Tuvalu Languages

Description
The Tuvaluan language and English are the national languages of Tuvalu. Tuvaluan is of the Ellicean group of Polynesian languages, distantly related to all other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Rapa Nui, Samoan and Tongan. It is most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian outliers in Micronesia and northern and central Melanesia. The Tuvaluan language has borrowed from the Samoan language, as a consequence of Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries being predominantly Samoan.

The Tuvaluan language is spoken by virtually everyone, while a language very similar to Gilbertese is spoken on Nui. English is also an official language but is not spoken in daily use. Parliament and official functions are conducted in the Tuvaluan language.

There are about 13,000 Tuvaluan speakers worldwide. Radio Tuvalu transmits Tuvaluan-language programming.

The population of Tuvalu is approximately 10,837 people (2012 Population & Housing Census Preliminary Analytical Report). There are estimated to be more than 13,000 Tuvaluan speakers worldwide. In 2015 it was estimated that more than 3,500 Tuvaluans live in New Zealand, with about half that number born in New Zealand and 65 percent of the Tuvaluan community in New Zealand is able to speak Tuvaluan.

Isolation of minority-language communities promotes maintenance of the language. Due to global increases in temperature, rising sea levels threaten the islands of Tuvalu. Researchers acknowledges that within a "few years," the Pacific Ocean may engulf Tuvalu, swallowing not only the land, but its people and their language. In response to this risk, the Tuvaluan government made an agreement with the country of New Zealand in 2002 that agreed to allow the migration of 11,000 Tuvaluans (the island nation's entire population). The gradual resettlement of Tuvaluans in New Zealand means a loss of isolation for speakers from the larger society they are joining that situates them as a minority-language community. As more Tuvaluans continue to migrate to New Zealand and integrate themselves into the culture and society, relative isolation decreases, contributing to the language's endangerment.

Lack of isolation due to forced migration since 2002 has contributed to the endangerment of the Tuvaluan language and may further threaten it as more Tuvaluans are removed from their isolated linguistic communities.

Word List(s)

 * Useful phrases in Tuvaluan
 * Family Words in Tuvaluan
 * Tuvaluan survival vocabulary
 * Good morning
 * talofa
 * Good afternoon
 * talofa
 * Good evening
 * talofa
 * Hello
 * talofa
 * How are you?
 * (Fine, thank you) ea koe?
 * Goodbye
 * tofa
 * Thank you
 * fakafetai
 * Please
 * fakamolemole
 * Excuse me (sorry)
 * tulou
 * Yes
 * ao
 * No
 * ikai

Alphabet and Pronunciation
The sound system of Tuvaluan consists of five vowels (/i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/). All vowels come in short and long forms, which are contrastive. There are no diphthongs so every vowel is sounded separately. Example: taeao ‘tomorrow’ is pronounced as four separate syllables (ta-e-a-o).
 * Tuvaluan Alphabet and Pronunciation
 * Tuvaluan Alphabet and Pronunciation

/h/ is used only in limited circumstances in the Nukulaelae dialect.

The sound system of Tuvaluan consists of 10 or 11 consonants (/p/, /t/, /k/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /h/, /l/), depending on the dialect. All consonants also come in short and long forms, which are contrastive.

Language Aids and Dictionaries

 * Tuvalu to English Dictionary
 * Tuvalu to English Dictionary
 * Tuvalu to English Dictionary
 * Basic Tuvaluan Phrases

Additional Resources

 * Tuvalu
 * Tuvalu