Marshallese Language Experience Katak Kajin Majol Hawaii TESOL

Marshallese Language Experience (Katak Kajin Majol) Hawaii TESOL May 15 th, 2019 Brent A. Green

Today’s Plan • Where in the world are the Marshall Islands? • Brief discussion of the history • Discussion of the Marshallese Sound System • Basic language functions: Greetings, Sharing Basic Information, Numbers • Song-Ij Iokwe Lok Aelon Io Ao (Former National Anthem)

Where in the world are the Marshall Islands?

Atolls • https: //www. britannica. com/science/atoll/media/41543/100520

The Marshall Islands History • • Migration and Precontact Spain (mid 1500 s, very little contact) Germany Protectorate (late 1800 s) Japan (after WWI) The United States (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands after WWII) Independence (1979) and the Compact of Free Association (1986) Challenges of the 21 st Century • Global warming • Flooding and drought • Economic hardships • Population • • 72, 179 (living in the Marshall Islands) 6000 (Arkansas) (see Sierra Club article) 7000 (Hawaii) 3000 (Spokane)

The Pacific Proving Grounds

Random Fact: Jose Salvador Alvarenga— 438 Days at Sea

Marshallese Sound System Information adapted from Practical Marshallese by Peter Rudiak-Gould 2004. • Vowels • a, ā, e, i, o, ō, o, u, ū • Consonants • b, d, j, k l, ļ, m, m, n, n, n, p, r, t, w • See handout

a • What it really is: this letter actually stands for two different sounds; in some words it is like the ‘o’ in cot, and in other words it is halfway between the ‘o’ in cot and the ‘a’ in cat* • Good enough: always pronounce it cot • ak ‘but, or’ • ta ‘what’ • pako ‘shark’

ā • What it really is: halfway between pet and pat • Good enough: pronounce it pet • āne ‘island’ • mā ‘breadfruit’

b • What it really is: at the end of words, or when there are two b’s in a row, pronounce it like an English p, but with the lips slightly rounded and the tongue pulled back and raised at the back of the mouth, giving it a ‘darker’ sound; everywhere else, like English b but with the lips and tongue as described above • Good enough: like English p at the end of words, but b everywhere else • ba ‘say, tell’ • baba ‘dad’ • jaab ‘no’

d • What it really is: like a Spanish trilled (rolled) r, but the tongue is right behind the teeth instead of further back • Good enough: like a Spanish untrilled (not rolled) r, or the light t in English ‘gotta’ • dik ‘small, young’ • jidik ‘a little’ • ad ‘our’

e • What it really is: this letter actually stands for two different sounds; in some words it is like pet, and in other words it is halfway between pet and pit • Good enough: always pronounce it pet • etal ‘go’ • men ‘thing’ • ne ‘foot, leg’

i • What it really is: like beat at the end of words or when there are two i’s in a row; like yet at the beginning of words if it is followed by a vowel; like bit everywhere else • Good enough: pronounce it beat, bit, or yet based on how it sounds in the word • in ‘of’ • ni ‘coconut’ • iokwe ‘hello, love’

j • What it really is: halfway between pats and patch (or mass and mash) at the beginning or end of a word, or if there are two j’s in a row; everywhere else, halfway between maze and the second ‘g’ in garage • Good enough: pronounce like English s, sh, or ch at the beginning and end of words; pronounce it as in garage everywhere else • jambo ‘take a walk’ • jijet ‘sit down’ • moj ‘finished’

k • What it really is: at the beginning or end of a word, or when there are two k’s in a row, like cot, but with the tongue a little further back; everywhere else, like got, again with the tongue a little further back • Good enough: when between two vowels, pronounce it like got; otherwise pronounce it like cot • ki ‘key’ • kiki ‘sleep’ • ek ‘fish’

l • What it really is: like lull, but NOT like lull; the tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the teeth • Good enough: like English l • lo ‘see’ • ilo ‘in, at’ • al ‘sing, song’

l • What it really is: like lull, but NOT like lull; the tip of the tongue touches the ridge behind the teeth, and the back of the tongue is pulled back and raised at the back of the mouth, giving it a ‘darker’ sound • Good enough: like English l • laddik ‘boy’ • tala ‘dollar’ • al ‘sun’

m • What it really is: like an English m • Good enough: same as above • maron ‘can’ • im ‘and’

