Tongan language

This article is about the Polynesian language of the kingdom of Tonga. For unrelated languages with similar names, see Tonga language and Dungan language.

Tongan
lea faka-Tonga
Native to	Tonga; significant immigrant community in New Zealand and the United States
Native speakers	96,000 in Tonga (1998) 73,000 elsewhere (no date), primarily in NZ, US, and Australia
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Polynesian Tongic Tongan
Writing system	Latin-based
Official status
Official language in	Tonga
Language codes
ISO 639-1	to
ISO 639-2	ton
ISO 639-3	ton
Glottolog	tong1325

Tongan /ˈtɒŋən/ (lea fakatonga) is an Austronesian language of the Polynesian branch spoken in Tonga. It has around 180,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO (verb–subject–object) language.

Related languages

Tongan is one of the multiple languages in the Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages, along with Hawaiian, Maori, Samoan and Tahitian, for example. Together with Niuean, it forms the Tongic subgroup of Polynesian.

Tongan is unusual among Polynesian languages in that it has a so-called definitive accent. As with all Polynesian languages, Tongan has adapted the phonological system of proto-Polynesian.

1. Tongan has retained the original proto-Polynesian *h, but has merged it with the original *s as /h/. (The /s/ found in modern Tongan derives from *t before high front vowels). Most Polynesian languages have lost the original proto-Polynesian glottal stop /q/; however, it has been retained in Tongan and a few other languages including Rapa Nui.
2. In proto-Polynesian, *r and *l were distinct phonemes, but in most Polynesian languages they have merged, represented orthographically as r in most East Polynesian languages, and as l in most West Polynesian languages. However, the distinction can be reconstructed because Tongan kept the *l but lost the *r.

	Polynesian sound correspondences
Phoneme	Proto-Polynesian	Tongan	Niuean	Sāmoan	Rapa Nui	Tahitian	Māori	Cook Is. Māori	Hawaiian	English
/ŋ/	*taŋata	tangata	tagata	tagata	tangata	taʻata	tangata	tangata	kanaka	person
/s/	*sina	hina	hina	sina	hina	hinahina	hina	ʻina	hina	grey-haired
/h/	*kanahe	kanahe	kanahe	ʻanae		ʻanae	kanae	kanae	ʻanae	mullet (fish)
/ti/	*tiale	siale	tiale	tiale	tiare	tiare	tīare	tiare	kiele	gardenia
/k/	*waka	vaka	vaka	vaʻa	vaka	vaʻa	waka	vaka	waʻa	canoe
/f/	*fafine	fefine	fifine	fafine	vahine	vahine	wahine	vaʻine	wahine	woman
/ʔ/	*matuqa	matuʻa	matua	matua	matuʻa	metua	matua	metua, matua	makua	parent
/r/	*rua	ua	ua	lua	rua	rua	rua	rua	'elua	two
/l/	*tolu	tolu	tolu	tolu	toru	toru	toru	toru	'ekolu	three

Alphabet

Tongan is written in a subset of the Latin script. In the old, "missionary" alphabet, the order of the letters was modified: the vowels were put first and then followed by the consonants: a, e, i, o, u, etc. That was still so as of the Privy Council decision of 1943 on the orthography of the Tongan language. However, C. M. Churchward's grammar and dictionary favoured the standard European alphabetical order, which, since his time, has been in use exclusively:

Tongan alphabet

Letter	a	e	f	h	i	k	l	m	n	ng	o	p	s	t	u	v	ʻ (fakauʻa)
Pronunciation	/a/	/e/	/f/	/h/	/i/	/k/	/l/	/m/	/n/	/ŋ/1	/o/	/p/2	/s/3	/t/	/u/	/v/	/ʔ/4

Notes:

1. written as g but still pronounced as [ŋ] (as in Samoan) before 1943
2. unaspirated; written as b before 1943
3. sometimes written as j before 1943 (see below)
4. the glottal stop. It should be written with the modifier letter turned comma (Unicode 0x02BB) and not with the single quote open or with a mixture of quotes open and quotes close. See also ʻokina.

