Nauruan language

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Nauru (dorerin Naoero)

Spoken in

Nauru
speaker 7,500
Linguistic
classification
Official status
Official language in NauruNauru Nauru
Language codes
ISO 639 -1

n / A

ISO 639 -2

exactly

ISO 639-3

exactly

Nauruan ( pronunciation ? / I , dorerin Naoero ) is an Austronesian language , a mixture of many languages ​​of the Pacific region. It is only spoken in Nauru . Nauruan is a UN- recognized language. Audio file / audio sample

Dialects

According to a 1937 in Sydney published report existed in Nauru until 1888 , when Germany was a colonial power, and until the date of the first written in Nauruan texts a variety of dialects. The variations were sometimes so different that people from different districts obviously had problems understanding each other completely. With the increasing influence of foreign languages ​​and the increased publication of Nauruan texts, the dialects mixed into a standard language , which was also promoted by the dictionaries and translations of Alois Kayser and Philip Delaporte .

Today there are practically no more variations or dialects. Only in the district of Yaren is a dialect still spoken, which, however, can hardly be distinguished; the dialect of the same name is spoken in Yaren and the immediate vicinity.

alphabet

Originally only 17 letters were used in the Nauruan written language:

  • The five vowels : a, e, i, o, u
  • Twelve consonants : b, d, g, j, k, m, n, p, q, r, t, w

The letters c, f, h, l, s, v, x, y and z are not included. With the growing influence of foreign languages ​​(especially German , Pidgin-English ( Tok Pisin ), Bislama and Kiribati ), more and more letters gradually became part of the Nauruan alphabet. In addition, there was the phonetic differentiation of some vowels, so that umlauts and other similar-sounding sounds were now given a tilde .

Reform attempt in 1938

In 1938 the Nauruan language committee around Timothy Detudamo tried to make the language easier to understand for Europeans and Americans. It was planned that as many diacritical marks as possible would be introduced for the various vowel sounds in order to demonstrate the diversity of the Nauruan language in writing. Ultimately, however, it was decided to only introduce a diacritical mark, an accent , in place of the previous tilde , so that the umlauts "õ" and "ũ" were replaced by "ò" and "ù". The "ã" was equated with the "e".

It was also decided to introduce the “y” in order to distinguish it from words with the English “j” (e.g. puji ). So changed z. B. ijeiji to iyeyi . The “ñ” was replaced by “ng” to differentiate it from the Spanish Ñ . The double consonants "bu" and "qu" have also been replaced by "bw" and "kw". For this purpose, the previously common “ts”, which should be pronounced like the English “j”, has been replaced by the same “j”; for example, changed Baiti in Beiji . The "w" written at the end of a word has also been removed.

These reforms were only partially successful or not at all: the umlauts "õ" and "ũ" are still written with tildes. However, today the letters “ã” and “ñ” are rarely used and are replaced by “e” and “ng”, as the reform prescribed. The spelling of the double consonants "bw" and "kw" has also established itself. The "j", which took the place of "ts", and the "y" are controversial. So z. B. the districts of Baiti and Ijuw (according to reform Beiji and Iyu ) are still written using the old spelling. However, the “y” was largely able to prevail in accordance with the reform.

So today the following 28 Latin letters are used.

The letters v and x are not used to this day.

Pronunciation of vowels

The vowels with tilds generally denote umlauts, ie the ã is pronounced like an ä , the õ like an ö and the ũ like a ü .

  • The vowel a has five different sounds:
    • as in the English word "father". Example: abab ("kill")
    • as in the French word "madame". Example: e man ("he died")
    • as in the English word "quantity". Example: ouwak ("wide, large")
    • as in the French word "lâche". Example: eokwan ("the sun")
    • as in the German word "Mähne" ( ã ). Example: imuinãn ("the news")
  • The vowel e has three different sounds:
    • as in the English word "pet". Example: em e dena ("the street")
    • as in the English word "pain". Example: inside ("his mother")
    • as in the French word "épée". Example: b e be ("easy, not difficult")
  • The vowel i has two different sounds:
    • as in the German word "Sinn". Example: imin ("thing, thing")
    • a mixed sound of "ü" and "i", which sometimes occurs in Swiss German . Example: ninenin ("pull tight")
  • The vowel o has three different sounds:
    • as in the English word "roll". Example: bobo ("smell")
    • as in the English word "son". Example: "ekom" ("judicial inquiry")
    • as in the German word "Möhre" or in the French word "feu" ( õ ). Example: ebõg ("fresh water")
  • The vowel u has four different sounds:
    • as in the English word "took". Example: dudu ("to water")
    • as in the German word “Mühe” ( ũ ). Example: ibũgibũgi ("grass")
    • a deeper sound than the ü in "effort". Example: iju ("fish")
    • a mixed sound of "u" and "ü". Example: ewadudu ("hill")

Pronunciation of consonants

The letter N with tilde ( Ñ ) stands for the sound ng . Although Nauruan words with “ñ” should be spelled with “ng” today, the outdated “ñ” is still used frequently. Example: Meneng District is both Meneñ and Meneng in Nauruan .

Text example

The following text example comes from the Bible ( Genesis , 1.1–1.8):

1 Ñaga ã eitsiõk õrig imim, God õrig ianweron me eb. 2 Me eitsiõk erig imin ñana bain eat eb, me eko õañan, mi itũr emek animwet ijited, ma Anin god õmakamakur animwet ebõk. 3 Me Gott ũge, Enim eaõ, me eaõen. 4 Me god ãt iaõ bwo omo, me god õekae iaõ mi itũr. 5 Me Gott eij eget iaõ bwa Aran, me E ij eget itũr bwa Anũbũmin. Ma antsiemerin ma antsioran ar eken ũrõr adamonit ibũm. 6 Me Gott ũge, Enim tsinime firmament inimaget ebõk, me enim ekae ebõk atsin eat ebõk. 7 Me Gott eririñ firmament, mõ õ ekae ebõk ñea ijõñin firmament atsin eat ebõk ñea itũgain firmament, mõ ũgan. 8 Me Gott eij egen firmament bwe Ianweron. Ma antsiemerin ma antsioran ar eke ũrõr karabũmit ibũm.

It is noticeable that the Nauruan vocabulary contains some German loanwords ( God , Firmament ), which is due to the strong influence of German missionaries . But also Latin loan words such as "õrig" (from Latin origo "origin" ( original )) can be made out.

Some words

Nauruan German
Anubumin night
Aran Day
aròùrö Beach
Bagadugu ancestors
ebe poor
(E) kamawir Omo Best regards
Ebok water
Firmament Vault; Firmament
God God
Ianweron sky
Iao light
Iow peace
Itur Darkness, darkness
òebwepoi gather
orig Beginning, beginning
Tarawong (ka) Bye; See you soon

literature

  • “Nauru Grammar”, written by Alois Kayser ( 1936 ); published by the German embassy in 1993 , ISBN 0-646-12854-X .
  • Results of the South Seas expedition 1908–1910, L. Friederichsen, Hamburg, by Thilenius (Georg) and Reche (Otto).

Web links

Wikipedia in Nauruan