| Satawalese | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Federated States of Micronesia |
| Region | Caroline Islands |
Native speakers | 500 (2016)e18 [1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | stw |
| Glottolog | sata1237 |
| ELP | Satawalese |
 Satawalese is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Satawalese is a Micronesian language of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is nearly mutually intelligible with Mortlockese and Carolinian.
Satawalese is a language spoken on the island of Satawal, located in the Federated States of Micronesia. The language is also spoken in Yap State, nearby atolls and islands such as Lamotrek, Woleai, Puluwat, Pulusuk, and Chuuk State. Smaller populations of speakers can also be found in Saipan, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and some parts of the United States. According to a 1987 census, Satawalese is spoken by approximately 460 people however this number has grown, according to a count taken by researcher Kevin Roddy who reported for about 700 speakers in 2007.
Satawalese is identified as an Austronesian language and is a member of the Chuukic language subgroup. Discovered by scholar Edward Quackenbush, the Chuukic subgroup is a dialect chain composed of a variety of about 17 different languages and dialects extending 2,100 kilometers across the western Pacific (Roddy, 2007). This chain begins at Chuuk in the east and stretches towards Sonsorol in the west. In the center of this dialect continuum lies Satawalese. Using the comparative method, which involves the observation of vocabulary and sound correspondence similarities, linguists were able to link Satawalese as well as its sister languages to the Chuukic language family. Sister languages of Satawalese include Carolinian, Chuukese, Mapia, Mortlockese, Namonuito, Paafang, Puluwatese, Sonsorol, Tanapag, Tobian, Ulithian, and Woleaian.
Satawalese language contains 15 specific consonants. /p/, /pʷˠ/, /f/, /m/, /mʷˠ/, /w/, /n/, /t/, /s/, /r/, /j/, /k/, /t͡ʃ/, /ŋ/, /ɻ/
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Dorsal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m , mʷˠ | n | ŋ | |
| Occlusive | p , pʷˠ | t | t͡ʃ | k |
| Fricative | f | s | ||
| Sonorant | w | r | ɻ | j |
The existence of the phoneme /g/ is debated in Satawalese. Some scholars believe the phoneme to be an allophone of the phoneme /k/. It is suggested that in Satawalese language both phonemes can be interchanged without changing the meaning of a word. Opposing studies suggest /g/ to be its own separate phoneme. Because of evidence that shows use of /g/ on its own within Satawalese speech, the suggestion that it is its own phoneme has a stronger stance.
The phoneme /l/ in Satawalese has been identified as an allophone for the phoneme /n/ due to influence of surrounding languages. /l/ is not included in the Satawalese phoneme inventory but is a part of similar languages close in proximity. This phone is understood to convey the same meanings that phoneme /n/ will produce but in surrounding languages there are cases where roles cannot be reversed; /l/ will be able to take the place of /n/ but /n/ cannot take the place of /l/.
Satawalese contains nine vowels:/i/, /a/, /o/, /u/, /æ/, /ɛ/, /ʉ/, /ɞ/, /ɒ/. [2]
Satawalese use Subject-Object-Verb word order.
Mary
a
foato-ki
tinikii
we
aan
“Mary wrote her letter.”
Reduplication is available in the Satawalese language. It is used mainly to show a progressive form of a verb, noun, or adjective.
Like most Pacific languages as well as many languages around the world, Satawalese takes advantage of a base ten counting system. The Satawalese language contains two basic counting systems (Roddy, 2007). One system is the fast version, which is the version used for counting objects as well as game playing. The second counting system in Satawal is the slow version. This system is used when teaching young children the numeral system, and is also used by older generations.
Slow version Fast version English translation
Large numbers are also existent in the Satawalese language. All numbers greater than ten are produced by using the conjunction me, which translates to the word “and” in English. For example, the numeral eleven is seig me ew, which translates to “ten and one” in English or eleven. One billion is the largest numeral in the Satawalese language. It is expressed as engeras ssen or one thousand million.
Satawalese has borrowed words from major language countries that had traveled throughout the Pacific such as Japan, Spain, and the United States, as well as nearby languages within the Federated States of Micronesia, such as Woleaian and Ulithian.
