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TE NGANANA A TE TUVALU
Please note: This Tuvalu/Ellice Islands grammar was first published in 1945. It was first
scanned and posted on the late Henry Lundsgaarde's web site in 1994. The website is no
longer on line. This page is currently being re-edited by Tuvalu Online to improve the
readability and correct numerous typographical errors from the scanning and OCR software.
HANDBOOK ON THE LANGUAGE of the TUVALU (ELLICE) ISLANDS
by DONALD GILBERT KENNEDY
Please note: This Tuvalu/Ellice Islands grammar was first published in 1945. It has been
scanned and now posted on this web site as part of a long-term experiment to learn more
about how best to present linguistic and ethnographic data on the internet. It may be possible
to add sound at a later date to allow users to hear how the language is pronounced.
This book has been written for the guidance of Government officers and others who wish to
acquire a practical knowledge of the language of the Ellice Islands. It does not pretend to be
exhaustive, but anyone who assimilates its contents should find himself in a position to pursue
his further studies with ease and fluency. Throughout the Ellice Group, the dialect varies to
considerable extent from island to island. That used herein is the dialect of Vaitupu. This
island has, for many years, been the headquarters of both Mission and Government secondary
education and its dialect is well understood throughout the group. I am indebted to my wife
for the preparation and arrangement of The typescript, to Tofinga of the Western Pacific High
Commission Office for much valuable criticism and assistance in the final revision of the
work, and to Mr. F. W. Smith, Government Printer, Fiji, for correcting the proofs. - D.G.K.
Suva, Fiji,
1st March, 1945.
TE NGANGANA A TE TUVALU
THE LANGUAGE OF THE ELLICE ISLANDS.PART I. GRAMMAR.
The Alphabet
1) The alphabet consists of sixteen letters:
a) Five vowels a, e, i, o, u.
b) Eleven consonants (including the diagraph ng) f, h, k, l, m, n, ng, p, s, t, v.
2) Each vowel has a long and a short duration and each consonant may be held or dwelt on
in such a way as to give the succeeding vowel a slight explosive sound. Every word ends in a
vowel.
a) short a sound: mata, eye, face. Both vowels sounded as “u” in “butter”
b) long a sound: fanau, offspring. a sounded as “a” in “father.”
c) Short e sound: pepe, butterfly, moth. Both vowels sounded as “e” in “bet”
d) Long e sound: pefea, how. e sounded as “c” in “send”
e) Short i sound: titi, woman’s kilt. Both vowels sounded as “i” in “tin.”
f) Long i sound: sili, to ask. i sounded as “i” in “litre”
g) Short o sound: popo, copra. Both vowels sounded as “o” in “pot”
h) Long o sound: po, night. o sounded as “o” in “north”
i) Short u sound: tuku, put, give. Both vowels sounded as "u" in "pull"
j) Long u sound: pula, shine. u sounded as "u" in "rule"
3) When vowels occur together each must be sounded separately, and distinctly. There are
no diphthongs. e.g. Taeao, tomorrow; sounded ta-eh-ah-o(r) almost as if the word consisted
of four different syllables.
4) Consonants.
a) f, The fricative sound is obtained by holding the lower lip almost against the upper lip,
and not against the upper teeth as in English f.
b) h, sounded as in English. (Northern dialects only.)
c) k, sounded as in English, but with the tongue further back on the palate.
d) l, as in English.
e) m, as in English, but slightly heavier and more prolonged.
f) n, as in English, but heavier.
g) ng, as the "ng" in English "singing," never like the "ng" in "finger." The initial sound
"ng" should be practiced. e.g. ngongo, the black noddy, ngalu, a wave.ngatala, rock cod, ngali,
pretty.
h) p, as in English, but heavier.
i) s, as in English, but much heavier and with a suspicion of the English "sh."
j) t, sounded as in English, but thicker, with the flat rather than the tip, of the tongue
against the hard palate.
k) v, the lower lip is held against the upper lip, as for Ellice f, and not against the upper
teeth.