Note that the above order is strictly followed in proper dictionaries. Therefore, ngatu follows nusi, ʻa follows vunga and it also follows z if foreign words occur. Words with long vowels come directly after those with short vowels. Improper wordlists may or may not follow these rules. (For example, the Tonga telephone directory for years now ignores all rules.)

The original j, used for /tʃ/, disappeared in the beginning of the 20th century, merging with /s/. By 1943, j was no longer used. Consequently, many words written with s in Tongan are cognate to those with t in other Polynesian languages. For example, Masisi (a star name) in Tongan is cognate with Matiti in Tokelauan; siale (Gardenia taitensis) in Tongan and tiare in Tahitian. This seems to be a natural development, as /tʃ/ in many Polynesian languages derived from Proto-Polynesian /ti/.

Syllabification

• Each syllable has exactly one vowel. The number of syllables in a word is exactly equal to the number of vowels it has.
• Long vowels, indicated with a toloi (macron), count as one, but may in some circumstances be split up in two short ones, in which case, they are both written. Toloi are supposed to be written where needed, in practice this may be seldom done.
• Each syllable may have no more than one consonant.
• Consonant combinations are not permitted. The ng is not a consonant combination, since it represents a single sound. As such it can never be split, the proper hyphenation of fakatonga (Tongan) therefore is fa-ka-to-nga.
• Each syllable must end in a vowel. All vowels are pronounced, but an i at the end of an utterance is usually unvoiced.
• The fakauʻa is a consonant. It must be followed (and, except at the beginning of a word, preceded) by a vowel. Unlike the glottal stops in many other Polynesian languages texts, the fakauʻa is always written. (Only sometimes before 1943.)
• Stress normally falls on the next to last syllable of a word with two or more syllables; example: móhe (sleep), mohénga (bed). If, however, the last vowel is long, it takes the stress; example: kumā (mouse) (stress on the long ā). The stress also shifts to the last vowel if the next word is an enclitic; example: fále (house), falé ni (this house). Finally the stress can shift to the last syllable, including an enclitic, in case of the definitive accent; example: mohengá ((that) particular bed), fale ní (this particular house). It is also here that a long vowel can be split into two short ones; example: pō (night), poó ni (this night), pō ní (this particular night). Or the opposite: maáma (light), māmá ni (this light), maama ní (this particular light). Of course, there are some exceptions to the above general rules. The stress accent is normally not written, except where it is to indicate the definitive accent or fakamamafa. But here, too, people often neglect to write it, only using it when the proper stress cannot be easily derived from the context.

Although the acute accent has been available on most personal computers from their early days onwards, when Tongan newspapers started to use computers around 1990 to produce their papers, they were unable to find, or failed to enter, the proper keystrokes, and it grew into a habit to put the accent after the vowel instead of on it: not á but a´. But as this distance seemed to be too big, a demand arose for Tongan fonts where the acute accent was shifted to the right, a position halfway in between the two extremes above. Most papers still follow this practice.

Articles

English, like most European languages, uses only two articles:

• indefinite a
• definite the

By contrast, Tongan has three articles, and possessives also have a three-level definiteness distinction:

• indefinite ha. Example: ko ha pālangi ('a white person', or any other person from somewhere other than Tonga)
• semi-definite (h)e. Example: ko e pālangi ('the white person' in the sense that the person does not belong to some other race, but still rather 'a white person' if there are several of them)
• definite (h)e with the shifted ultimate stress. Example: ko e pālangí ('the white person', that particular person there and no one else).

Registers

There are three registers which consist of

• ordinary words (the normal language)
• honorific words (the language for the chiefs)
• regal words (the language for the king)

There are also further distinctions between

• polite words (used for more formal contexts)
• derogatory words (used for informal contexts, or to indicate humility)

For example, the phrase "Come and eat!" translates to:

• ordinary: haʻu ʻo kai (come and eat!); Friends, family members and so forth may say this to each other when invited for dinner.
• honorific: meʻa mai pea ʻilo (come and eat!); The proper used towards chiefs, particularly the nobles, but it may also be used by an employee towards his boss, or in other similar situations. When talking about chiefs, however, it is always used, even if they are not actually present, but in other situations only on formal occasions. A complication to the beginning student of Tongan is that such words very often also have an alternative meaning in the ordinary register: meʻa (thing) and ʻilo (know, find).
• regal: hāʻele mai pea taumafa (come and eat!); Used towards the king or God. The same considerations as for the honorific register apply. Hāʻele is one of the regal words which have become the normal word in other Polynesian languages.

