Banaban language

Banaban
Astronaut photo of Banaba
Native to	Kiribati
Region	Banaba
Era	prior to the late 1890s
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Oceanic Central–Eastern Oceanic Micronesian Banaban
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–

Banaban was a little-attested extinct Micronesian language previously spoken on the island of Banaba.

Banaban was spoken by the Banaban people prior to the arrival of Captain Walkup of the American Mission Society in the 1890s. His attempts to promote Kiribati as oppose to Banaban because there existed a Kiribati translation of the Bible resulted in Banaban being replaced by Kiribati on the island. ^{[1] [2]}

It was mutually unintelligible from Kiribati.

Remnants

Little sample texts remain from Banaban. The most notable possible remnant is a transcription of a lullaby from the Dalton Family collection, possibly written in Banaban according to Banaban Elders.

Te Karanga, also called the stick dance, is a Banaban war dance. The traditional chants from this dance, which is still practiced, use Banaban words. ^[3]

References

1. "Banaban Lost Language" K. Sigrah, Stacey M. King, Banaban Voice, 2001
2. "Navigating the complexities of identity as a Banaban" Hele Christopher-Ikimotu, Pasifika Medical Association Group, July 13, 2023
3. "IMPORTANCE OF BANABAN DANCE TO PRESERVE HISTORY" Stacy M. King, History, February, 2025

Further reading

• Te Rii ni Banaba:backbone of Banaba (2019), Stacey M. King & Raobeia Ken Sigrah