On Niutao Island the three syllables of the word are pronounced distinctly. On other islands in
the Ellice group the second syllable is elided and the word becomes fakai, with the k held for
the time it takes to pronounce the other syllable. It should be noticed that the pause is in the
middle of the consonant itself, not after the preceding vowel.
6) So: o pepelo, to lie, becomes o pelo (pron. o ppello).o sosolo, to wipe, becomes o solo
(pron. o ssolo). o totolo, to creep, becomes o tolo (pron. o ttolo). te ngangana, the sound, the
language, becomes te ngana (pron. te ngngana).
In normal spelling it is not necessary to employ doubled consonants as above, to denote these
lengthened consonants, but the student is advised to use them in his own vocabulary lists.
Throughout this handbook they are rarely used to denote the length of either vowels or
consonants. No student can hope to learn from the book alone. The help of a native is
necessary and the student should note carefully the exact value given by his native mentor to
both vowels and consonants, and so mark them in his vocabulary lists.
THE ARTICLE
7) The articles are:
Singular: te, se, a
Plural: ni, ne, a
THE NOUN.
8) Nouns are never inflected. Number is indicated by
a) A word accompanying a noun:
e.g. Tona vae, his leg, ona vae, his legs.
Te lakau, a stick. lakau, sticks.
b) Lengthening of the vowel of the noun:
e.g. Tangata, man, tangata, men (pron. taangata). Fafine, woman, fafine, women (pron.
faafinee).
12) Certain nouns which indicate time and place are important, and should be noted here; they
frequently form the key words of compound adverbs and prepositions.
lunga, the top, the upper part.
lalo, the bottom, the under part.
loto, the inside, the midst.
fofo, fafo, the outside, the exterior.
mua, the front, the forepart.
muli, the rear, the hindpart.
fea? (What) place? (What) time?
nei, the present.
ko, yonder place, time distant.
tua, the outer side, the back.
tai, the sea shore, as opposed to places inland.
uta,ngauta, inland, as opposed to the sea shore; the dry
land (the shore), as opposed to the water.
va, space between two things or places.
13) PREPOSITIONS.
a, of, belonging to.
a, at, (of future time).
e.g., a fea? at what time? (future).
ana, at, (of time past).
e.g., ana fea? at what time? (past).
o, of, belonging to.
ma, for.
mo, for.
i, at.
mai, from.
Compound Forms.
i lunga, upon, on top of, above.
i lunga i, upon, on top of, above.
mai lunga i, from upon.
ki lunga ki, to the top of.
Similarly.
i mua,mai mua, ki mua.
i muli,mai muli, ki muli.
i lalo,mai lalo, ki lalo.
i loto,mai loto, ki loto, etc.
14) THE ADJECTIVE.
15) The adjective always stands after the noun:
te fale lasi, the large house.
se vaka lelei, a good canoe.
16) Degrees of comparison are expressed by the adverbs:
atu, ake, aka, for the comparative degree.
sili, tomua, ki, for the superlative degree.
e.g. E lelei atu te m~a nei i te mea tena.
This thing is better than that thing.
E loa aka (ake) te lakau nei.
This stick is longer.
Te tangata tomua i te lasi.
A very big man indeed.
A ia e supa ki.
He is extremely stupid.
An idiomatic form expressing the superlative degree is here noted:
sei---pela.
e.g. Sei se tangata mafl pela.
He is the strongest man of all.
Sei se tamaflne ngali pela.
She is the most beautiful girl of all.
17) NUMERALS.
1. tasi. 11. angafulu ma tasi, sefulu tasi.
2. Iua. 12. angafulu ma lua, sefulu lua.
3. tolu. 13. angafulu ma tolu, sefulu tolu.
4. fa. 2O. Iua ngafulu, lua sefulu.
5. lima. 30. tolu ngafulu.
6. ono. 40. fa ngafulu.
7. fitu. 100. se lau.
8. valu. 125. se lau lua ngafulu ma lima.
9. iva. 1000. afe.
l0. angafulu, sefulu.
