [pr i ir], also Baide [p i ir], also Bide [p ir], 'Friday'
Jdede [trr ], 'Saturday'
Marshallese atolls and islands

M
aje or M
aj [mz], 'Marshall Islands'
Ratak [rdk], 'Ratak Chain'
Aelok [ele ok], 'Ailuk Atoll'
Aro [], 'Arno Atoll'
Aur [u r], 'Aur Atoll'
dkup [ r()u ip], 'Erikub Atoll'
Bokaak or Bok-ak [pk], 'Bokak (Taongi) Atoll'
Jmo [t m ], 'Jemo Island'
Likiep [li ip], 'Likiep Atoll'
Mjeej [mzet], also Mjej [mzt], 'Mejit Island'
Mjro [mz()r oo], 'Majuro Atoll'
Jarj [t rt], 'Djarrit'
ora [r], 'Laura'
Teap [t p], 'Delap'
Wlka [uu il(e )], 'Uliga'
Mile [milee], 'Mili Atoll'
p], 'Maloelap Atoll'
M
ao-eap [m-
a-dikdik [-r i (i)r i k], 'Knox Atoll'
Pikaar [pi r], 'Bikar Atoll'
Tk [t ], 'Toke (Taka) Atoll'
Utrk [uu d()rk], 'Utirik Atoll'
Wjj [t ], 'Wotje Atoll'
Rlik [r li k], 'Ralik Chain'
Aelnin-ae [ele in-], 'Ailinginae Atoll'
Aelnapap [ele () b( ) p], 'Ailinglaplap Atoll'
ne-wtak [ nee- dk], also newetak [ nee dk], 'Enewetak (Eniwetok)
Atoll'
Ellep [lp], 'Lib Island'
Epoon [b n], 'Ebon Atoll'
Jlwj [tloo et], also Jlooj [tle o et], 'Jaluit Atoll'
Jebwad [tbr], 'Jabor Island'
Jebat [tbt], 'Jabat (Jabot, Jabwot) Island'
Kle [k elee], 'Kili Island'
Kuwajleen [ku z()ln], 'Kwajalein Atoll'
Epj [b()z ], also Ibae [i i b ], 'Ebeye Island'
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Lae [l ], 'Lae Atoll'

Nam
dik [n m()r i k], 'Namdrik (Namorik) Atoll'
Nam
o [n m oo], 'Namu Atoll'
Pikinni [pi inii ] , 'Bikini Atoll'
Rondik [r(o e)r i k], 'Rongerik (Rongdrik) Atoll'
Ronap [r() p], 'Rongelap Atoll'
Wtto [t], 'Wotho Atoll'
Wjae or Ujae [uu iz ], 'Ujae Atoll'
Wjlan or Ujlan [uu iz(e)l ], 'Ujelang Atoll'
nen-kio [ nen(e )-i], 'Wake (Enenkio) Atoll' (claimed by the Marshall Islands,
administered by the United States)
Other countries and places