Words derived from English:
Words derived from Ulithian:
Words derived from Spanish:
Words derived from Japanese:
Words derived from Woleaian:
Satawalese language resources have become quite abundant in the past decade. Alphabet books, translations, as well as dictionaries are all available in the Satawalese language. Also linguistic studies have been documented sharing the language’s grammar, phonology, vocabulary, stories, etc.
According to endangeredlanguages.com Satawalese is classified as an endangered language. However, the language Satawalese shows much promise for the future. Satawalese is spoken as an L1 by most of the population occupying the island of Satawal. It is also used throughout the Federated States of Micronesia as well as nearby states. Also, according to David Roddy the population of Satawalese speakers has grown to 700 in an accounting taken in 2007. Awareness of the island has been a current enhancement to the language due to the contributions made of voyager Mau Piailug who was known to have been the first navigator aboard the ship of the infamous Hawaiian double-hulled canoe the Hokulea. With this discovery, interest in the island including the people, culture, and language have been uprooted, meaning more linguistic studies can be done, possibly more resources can be added, and so on. Finally, the Satawalese language documentation is outstanding. As stated before dictionaries and alphabet books have been created allowing the transmission of the language to occur between older and younger generations.
The Federated States of Micronesia, or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania. The federation consists of four states—from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosrae—that are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise around 607 islands that cover a longitudinal distance of almost 2,700 km (1,700 mi) just north of the equator. They lie northeast of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, south of Guam and the Marianas, west of Nauru and the Marshall Islands, east of Palau and the Philippines, about 2,900 km (1,800 mi) north of eastern Australia, 3,400 km (2,100 mi) southeast of Japan, and some 4,000 km (2,485 mi) southwest of the main islands of the Hawaiian Islands.
Demographic features of the population of the Federated States of Micronesia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. The indigenous population of the Federated States of Micronesia, which is predominantly Micronesian, consists of various ethnolinguistic groups. English has become the common language. Population growth remains high at more than 3%, but is ameliorated somewhat by net emigration.
Carolinian is an Austronesian language originating in the Caroline Islands, but spoken in the Northern Mariana Islands. It is an official language of the Carolinian people. Carolinian is a threatened language according to the Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat), but available data is scarce. There are approximately 3,100 native speakers in the world. Carolinian has 95% lexical similarity with Satawalese, 88% with Woleaian and Puluwatese; 81% with Mortlockese; 78% with Chuukese, 74% with Ulithian.
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Yapese is a language spoken by the people on the island of Yap. It belongs to the Austronesian languages, more specifically to the Oceanic branch of that family. It has been difficult to classify it further, but Yapese may prove to be one of the Admiralty Islands languages. The Yapese language refers to the language spoken specifically on the Yap Main Islands, and does not include the Chuukic languages spoken in the Yap Neighboring Islands: Ulithian, Woleaian, and Satawalese.
Chuukic, historically also rendered as Trukic, is a subgroup of the Chuukic–Pohnpeic family of the Austronesian language family. The languages are primarily spoken in Chuuk State and Yap State of the Federated States of Micronesia, as well as in the outer islands of Palau. The Carolinians of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands also speak their own language distinct from the historically native Chamorro people.
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Yap State is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The other states are Kosrae State, Pohnpei State, and Chuuk State.
Chuukese, also rendered Trukese, is a Chuukic language of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily on the islands of Chuuk in the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. There are communities of speakers on Pohnpei, and Guam. Estimates show that there are about 45,900 speakers in Micronesia.
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Sonsorolese is a Micronesian language spoken in Palau, originally on the islands composing the state of Sonsorol, and spreading through migration elsewhere in the country. It is very close to Tobian.
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The Pingelapese language is a Micronesian language native to Pingelap, an atoll belonging to the state of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. This atoll is the homeland to the Pingelapese people, consisting of a three-square mile range of uninhabited small coral islets, Daekae and Sukora, and the inhabited islet, Pingelap. These islands partially make up the Caroline Islands.
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Puluwatese is a Micronesian language of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is spoken on Poluwat.
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