Pronouns

The Tongan language distinguishes three numbers: singular, dual, and plural. They appear as the three major columns in the tables below.

The Tongan language distinguishes four persons: First person exclusive, first person inclusive, second person and third person. They appear as the four major rows in the tables below. This gives us 12 main groups.

Subjective and objective

In addition, possessive pronouns are either alienable (reddish) or inalienable (greenish), which Churchward termed subjective and objective. This marks a distinction that has been referred to, in some analyses of other Polynesian languages, as a-possession versus o-possession, respectively, though more Tongan-appropriate version would be ʻe-possession and ho-possession.

Subjective and objective are fitting labels when dealing with verbs: ʻeku taki "my leading" vs. hoku taki "my being led". However, this is less apt when used on nouns. Indeed, in most contexts hoku taki would be interpreted as "my leader", as a noun rather than a verb. What then of nouns that have no real verb interpretation, such as fale "house"?

Churchward himself laid out the distinction thus:

But what about those innumerable cases in which the possessive can hardly be said to correspond either to the subject or to the object of a verb? What, for example, is the rule or the guiding principle, which lies behind the fact that a Tongan says ʻeku paʻanga for ' my money' but hoku fale for 'my house'? It may be stated as follows: the use of ʻeku for 'my' implies that I am active, influential, or formative, &c., towards the thing mentioned, whereas the use of hoku for 'my' implies that the thing mentioned is active, influential, or formative, &c., towards me. Or, provided that we give a sufficiently wide meaning to the word 'impress', we may say, perhaps, that ʻeku is used in reference to things upon which I impress myself, while hoku is used in reference to things which impress themselves upon me.

ʻE possessives are generally used for:

• Goods, money, tools, utensils, instruments, weapons, vehicles, and other possessions which the subject owns or uses (ʻeku paʻanga, "my money")
• Animals or birds which the subjects owns or uses (ʻeku fanga puaka, "my pigs")
• Things which the subject eats, drinks, or smokes (ʻeku meʻakai, "my food")
• Things which the subject originates, makes, mends, carries, or otherwise deals with (ʻeku kavenga, "my burden")
• Persons in the subject's employ, under their control, or in their care (ʻeku tamaioʻeiki "my male servant")

Ho possessives are generally used for

• Things which are a part of the subject or 'unalienable' from the subject, such as body parts (hoku sino, "my body")
• Persons or things which represent the subject (hoku hingoa, "my name")
• The subject's relatives, friends, associates, or enemies (hoku hoa, "my companion (spouse)")
• Things which are provided for the subject or devolve to them or fall to their lot (hoku tofiʻa, "my inheritance")
• In general, persons or things which surround, support, or control the subject, or on which the subject depends (hoku kolo, "my village/town")

There are plenty of exceptions which do not fall under the guidelines above, for instance, ʻeku tamai, "my father". The number of exceptions is large enough to make the alienable and inalienable distinction appear on the surface to be as arbitrary as the grammatical gender distinction for Romance languages, but by and large the above guidelines hold true.

Cardinal pronouns

The cardinal pronouns are the main personal pronouns which in Tongan can either be preposed (before the verb, light colour) or postposed (after the verb, dark colour). The first are the normal alienable possessive pronouns, the latter the stressed alienable pronouns, which are sometimes uses as reflexive pronouns, or with kia te in front the inalienable possessive forms. (There is no possession involved in the cardinal pronouns and therefore no alienable or inalienable forms).

Cardinal pronouns

		Position	Singular	Dual	Plural
1st person	exclusive (I, we, us)	preposed	u, ou, ku	ma	mau
		postposed	au	kimaua	kimautolu
	inclusive (one, we, us)	preposed	te	ta	tau
		postposed	kita	kitaua	kitautolu
2nd person		preposed	ke	mo	mou
		postposed	koe	kimoua	kimoutolu
3rd person		preposed	ne	na	nau
		postposed	ia	kinaua	kinautolu

Remember:

• all the preposed pronouns of one syllable only (ku, u, ma, te, ta, ke, mo, ne, na) are enclitics which never can take the stress, but put it on the vowel in front of them. Example: ʻoku naú versus ʻokú na (not: ʻoku ná).
• first person singular, I uses u after kuo, te, ne, and also ka (becomes kau), pea, mo and ʻo; but uses ou after ʻoku; and uses ku after naʻa.
• first person inclusive (I and you) is of course somewhat a misnomer, at least in the singular. The meanings of te and kita can often rendered as one, that is the modesty I.