N.B. toko must precede the numeral when applied to persons.
e.g. E fia? How many?
Tokofla? How many persons?
E tasi te vaka, one canoe.
Vaka e lua, two canoes (or Vakalua).
Vaka e tolu, three canoes (or Vakatolu).
In counting persons, tino, people, person, is frequently used for multiples of ten.
e.g. Tokofla tino? How many people? E tokotolu. Three.
Tino fia? How many people? Tino iva. Ninety.
18) The ordinal numeral is formed by using te before the cardinal.
e.g. Te lua, the second.
Te tolu, the third.
Te tokotolu o tangata, the third person.
But note: Te mea mua, the first item.
Te toekimua, the first born.
19) Distributive numerals are formed by prefixing taki to the ordinary numeral.
e.g. Takitolu, three each, each three.
Takitasi, each separately.
Tamaliki takitokotasi, every single child.
23) It will further be noticed that in the dual and plural numbers the distinction does not
appear. It does appear, however, in all three numbers, when the pronoun is used in its genitive
form to indicate possession. Using the same nouns as given in the examples above, we have:
Genitive Construction.
"A" or "o", meaning of, or belonging to.
"A" Form.
Singular.
E a ai te ngaluenga? E a aku.
Whose is the work? It is mine (lit. of me).
E a ai tamaliki kola? E a aku.
Whose are those children? They are mine.
E a ai te lakau? E a koe.
Whose is the stick? It is yours (thine lit. of thee).
E a ai lakau konei? E a koe.
Whose are these sticks? They are yours (thine).
E a ai te meakai na? E a ia (E a ana).
Whose is that food ? It is his.
E a ai tamaliki kola? E a ana.
Whose children are those? They are his.
Dual.
E a ai te fatu na? E a taua.
Whose stone is that? It is ours (thine and mine).
Faifainga a ai? Faifainga a taua.
Whose actions? Our actions (thine and mine).
Te tongaflti a ai? Te tongafiti a maua.
Whose trick? Our trick (his and mine).
Tamaliki a ai? Tamaliki a maua.
Whose children? Our children (hers and mine).
Te olonga a ai? Te olonga a koulua.
Whose departure? Your departure (lit. of you two).
E a ai a fangongo kona? E a koulua.
Whose are those coconut shells? They are yours (of you two).
Te lakau a ai? Te lakau a laua.
Whose stick? Their stick (lit. of them (two)).
Tama a ai? Tama a laua.
Whose child? Their child (of the two of them).
Plural.
E a ai te ika? E a tatou.
Whose is the fisht It is ours (inclusive).
E a ai ika konei? E a tatou.
Whose fish are these? They are ours.
E a ai te toki? E a matou.
Whose is the adze? It is ours (inclusive).
Toki a ai? Toki a matou.
Whose adzes? Our adzes.
E a ai te mea nei? E a koutou.
Whose is this thing? It is yours (lit. of you three or more).
Mea a ai? Mea a koutou.
Whose things? Your things.
Te teleatunga a ai? Te teleatunga a latou.
Whose flight? Their flight (of them).
Omamainga a ai? Omamainga a latou.
Whose visits? Their visits.
"O" Form.
Singular.
Te tamana o ai? Te tamana o oku.
Whose father ? My father (lit. of me) .
Tupuna o ai? Tupuna o oku.
Whose ancestors ? My ancestors.
Te avanga o ai? Te avanga o koe.
The wife (husband) of whom? Your wife (of thee).
E o ai vaka kola? E o koe.
Whose are those canoes? They are yours (thine).
E o ai te pulou nei? E o ona (e o ia).
Whose hat is this? It is his.
A pulou konei, e o ai? E o ona (e o ia).
These hats, whose are they? They are his (of him).
Dual.
E o ai te vaka na? E o taua.
Whose is that canoe? It is ours (belonging to thee and me).
A vaka kola, e o ai? E o taua.
Those canoes, whose are they? They are ours.
Te vaka o ai? Te vaka o maua.
Whose canoe? Our canoe (belonging to him and me?)