Amedka [mr()], 'United States (America)'
Awai [ i ii ] , 'Hawaii'
Jipaan [tib n], 'Saipan'
Kuwaam
[ku m], 'Guam'
Aujtrlia [u trli ], 'Australia'
Bau [puuu], 'Palau'
FSM [bzm], 'Federated States of Micronesia (F.S.M.)'
Boonpe [p o en(e)bee], 'Pohnpei (Ponape)'
Iaab [i p], 'Yap'
Kujjae [ku it ], 'Kosrae (Kusaie)'
Ruk [ruk], 'Chuuk (Truk)'
Inlen [i i ( e)ln], 'England'
Jaina [t i in ], also Jina [tin ], also Jeina [tein ], 'China'
Jam
uwa [t muu
], 'Samoa'
Jmne [tm()n], 'Germany'
Jepaan [tb n], also Nibbon [ni p], 'Japan (Nippon)'
Jipein [tibein], 'Spain'
Kilbt [kil(e )bt], 'Kiribati (Gilbert Islands)'
Nawdo [n r], 'Nauru (Naoero)'
Nukne [ni u(u i)nee], also [ni u(o e)n], 'New Guinea'
Rojia [roozi ], 'Russia'
Text examples
Modern orthography
Here is the Hail Mary in standard Marshallese orthography:
Iokwe eok Maria, kwo ln kn
menin jouj;
Irooj ej pd ippam
.
Kwo jeram
m
an iaan kr ra im
ejeram
m
an ineen lojim
, Jesus.
O Maria kwojarjar, jinen Anij,
kwn jar kn kem rijjerawiwi.
Kii im ilo iien
amwj mej. Amen.
Page 15 of 18
11/9/15, 12:10 AM
Older orthography
Here is the Lord's Prayer from the 1982 Marshallese Bible, which uses the older orthography (most commonly used
today):
Jememuij iljn:
En kwojarjar im utiej etam;
En itok am Ailin;
Kimin kmnmn ankilam ill einwt air kmmn iln.
Letok nn kim kijim rainin.
Jolok amuij bwid ibbam,
Einwt kimij julok bwid ko an ro jet ibbem.
Am melejjone kim en jab ell jen jonan,
Ak kwon kejbarok kim jen Eo Enana.
Bwe am Ailin im kajur im aibuijuij indrio, Amen.
References
1. "Marshallese". SIL International. n.d. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
2. Marshallese (http://www.ethnologue.com/language/mah) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
3. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarstrm, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Marshallese". Glottolog.
Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
4. Willson (2002, 1.1 General background)
5. "Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal: In the Matter of the People of Enewetak". International Legal Materials 39 (5):
1214. 2000.
6. Willson (2008:67)
7. Willson (2003:1)
8. Abo et al. (1976, 4. The Sounds of Marshallese)
9. Choi (1992:14)
10. Rudiak-Gould (2004:78)
11. Bender (1968:2122)
12. Bender (1969:xvii)
13. Willson (2003:6)
14. Willson (2003:2)
15. Choi (1992:15)
16. Willson (2003:3)
17. Bender (1968:17)
18. Willson (2003:7)
19. Willson (2003:78)
20. Bender (1968:22)
21. Choi (1992:7073)
22. Choi (1992:22)
23. Choi (1992:23)
24. Willson (2003:45)
25. Willson (2003:5)
26. Abo et al. (1976)
27. Choi (1992:27)
28. Choi (1992:71)
29. Choi (1992:65)
30. Willson (2003:8)
31. Bender, Byron W. (2003). "Proto-Micronesian Reconstructions: 1". Oceanic Linguistics 42: 4, 5.
32. Miller (2010:x)
34. MED: Bokaak (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocB.htm)
Page 16 of 18
11/9/15, 12:10 AM
35. MED: Kuwajleen (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocK.htm#Kuwajleen) ; MED concordance

