Marshallese language

Marshallese (Kajin Ṃajeḷ)
Spoken in	Marshall Islands , Nauru
speaker	44,000
Linguistic ; classification	Austronesian Malayo Polynesian Central Eastern Malayo Polynesian East Malayo Polynesian languages oceanic languages Central Eastern Ocean languages distant oceanic languages micronesian languages actual Micronesian Marshallese ;
Official status
Official language in	Marshall Islands
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	mh
ISO 639 -2	mah
ISO 639-3	mah

The Marshallese language ( Marshallese Kajin Ṃajeḷ ) or Ebon is the Malayo-Polynesian national language of the Marshall Islands . There are two dialects: Ralik and Ratak . A first grammar and dictionary was compiled by Johann Stanislaus Kubary .

Lute

Consonants

There are 22 consonants in Marshallese :

		Bilabial		Dental			Palatal	Velar
		palatal	velar	palatal	velar	labial	Palatal	velar	labial
Fricative		p / pʲ /	b / bˠ /	j / tʲ /	t / tˠ /			k / k /	kw / kʷ /
nasal		m / mʲ /	ṃ / mˠ /	n / nʲ /	ṇ / nˠ /	ṇw / nˠʷ /		ñ / ŋ /	ñw / ŋʷ /
Rhotic				r / rʲ /	d / rˠ /	dw / rˠʷ /
Approximant	central						y / j /	? / ɰ /	w / w /
Approximant	lateral			l / lʲ /	ḷ / lˠ /	ḷw / lˠʷ /

Vowels

There are 4 vowels:

closed	/ ɨ /
half closed	/ ɘ /
half open	/ ɜ /
almost open	/ ɐ /

In Marshallese the vowels are not restricted to the front vs. back and rounded vs. straddled set. That is, a given vowel has multiple phonetic realizations. For example, the closed vowel / ɨ / can also be pronounced as [i], [ɯ], [u], [i͡ɯ], [i͡u], [ɯ͡i], [ɯ͡u], [u͡i] or [u͡ɯ], depending on the context become. Especially vowels with velarized consonants become spread back vowels ([ɯ], [ɤ], [ʌ], [ɑ]) and vowels with labialized consonants become rounded back vowels. Vowels become diphthongs between two different consonants:

	Cʲ_Cʲ	Cˠ_Cˠ	Cˠʷ_Cˠʷ	Cʲ_Cˠ	Cʲ_Cˠʷ	Cˠ_Cʲ	Cˠ_Cˠʷ	Cˠʷ_Cʲ	Cˠʷ_Cˠ
/ ɨ /	[i]	[ɯ]	[u]	[i͡ɯ]	[i͡u]	[ɯ͡i]	[ɯ͡u]	[u͡i]	[u͡ɯ]
/ ɵ /	[ɪ]	[ɤ]	[ʊ]	[ɪ͡ɤ]	[ɪ͡ʊ]	[ɤ͡ɪ]	[ɤ͡ʊ]	[ʊ͡ɪ]	[ʊ͡ɤ]
/ ɜ /	[e]	[ʌ]	[O]	[e͡ʌ]	[e͡o]	[ʌ͡e]	[ʌ͡o]	[o͡e]	[o͡ʌ]
/ ɐ /	[ɛ]	[ɑ]	[ɔ]	[ɛ͡ɑ]	[ɛ͡ɔ]	[ɑ͡ɛ]	[ɑ͡ɔ]	[ɔ͡ɛ]	[ɔ͡ɑ]

alphabet

Marshallese is written in Latin script with some unusual diacritical marks :

A. Ā B. D. E. I. J K L. Ḷ M. Ṃ N Ṇ Ñ O O O P R. T U Ū W.

A. - b d e i j k l ḷ m ṃ n ṇ ñ O O O p r t u ū w

Text example

Ave Maria in Marshallese:

Iọkwe eok Maria, kwo lōñ kōn

menin jouj;

Irooj ej pād ippaṃ.

Kwo jeraṃṃan iaan kōrā raṇ im

ejeraṃṃan ineen lọjiōṃ, Jesus.

O Maria kwojarjar, jinen Anij,

kwōn jar kōn kem rijjerawiwi.

Kiiō in ilo iien

amwōj mej. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace,

The Lord is with you.

You are blessed among women

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary Mother of God,

pray for us sinners

now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Web links

Test Wikipedia in Marshallese

Ethnologue report for Marshallese

A.	Ā	B.	D.	E.	I.	J	K	L.	Ḷ	M.	Ṃ	N	Ṇ	Ñ	O	O	O	P	R.	T	U	Ū	W.
A.	-	b	d	e	i	j	k	l	ḷ	m	ṃ	n	ṇ	ñ	O	O	O	p	r	t	u	ū	w

A.	Ā	B.	D.	E.	I.	J	K	L.	Ḷ	M.	Ṃ	N	Ṇ	Ñ	O	O	O	P	R.	T	U	Ū	W.
A.	-	b	d	e	i	j	k	l	ḷ	m	ṃ	n	ṇ	ñ	O	O	O	p	r	t	u	ū	w

A.	Ā	B.	D.	E.	I.	J	K	L.	Ḷ	M.	Ṃ	N	Ṇ	Ñ	O	O	O	P	R.	T	U	Ū	W.
A.	-	b	d	e	i	j	k	l	ḷ	m	ṃ	n	ṇ	ñ	O	O	O	p	r	t	u	ū	w