Vaka o ai? Vaka o maua.
Whose canoes? Our canoes (his and mine).
E o ai te fale? E o koulua.
Whose is the house? It is yours (lit. of you two)
E o ai fale kola? E o koulua.
Whose are those houses? They are yours.
E o ai te manafa? E o laua.
Whose is the land? It is theirs (lit. of them two).
A manafa konei, e o ai? E o laua.
These lands, whose are they? They are theirs.
Plural.
Te fenua o ai? Te fenua o tatou.
Whose homeland ? Our homeland (inclusive) .
Tupuna o ai? Tupuna o tatou.
Whose ancestors? Our ancestors (inclusive).
E o ai te fenua? E o matou.
Whosc homeland is it? It is ours (exclusive).
Tupuna o ai? Tupuna o matou.
Whosc ancestors? Our ancestors (exclusive) .
E o ai te umanga? E o koutou.
Whosc garden? It is yours.
A umanga kola, e o ai? E o koutou.
Those gardens, whose are they? They are yours.
E o ai te fale? E o latou.
Whose is the house? It is theirs.
E o ai fale kola? E o latou.
Whose are those houses? They are theirs.
The Polynesians know intuitively with what classes of nouns or things possessed "a" should
be used, or "o" should be used. For Europeans the matter is fraught with some complexity.
Fundamentally since the "o" or "a" question arises only in the case of possessive pronouns,
and the prepositions "o" and "a" mo and ma, themselves indicating possession, it would seem,
at first sight, reasonable to assume that the distinction must be due to some subtle difference
not apparent to Europeans, in the nature of the possession, or the degree of possession itself.
Some Polynesian grammarians have attempted to explain the distinction, but no simple,
fundamental rule has yet been which would serve as a safe guide to Europeans. Perhaps the
nearest approximation to a simple rule is: The "a" form is used when the state or degree of
possession is the result of some transitive action on the part of the possessor; and the "o" form
when the state or degree of possession is the normal state of being, through inheritance or
otherwise.
Generally speaking,
(a) food,
(b) words indicating children,
(c) words indicating a state of being; such as verbal or other nouns formed by the suffix nga
all take the pronoun in the "a" form.
e.g.
(i) Tau meakai, your food.
(ii) Taku tama, my child.
(iii) I tau tamalikinga, in your childhood.
(iv) words indicating names, parts and qualities of things,
(v) feelings,
(vi) houses, land, canoes, clothing,
(vii) parents and other relations except children all take the possessive pronoun in the
"o" form.
e.g.
(d) Mo Penaia, for Penaia.
Toku vae, my leg.
Tou mafa, your weight.
(e) Oku manatu, my opinions.
(f) Oku fale vaka, my canoe sheds.
Tona manafa, his land.
Te fenua o tatou, our homeland.
Tou paopao, your small canoe.
Toku pulou, my hat.
Oku taka, my sandals.
(g) Ona matua, his parents.
Tou tupuna, your grandfather.
Te taina o toku tamana, the brother of my father.
Examples.
a) Ai
i) Ko ai na? who is there?
ii) E o ai te pulou nei? whose is this hat? E o ai te mea nei? whose is this?
iii) Ne tuku ne koe ki ai? to whom did you give it?
iv) E kai koe i ai? with whom are you eating?
b) Te fea
i) fea te vaka ne ta ne ia? which is the canoe he built?
c) A
i) Se a te mea nei? what is this?
ii) E fakalongo koe ki te a? to what are you listening?
iii) E fakatale atu ki te a tama tena? for what is that child reaching? E faipati koe ki te a?
what are you speaking about?
iv) E omai i te a tino kola? for what are those people coming? E tele koe.i te a? what are you
running for?
v) E fai mo te a te lase na? what is that lime for? Mo a te fale na? for what is that house?
25) Note: When asking for the name
a) of a person, use ko ai? e.g. Ko ai tou ingoa? What is your name?
b) of a thing, use se a? e.g. Se a te ingoa o te mea na? What is the name of that?
26) INTERROGATION.