(http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/ConcordK.htm#Kuajleen): Kuajleen
36. MED: iokwe (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2I.htm#ikwe)
37. MED: wtm (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2W.htm#wtm)
38. MED: ap (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2L.htm#ap)
39. MED: dik (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2D.htm#dik)
40. MED: aeln (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2A.htm#ael)
41. MED: Epatn (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocK.htm#Kuwajleen)
42. MED: Krijm
j (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2K.htm#Krijj)
43. MED: N (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocK.htm#Kuwajleen)
44. MED: pinje (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2P.htm#pinje)
45. MED: M
aje (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2M.htm#aje)
46. MED: M
aj (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/ConcordM.htm#aj)
47. MED: O kwj (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2O.htm#kwj)
48. MED: Wjlan (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocW.htm#Wjla)
49. MED: tkji (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2T.htm#tkji)
50. MED: naaj (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2N.htm#naaj)
51. MED: bwe (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2B.htm)
52. MED: ri- (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2R.htm#ri-)
53. MED: Ri-M
aje (http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2R.htm#Ri-aje)
54. Willson (2008:15)
55. Willson (2008:16)
56. Willson (2008:17)
57. Willson (2008:1718)
58. Willson (2008:18)
59. Willson (2008:1921)
60. Willson (2002, 3.2 Morphosyntax)
Bibliography
Abo, Takaji; Bender, Byron; Capelle, Alfred; DeBrum, Tony (1976). MarshalleseEnglish Dictionary.
University Press of Hawaii. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
Bender, Byron (1968). "Marshallese Phonology". Oceanic Linguistics 7: 1635. doi:10.2307/3622845.
Bender, Byron (1969). "Spoken Marshallese". University of Hawaii Press.
Choi, John (1992). "Phonetic Underspecification and Target Interpolation: An Acoustic Study of Marshallese
Vowel Allophony". Working Papers in Phonetics (Los Angeles: UCLA) 82. Retrieved December 30, 2012.
Miller, Rachel (2010). Wa kuk wa jimor: Outrigger canoes, social change, and modern life in the Marshall
Islands (PDF). University of Hawaii. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
Rudiak-Gould, Peter (2004). Practical Marshallese (PDF). WorldTeach. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
Willson, Heather (2002), The Marshallese Complementizer Phrase (PDF), Arizona State University, retrieved
December 10, 2012
Willson, Heather (2003). A Brief Introduction to Marshallese Phonology (PDF). ms. Retrieved December 4,
2012.
Willson, Heather (2008). Subject Positions in Marshallese (PDF). University of California, Los Angeles.
Retrieved December 10, 2012.
Further reading
Bender, Byron W. (1969). Spoken Marshallese: an intensive language course with grammatical notes and
glossary. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-87022-070-5
Bender, Byron W. (1969). Vowel dissimilation in Marshallese. In Working papers in linguistics (No. 11,
pp. 8896). University of Hawaii.
Bender, Byron W. (1973). Parallelisms in the morphophonemics of several Micronesian languages. Oceanic
Page 17 of 18
11/9/15, 12:10 AM
Linguistics, 12, 455-477.

Choi, John D. (1992). Phonetic underspecification and target interpolation: An acoustic study of Marshallese
vowel allophony. UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics (No. 82). [1]
(http://repositories.cdlib.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1084&context=uclaling)
Hale, Mark. (2007) Chapter 5 of Historical Linguistics: Theory and Method. Blackwell
Hale, Mark. (2000). Marshallese phonology, the phonetics-phonology interface and historical linguistics. The
Linguistic Review, 17, 241257.
Pagotto, L. (1987). Verb subcategorization and verb derivation in Marshallese: a lexicase analysis.
External links
Naan, a free MarshalleseEnglish Dictionary for
Marshallese language test
beginner/intermediate learners of both languages
of Wikipedia at Wikimedia
(https://sites.google.com/site/lalenaan/)
Incubator
MarshalleseEnglish Online Dictionary
(http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/)
Marshallese Phrasebook on the website for the Republic of Marshall Islands
(http://www.rmiembassyus.org/Marshallese%20Phrasebook.htm) lists the Marshallese word for the
Marshallese language as kajin Majl
Peace Corps Marshall Islands Marshallese Language Training Manual
(http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/~rscook/pdf/PCMLT-JejeinM.pdf) (PDF, 275 KB; instead of macrons
uses trema on vowels and tilde on n, and underlines instead of cedillas)
Marshallese Spelling Reforms (http://faroutliers.blogspot.com/2004/08/marshallese-spelling-reforms.html)
article in the blog, "Far Outliers"
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marshallese_language&oldid=688554115"
Categories: Marshallese language Oceanic languages
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The Marshallese language (Marshallese:

unknown (55,000 cited 1979)[2]

Latin (Marshallese alphabet)

5.1 Display issues