m • What it really is: like an English m, but with the lips rounded and the tongue pulled back and raised at the back of the mouth, giving it a ‘darker’ sound • Good enough: like an English m • mama ‘mom’ • emman ‘good’ • em ‘house’

n • What it really is: like an English n • Good enough: same as above • nana ‘bad’ • ioon ‘on’

n • What it really is: like sing (the only difference in Marshallese is that it can be put at the beginning of a syllable, not just at the end) • Good enough: same as above • na ‘me’ • mona ‘eat’ • jan ‘cry

n • What it really is: like English n, but with the tongue pulled back and raised at the back of the mouth, giving it a ‘darker’ sound • Good enough: like English n • no ‘wave’ • konaan ‘want, like’ • en ‘that’

o • What it really is: this letter actually stands for two sounds; in some words it is tone, with the lips rounded, and in others it is halfway between tone and tune, with the lips rounded • Good enough: always pronounce it like tone • ko ‘run away’ • kajoor ‘strong’

o • What it really is: this letter actually stands for two different sounds; in some words it is halfway between beat and boot, with the tongue a little lower, and in other words it is halfway between bet and boat • Good enough: in some words it is like buck, in other words it is like book • won ‘turtle’ • won ‘who’ • monono ‘happy’

o • What it really is: like pot, but with the lips rounded (the stereotypical way that people on the East Coast pronounce August or awful) • Good enough: pronounce it like pot or boat • lojet ‘ocean’ • enno ‘tasty’

p • What it really is: at the end of a word or when there are two p’s in a row, pronounce it like English p; everywhere else pronounce it like b • Good enough: like English p at the end of words, or b everywhere else • pepe ‘decide’ • iiep ‘basket’

r • What it really is: like a Spanish trilled (rolled) r • Good enough: like a Spanish untrilled (not rolled) r, or the light t in English ‘gotta’ • ripalle ‘American’ • ire ‘fight’ • iar ‘lagoon’

t • What it really is: at the beginning or end of a word, or when there are two t’s in a row, like English t, but with the tongue pulled back and raised at the back of the mouth, giving it a ‘darker’ sound; everywhere else, like d but with the tongue as described above • Good enough: when between two vowels pronounce it like English d; • otherwise pronounce it like English t • ti ‘tea’ • itok ‘come’ • aet ‘yes’

u • What it really is: like English tune, with the lips rounded • Good enough: same as above • tutu ‘wet, take a shower, go swimming’

u • What it really is: halfway between beat and boot • Good enough: like book • ul ‘fin’ • wut ‘flower’

w • What it really is: like English w • Good enough: same as above • wa ‘boat, vehicle’ • awa ‘hour, time’

Beginning Phrases—Hello and goodbye Marshallese Translation Iokwe (yokwe) love Hello or Goodbye Iokwe iokwe love/love Hello Iokwe eok (yuk) love/you(singular) Hello or Goodbye (to one person only) Iokwe kom love/you(plural) Hello or Goodbye (to more than one person) Iokwe aolep love/all Hello everyone or Goodbye everyone Bar lo eok again/see/you(singular) See you later (to one person only) Bar lo kom again/see/you(plural) See you later (to more than one person)

Beginning Phrases—Good morning, afternoon, evening, and night Marshallese Translation Morning! (from English) Good morning Iokwe in raelep love/of/afternoon Good afternoon Iokwe in jota love/of/evening Good night! (from English) Good night

Beginning Phrases—How are you? Marshallese Translation Emman mour? good/life How are you? Ej et mour? it-PRESENT/do what? /life How are you? Emman it-good I’m fine Elukkuun emman it-really/good I’m doing great Emmantata it-good-est / it is the best I’m doing fantastic! Ebwe it-okay I’m so-so Enana it-bad I’m not doing so well Elukkuun nana It-really bad I’m doing horribly Ak kwe? What about/you How about you?

