Tuvaluan language

From Freepedia

Tuvaluan is a Nuclear Polynesian language of the Ellicean group spoken in Tuvalu. It has common words with other Polynesian languages; for instance te Atua means "God" in both Tuvaluan and Maori. There are about 11000 Tuvaluan speakers worldwide.

Contents

Grammar

The Tuvaluan alphabet consists of five vowels and 11 consonants. There are six possible articles in Tuvaluan: te, a, se, ne, ni and a. In Tuvaluan, adjective generally follows the noun.

Dialects

Tuvaluan is divided into two main dialects; Northern and Southern Tuvaluan. The southern dialect is most commonly used.

External link

Ethnologue

References

  • Niko Besnier, 2000, Tuvaluan: a Polynesian language of the Central Pacific, Routledge


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