Note the following:
a) Ko ai? koi? who?
b) Se a? te a? what?
c) Te fea? which, where?
d) Pefea? how, of what kind?
e) E fla? how many?
f) Afea? mafea? when? (future)
g) Anafea? when? (past)
h) Aia? se a te mea? why?
Examples.
The Ellice language does not possess a verb corresponding to the verb "to be." No verb is
used in such cases as the following:
Ko ia tenei, this is he.
Ko Penaia tona ingoa, his name is Penaia.
Ko toku fale tena, that is my house.
Se fale lelei tenei, this is a good house.
Te lotou fale tela, that house yonder is theirs.
Tena te tamana o Luao, that is Luao's father.
Ko te faflne tena ne lavea ne au that is the woman whom I saw.
Konei aku tama, these are my children.
In the following the forms e isi and e iai are used for "to be." meaning "to exist."
E iai ne vai i te ipu na? is there any water in that cup?
E isi sau foe na? have you a paddle there?
(lit. is there your paddle there?)
The use of sau instead of tau, as in this example, will be dealt with under Alliteration.
28) The Ellice verb is without inflections. The use of the passive has become almost obsolete,
it is heard only in quotations from old songs and stories, and usually takes the form of the
suffix ia, tia, sia, etc., to the active form of the verb.
Differences of tense are indicated by the particles e, ka, ne, present, future and past,
respectively. Other particles are ma, future conditional contingent, ke, future conditional
consequential, moi, perfect conditional, and mana, future conditional precautionary.
The subject of the transitive verb may be indicated by the nominative particle ne preceding
the noun or pronoun. This should nt be confused with the verbal particle ne indicating past
tense. Ne tuku mai ne ia. He gave it to me.
The first ne here is the verbal particle indicating past tense; the second is the nominative
particle, indicating the subject of the transitive verb tuku.
29) Infinitive Mood.
Present Tense.
O tuku, to put to give, to place.
Indicative Mood.
Present Tense.
Singular. Dual and Plural.
E tuku ne au, I give. E tuku ne maua. we give (dual exclusive).
E tuku ne koe, you give. E tuku ne taua, we give (dual inclusive).
E tuku ne ia, he gives. E tuku ne matou, we give (pl. exlusive)
E tuku ne tatou, ne give (pl. inclusive ) . E tuku ne koulua, you give (dual)
E tuku ne koutou, you give (pl.) E tuku ne latou, they give.
Note: Ko may be used instead of e, Ko tuku ne au, etc.
Future Tense.
Ka tuku ne au, I shall give. Ka tuku ne maua, we shall give.
Ka tuku ne koe, you will give. Ka tuku ne taua, we shall give.
Ka tuku ne ia, he will give. Ka tuku ne matou, we shall give.
Ka tuku ne tatou, we shall give.
Ka tuku ne koulua, you shall give.
Ka tuku ne koutou, you shall give.
Ka tuku ne latou, they shall give.
Past Tense.
Ne tuku ne au, I gave. Ne tuku ne maua, we gave.
Ne tuku ne koe, you gave. Ne tuku ne taua, we gave.
Ne tuku ne ia, he gave. Ne tuku ne matou, we gave.
Ne tuku ne tatou, we gave.
Ne tuku ne koulua, you gave.
Ne tuku ne koutou, you give.
Ne tuku ne latou, they gave.
Imperative Mood.
Tuku, give, put, place.
Tuku i kona, put it there.
Tuku ki a ia, give it to him.
Tuku ki loto i te fale, place it inside the house.
Subjunctive Mood.
Future Contingent.
Singular. Dual and Plural.
Ma tuku ne au, if I should give. Ma tuku ne maua. if we should give.
Ma tuku ne koe, if you should give. Ma tuku ne taua, if we should give.
Ma tuku ne ia, if he should give. Ma tuku ne matou, if we should give.
Ma tuku ne tatou, if we should give.
Ma tuku ne koulua. if you should give.
Ma tuku ne koutou, if you should give.
Ma tuku ne latou. if they should give.