Beginning Phrases—I’m sorry Marshallese Translation Jolok bod throw away/mistake I’m sorry or Excuse me Jolok ao bod throw away/my/mistake I’m sorry or Excuse me Ejolok it-thrown away You’re forgiven Ejolok am bod it-thrown away/your/mistake You’re forgiven Ej emman wot it-thrown away/your/mistake That’s okay Jab inepata not/worry Don’t worry about it Ejjelok jorraan there is no/problem No problem Ejjelok problem there is no/problem No problem

Beginning Phrases—What’s your name? Thank you and you’re welcome Marshallese Translation Etam? Name-your What’s your name? Eta in ____ Name-my/of/ My name is _____ Marshallese Translation Kommool You-thanked Thank you Kommooltata You-thanked-est Thank you very much Kon jouj For/kindness You’re welcome Jouj Kindness You’re welcome Marshallese Translation Kommool ak ij jab You-thanked/but/IPRESENT/not No thank you Kommool ak ij jab kijor You-thanked/but/IPRESENT/not/take offer No thank you

Other Vocabulary Marshallese Translation aet yes jaab no lo see enno tasty mona food monono happy naninmej sick

Dialogue • A: Iokwe eok. • B. Iokwe. Emman mour? • A: Emman. Ak kwe? • B: Ebwe. Etam? • A: Eta in Essa. Ak kwe? • B: Eta in Lisson. Bar lo eok. • A: Bar lo eok. A: Hello. B: Hi. How’s it going? A: Good. How about you? B: So-so. What’s your name? A: My name is Essa. What about you? B: My name is Lisson. See you later. A: See you later.

Write your own dialogue and practice with a classmate • A: • B:

Numbers 1 -9 11 -19 10 -90 100 -900 1000 -9000 1 juon 11 jonoul juon 10 jonoul 100 jibukwi 1000 juon toujin 2 ruo 12 jonoul ruo 20 ronoul 200 rubukwi 2000 ruo toujin 3 jilu 13 jonoul jilu 30 jilnoul 300 jilubukwi 3000 jilu toujin 4 eman 14 jonoul eman 40 enoul 400 ebukwi 4000 eman toujin 5 lalem 15 jonoul lalem 50 lemnoul 500 limabukwi 5000 lalem toujin 6 jiljino (jijino) 16 jonoul jiljino 60 jiljinonoul 600 jiljinobukwi 6000 jiljino toujin 7 jimjuon 17 jonoul kimjuon 70 jimjuonoul 700 jimjuonbukwi 7000 jimjuon toujin 8 ralitok 18 jonoul ralitok 80 ralitonoul 800 ralitokbukwi 8000 ralitok toujin 9 ratimjuon 19 jonoul ratimjoun 90 ratimjuonoul 900 ratimjuonbukwi 9000 ratimjuon toujin

Time Marshallese Translation Jete awa? how many/time What time is it? Jete awa kiio? how many/time/now What time is it now? Jete awa ippam? how many/time/with you What time do you have? Ruo awa two/hour Two o’clock Ruo awa jonoul minit two/hour/ten/minute 2: 10 Ruo awa jimattan two/hour/half Half past two Jonoul minit nan ralitok awa ten/minute/to/eight/hour Ten to eight Jogoul minit jan ralitok awa ten/minute/from/eight/ hour Ten after eight

Age Marshallese Translation Jete am iio? how many/your/year How old are you? ____ ao iio ____/my/year I am _____ years old Price Marshallese Translation Jete wonan? how many/price-its How much does it cost? Jete wonan ____ how many/price-of/____ How much does ____ cost? Jiljino tala six/dollar Six dollars Lemnoul jaan fifty/cent Fifty cents Jiljino tala lemnoul jaan six/dollar/fifty/cent $6. 50

Dialogue—Can you figure out what is being said? • • • A: Iokwe in raelep. B: Iokwe iokwe. Ej et mour? A: Elukkuun emman. Etam? B: Eta in Tonika. A: Jete am iio kiio? B: Ronoul ao iio. A: Jete awa ippam? B: Juon awa jimattan. A: Kommooltata. Iokwe eok. B: Iokwe.

Ij Iokwe lok aelon eo ao Ij io kwe ļo k aelōn eo aō, ijo iaar ļotak ie, Meļan ko ie, im iaļ ko ie, im iiāio ko ie. Ij jāmin ilo k jāne, bwe ijo jikū em ool. Im aō ļām oran indeeo. Em m an 'ļan n e inaaj mej ie. I love my islands where I was born. The surroundings, the paths, and the gatherings. I cannot leave here because this is my rightful place. My family heritage is forever here. It is best for me to die here.

Sources • Peter Rduiak-Gould’s webpage where you can download Practical Marshallese • Nik Wison’s free Marshallese-English Dictionary can be downloaded here • Great 2019 Sierra article on the Arkansas Marshallese Diaspora can be found here.