Examples of use.

• Naʻa ku fehuʻi: I asked
• Naʻe fehuʻi (ʻe) au: I(!) asked (stressed)
• ʻOku ou fehuʻi au: I ask myself
• Te u fehuʻi kiate koe: I shall ask you
• Te ke tali kiate au: You will answer me
• Kapau te te fehuʻi: If one would ask
• Tau ō ki he hulohula?: Are we (all) going to the ball?
• Sinitalela, mau ō ki he hulohula: Cinderella, we go to the ball (... said the evil stepmother, and she went with two of her daughters, but not Cinderella)

Another archaic aspect of Tongan is the retention of preposed pronouns. They are used much less frequently in Sāmoan and have completely disappeared in East Polynesian languages, where the pronouns are cognate with the Tongan postposed form minus ki-. (We love you: ʻOku ʻofa kimautolu kia te kimoutolu; Māori: e aroha nei mātou i a koutou).

Possessive pronouns

The possessives for every person and number (1st person plural, 3rd person dual, etc.) can be further divided into normal or ordinary (light colour), emotional (medium colour) and emphatic (bright colour) forms. The latter is rarely used, but the two former are common and further subdivided in definite (saturated colour) and indefinite (greyish colour) forms.

Possessive pronouns	definite or not	type	singular		dual		plural
			alienable2,5	inalienable2,5	alienable2,5	inalienable2,5	alienable2,5	inalienable2,5
1st person (exclusive) (my, our)	definite	ordinary	heʻeku1	hoku	heʻema1	homa	heʻemau1	homau
	indefinite		haʻaku	haku	haʻama	hama	haʻamau	hamau
	definite	emotional	siʻeku	siʻoku	siʻema	siʻoma	siʻemau	siʻomau
	indefinite		siʻaku	siʻaku	siʻama	siʻama	siʻamau	siʻamau
	emphatic3		haʻaku	hoʻoku	haʻamaua	hoʻomaua	haʻamautolu	hoʻomautolu
1st person (inclusive)4 (my, our)	definite	ordinary	heʻete1	hoto	heʻeta1	hota	heʻetau1	hotau
	indefinite		haʻate	hato	haʻata	hata	haʻatau	hatau
	definite	emotional	siʻete	siʻoto	siʻeta	siʻota	siʻetau	siʻotau
	indefinite		siʻate	siʻato	siʻata	siʻata	siʻatau	siʻatau
	emphatic3		haʻata	hoʻota	haʻataua	hoʻotaua	haʻatautolu	hoʻotautolu
2nd person (your)	definite	ordinary	hoʻo	ho	hoʻomo	homo	hoʻomou	homou
	indefinite		haʻo	hao	haʻamo	hamo	haʻamou	hamou
	definite	emotional	siʻo	siʻo	siʻomo	siʻomo	siʻomou	siʻomou
	indefinite		siʻao	siʻao	siʻamo	siʻamo	siʻamou	siʻamou
	emphatic3		haʻau	hoʻou	haʻamoua	hoʻomoua	haʻamoutolu	hoʻomoutolu
3rd person (his, her, its, their)	definite	ordinary	heʻene1	hono	heʻena1	hona	heʻenau1	honau
	indefinite		haʻane	hano	haʻana	hana	haʻanau	hanau
	definite	emotional	siʻene	siʻono	siʻena	siʻona	siʻenau	siʻonau
	indefinite		siʻane	siʻano	siʻana	siʻana	siʻanau	siʻanau
	emphatic3		haʻana	hoʻona	haʻanaua	hoʻonaua	haʻanautolu	hoʻonautolu

Notes:

1. the ordinary definite possessives starting with he (in italics) drop this prefix after any word except ʻi, ki, mei, ʻe. Example: ko ʻeku tohi, my book; ʻi heʻeku tohi, in my book.
2. all ordinary alienable possessive forms contain a fakauʻa, the inalienable forms do not.
3. the emphatic forms are not often used, but if they are, they take the definitive accent from the following words (see below)
4. first person inclusive (me and you) is of course somewhat a misnomer. The meanings of heʻete, hoto, etc. can often rendered as one's, that is the modesty me.
5. the choice between an alienable or inalienable possessive is determined by the word or phrase it refers to. For example: ko ho fale '(it is) your house' (inalienable), ko ho'o tohi, '(it is) your book' (alienable). *Ko ho tohi, ko hoʻo fale* are wrong. Some words can take either, but with a difference in meaning: ko ʻene taki 'his/her leadership'; ko hono taki 'his/her leader'.

Examples of use.

• ko haʻaku/haku kahoa: my garland (any garland from or for me)
• ko ʻeku/hoku kahoa: my garland (it is my garland)
• ko ʻeku/hoku kahoá: my garland, that particular one and no other
• ko heʻete/hoto kahoa: one's garland {mine in fact, but that is not important}
• ko siʻaku kahoa: my cherished garland (any cherished garland from or for me)
• ko siʻeku/siʻoku kahoa: my cherished garland (it is my cherished garland)
• ko haʻakú/hoʻokú kahoa: garland (emphatically mine) – that particular garland is mine and not someone else's
• ko homa kahoa: our garlands (exclusive: you and I are wearing them, but not the person we are talking to)
• ko hota kahoa: our garlands (inclusive: you and I are wearing them, and I am talking to you)

Other pronouns

These are the remainders: the pronominal adjectives (mine), indirect object pronouns or pronominal adverbs (for me) and the adverbial possessives (as me).

other pronouns	type	singular1		dual		plural
		alienable	inalienable	alienable	inalienable	alienable	inalienable
1st person (exclusive) (my, our)	pronominal adjective	ʻaʻaku	ʻoʻoku	ʻamaua	ʻomaua	ʻamautolu	ʻomautolu
	pronominal adverb	maʻaku	moʻoku	maʻamaua	moʻomaua	maʻamautolu	moʻomautolu
	adverbial possessive	maʻaku	moʻoku	maʻama	moʻoma	maʻamau	moʻomau
1st person (inclusive) (my, our)	pronominal adjective	ʻaʻata	ʻoʻota	ʻataua	ʻotaua	ʻatautolu	ʻotautolu
	pronominal adverb	maʻata	moʻota	maʻataua	moʻotaua	maʻatautolu	moʻotautolu
	adverbial possessive	maʻate	moʻoto	maʻata	moʻota	maʻatau	moʻotau
2nd person (your)	pronominal adjective	ʻaʻau	ʻoʻou	ʻamoua	ʻomoua	ʻamoutolu	ʻomoutolu
	pronominal adverb	maʻau	moʻou	maʻamoua	moʻomoua	maʻamoutolu	moʻomoutolu
	adverbial possessive	maʻo	moʻo	maʻamo	moʻomo	maʻamou	moʻomou
3rd person (his, her, its, their)	pronominal adjective	ʻaʻana	ʻoʻona	ʻanaua	ʻonaua	ʻanautolu	ʻonautolu
	pronominal adverb	maʻana	moʻona	maʻanaua	moʻonaua	maʻanautolu	moʻonautolu
	adverbial possessive	maʻane	moʻono	maʻana	moʻona	maʻanau	moʻonau

Notes:

1. the first syllable in all singular pronominal adjectives (in italics) is reduplicated and can be dropped for somewhat less emphasis

• the pronominal adjectives put a stronger emphasis on the possessor than the possessive pronouns do
• the use of the adverbial possessives is rare

Examples of use:

• ko hono valá: it is his/her/its clothing/dress
• ko e vala ʻona: it is his/her/its (!) clothing/dress
• ko e vala ʻoʻona: it is his/her/its (!!!) clothing/dress
• ko hono valá ʻona: it is his/her/its own clothing/dress
• ko hono vala ʻoná: it is his/her/its own clothing/dress; same as previous
• ko hono vala ʻoʻoná: it is his/her/its very own clothing/dress
• ʻoku ʻoʻona ʻa e valá ni: this cloting is his/hers/its
• ʻoku moʻona ʻa e valá: the clothing is for him/her/it
• ʻoange ia moʻono valá: give it (to him/her/it) as his/hers/its clothing