OR
A au ma tuku. A maua ma tuku.
A koe ma tuku. A taua ma tuku.
A ia ma tuku. A matou ma tuku.
A tatou ma tuku.
A koulua ma tuku.
A koutou ma tuku.
A latou ma tuku.
Future Consequential.
Ke tuku ne au, that I may give; Ke tuku ne maua.
or, let me give, etc.
Ke tuku ne koe. Ke tuku ne tana.
Ke tuku ne ia. Ke tuku ne matou.
Ke tuku ne tatou.
Ke tuku ne koulua.
Ke tuku ne kouton.
Ke tuku ne latou.
Future Precautionary.
A au mana tuku. lest I should give. A maua mana tuku.
A koe mana tuku. A taua mana tuku.
A ia mana tuku. A matou mana tuku.
A tatou mana tuku.
A koulua mana tuku.
A koutou mana tnku.
A latou mana tuku.
OR
Mana tuku ne au Mana tuku ne maua.
etc.
Perfect and Past Perfect, Conditional.
Moi tuku ne au, if I have given, Moi tuku ne maua.
if I had given, etc.
Moi tuku ne taua.
Moi tuku ne koe. Moi tuku ne matou.
Moi tuku ne ia. Moi tuku ne tatou.
Moi tuku ne koulua.
Moi tuku ne koutou.
Moi tuku ne latou.
30) NEGATIVE FORMS.
Indicative.
Present Tense.
Se tuku ne au, I do not give. Se tuku ne maua.
Se tuku ne koe. Se tuku ne taua.
Se tuku ne ia. Se tuku ne matou.
Se tuku ne tatou.
Se tuku ne koulua.
Se tuku ne koutou.
Se tuku ne latou.
Future Tense.
A au ka se tuku, I shall not give, etc. A maua ka se tuku.
A koe ka se tuku. A taua ka se tuku.
A ia ka se tuku. A matou ka se tuku.
A tatou ka se tuku.
A koulua ka se tuku.
A koutou ka se tuku.
A latou ka se tuku.
Past Tense.
Seki (or siki) tuku ne au. I did not give, etc.
Seki tuku ne maua.
Seki tuku ne koe. Seki tuku ne taua.
Imperative.
Sa tuku, don’t give..., don’t put..., don’t place...
Subjunctive.
Future Contingent.
Ma se tuku ne au. if I should not give. Ma se tuku ne maua.
or
A au ma se tuku, A maua ma se tuku.
etc.
Future Consequential.
Ke se tuku ne au. that I may not give. Ke se tuku ne maua.
etc.
Future Precautionary.
Mana se tuku ne au. lest I should not give. Mana se tuku ne maua.
A au mana se tuku. A maua mana se tuku.
In the Ellice language there are no relative pronouns. The relative clause in English is
represented by a variety of constructions.
(a) By the use of the demonstrative pronoun.
e.g. E masaki te fafine tela e tangi.
That woman, who is weeping, is ill.
Tenei te tangata ne fai ne ia.
This is the man who did it.
(b) By the use of ei, ai, about it, in it.
e.g. Te mea ne faipati ei taua.
The matter about which we were talking.
Ne lavea ne koe te mea a maua ne fai ai?
Did you see what we were doing.
Tefea te vaka ne omai ai latou?
Where is the ship in which they came?
(c) By the uae of ki ei, to it.
e.g. Te fale ne olo tatou ki ei.
The house to which we went.
(d) By the use of the personal pronoun in the possessive case.
e.g. Tangata i o latou te manafa.
The men whose land it is.
Te fafine i a ia te meakai.
The woman whose food it is.
MISCELLANEOUS.
37. ALLITERATION.
For euphony when following a word containing the letter "s" the possessive pronouns toku,
taku, tou, tau, tona, tena, become: soku, saku, sou, sau, sona, sena.
e.g. Seai soku fale. I have no house.
E isi sau foe na? Have you a paddle there?
Sei sena fiafia pela. He was overjoyed.
E salasala aka ne ia saku meakai. He is looking for my food.