Counting

0-9

0	noa
1	taha	2	ua	3	tolu
4	fā	5	nima	6	ono
7	fitu	8	valu	9	hiva

For 'simple' two-digit multiples of ten both the 'full-style' and 'telephone-style' numbers are in equally common use, while for other two-digit numbers the 'telephone-style' numbers are almost exclusively in use:

10-90 'tens' # 'full-style' 'telephone-style' 10 hongofulu taha-noa 20 ungofulu/uofulu ua-noa 30 tolungofulu tolu-noa ...

11-99 # 'full-style' 'telephone-style' 11 hongofulu ma taha taha-taha 24 ungofulu ma fā ua-fā ...

exceptions # Tongan 22 uo-ua 55 nime-nima 99 hive-hiva

100-999 'simple' # Tongan 100 teau 101 teau taha 110 teau hongofulu 120 teau-ua-noa 200 uongeau 300 tolungeau ...

100-999 'complex' # Tongan 111 taha-taha-taha 222 uo-uo-ua 482 fā-valu-ua ...

1000- # Tongan 1000 taha-afe 2000 ua-afe ... 10000 mano 100000 kilu 1000000 miliona ...

ʻOku fiha ia? (how much (does it cost)?) Paʻanga ʻe ua-nima-noa (T$2.50)

In addition there are special, traditional counting systems for fish, coconuts, yams, etc.

Literature

Tongan is primarily a spoken, rather than written, language. The Bible and the Book of Mormon were translated into Tongan and few other books were written in it.

There are several weekly and monthly magazines in Tongan, but there are no daily newspapers.

Weekly newspapers, some of them twice per week:

• Ko e Kalonikali ʻo Tonga
• Ko e Keleʻa
• Taimi ʻo Tonga
• Talaki
• Ko e Tauʻatāina

Monthly or two-monthly papers, mostly church publications:

• Taumuʻa lelei (Catholic Church)
• Tohi fanongonongo (Free Wesleyan)
• Liahona (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
• 'Ofa ki Tonga (Tokaikolo)

Calendar

The Tongan calendar was based on the phases of the moon and had 13 months. The main purpose of the calendar, for Tongans, was to determine the time for the planting and cultivation of yams, which were Tonga's most important staple food.

Name	Compared to Modern Calendar
Lihamu'a	mid-November to early December
Lihamui	mid-December to early January
Vaimu'a	mid-January to early February
Vaimui	mid-February to early March
Fakaafu Mo'ui	mid-March to early April
Fakaaafu Mate	mid-April to early May
Hilingakelekele	mid-May to early June
Hilingamea'a	mid-June to early July
'Ao'aokimasisiva	mid-July to early August
Fu'ufu'unekinanga	mid-August to early September
'Uluenga	mid-September to early October
Tanumanga	early October to late October
'O'oamofanongo	late October to early November.

Day Tongan Term Monday Mōnite Tuesday Tūsite Wednesday Pulelulu Thursday Tu'apulelulu Friday Falaite Saturday Tokonaki Sunday Sāpate

Month Transliteration January Sanuali February Fepueli March Ma'asi April 'Epeleli May Mē June Siune July Siulai August 'Aokosi September Sepitema October 'Okatopa November Nōvema December Tīsema

References

• C.Maxwell Churchward, Tongan Grammar. 1999. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press ISBN 982-213-007-4 (previously: 1953. London: Oxford University Press ; 1985. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press ISBN 0-908717-05-9)
• C.Maxwell Churchward, Tongan Dictionary: Tongan-English and English-Tongan. 1999. Tonga: Vavaʼu Press (previsouly: 1959. London : Oxford University Press)
• Edgar Tuʻinukuafe, A Simplified Dictionary of Modern Tongan. 1993. Polynesian Press ISBN 0908597096, ISBN 978-0908597093

External links

• Planet Tonga
• Omniglot on Tongan
• Basic online Tongan–English and English–Tongan dictionary