Thanks for your post. In 1964 I served on a ship that patrolled the Caroline Islands, and Marianas extensively. In addition, we visited Rabaul, New Britain of Papua New Guinea and south through the Solomon Islands. My home port at the time was Guam. We also patrolled the Bonin Islands north of the Marianas.
fascinating little overview and introduction to all the different languages of micronesia. saina ma'åse for making this content, always a pleasure to learn from you ✌
Nice review! This video is so useful and easy to follow! I like how you clarified about the "proto" language concept and continued with showing the language tree diagram
Nice. I speak Chamorro, Pohnpeian and almost all the Chuukic sub languages. I find that there are a few chuukic ancient languages, like the one used in medicine and ritual, are more similar to pohnpeian and maybe proto chuukic. If this is correct, I'd wish the inhabitants can take a look and these words and learn more from them as they might offer more insight into the development and branching of the source of these languages.
I’m outer island Chuukese (aka Fanapii) from the Mortlocks. I can kinda understand the people with the Puluwatese dialect. Sometimes lagoon Chuukese is a little bit hard for me, but for the most part I can understand them. And I can understand the people who speak Carolinian as well as Satawalese (I believe the Carolinians came from them). All the other Chuukic-languages I don’t understand. Like I can see a lot of similarities in some of our words, but if they were to fully speak to me in their language, I wouldn’t understand what they were saying. It must be from the Palauan and Yapese influence.
Shit I’m from the lagoon and I too be having hard time understanding other chuukese dialects especially the outer islands I usually have to listen more closely to understand what they’re saying
@@yourztruly8255 I think I know why lol. It’s more common for people from Fanapii to move to the lagoon than it is for lagoon Chuukese to move to Fanapii. The lagoon has more jobs, stores, hospitals and they have things like cars and electricity. So that is why the outer islanders move to the lagoon. And that’s when they pick up some of the lagoon Chuukese language (the REAL Chuukese). The people from the lagoon don’t really have a reason to move to the outer islands. It’s nothing out there lol it’s just like in the old days. The outer islanders sailed in to the lagoon for trade while the lagoon people stayed in the lagoon.
@@pulanspeaks for someone like me who had elders who spoke the old Chuukic language its really not a problem. The Lagoon Chuukic dialect was & is just exposed to outside languages like English for example but to really understand it from my perspective knowing the language the other dialect are only speaking the older version of the Chuukese language while we Chuukese lagoon speakers are translating outside languages & using it as ours even though it is still Chuukese. The thing is we translate outside words or sayings & make it ours or vise versa. We find words or sayings in outside languages & translate them into Chuukese & use them as Chuukese. For the most part i am proud of my culture because after the japanese left we did go back to our own original language & “tried” to drop all Japanese loan words. Same went for the German loan words. But since we are predominantly Catholic we did not change the Spanish loan words. We still have “rosario”(rosary), “medalia”(medal), “Sakiristia”(sacristy), “nopena”(novena), “paatere”(padre) so on & so forth we even have alot of old Spanish names that every other Micronesians thinks they are Micro names but are actually Spanish.
@@vincentteregeyo5236 I’m from the Mortlocks (southeast of Chuuk lagoon) and I understand Refaluwasch/Carolinian. Even the word “Refaluwasch” sounds like “Refonuwash” in my language. The Carolinians came from outer islands of Yap, where the people there speak languages related to the islands around Chuuk. So Carolinian is not really a whole different language. They are just people who went into the Marianas from the Carolines (which is why they’re called Carolinians lol).
I am Yapese(Wa’ab) and I can tell that yapese lingo is far different from other micro languages. Was told by my elders that our ancestors came from PNG.
Damn, I looked this up to see if I could learn the native language of my new coworker to maybe make him feel more welcome, but now I need to ask what specific island he’s from😂
Great vid chelu. Can you do a vid about the pros on cons of Guam being independent sovereign nation like Tonga and what struggles it would have to face , fears from China takeover, choosing sides with a superpower, following the lead of Singapore as an example, maybe joining forces with FSM and Palau and CNMI, what about a standing military if we are invaded, if we should be capitalist or communist, etc. ?
a Wa’abese can learn, speak Belauan and Chamoru languages fluently but a Belauan and Chamoru can never learn Wa’abese fluently. Talking about rice fields in Guahan but y’all never seen the hills of Wa’ab.. talk about pottery designs but y’all never seen the pieces of pottery that the Japanese destroy!! Too long we get thrown under the bus 😂
Do you know whether colonization has a greater effect on certain languages more than others? For instance, a majority of Chamorros, even if they spent their whole life in Guam, don’t speak the language. Of course, the opposite is true in many areas of Micronesia.
Yes, the reason being is because the United States banned chamorro language from being spoken by the ones before us. Our great grandparents and before them would get punished for speaking the Chamorro language instead of English which is why a lot of the people today don’t speak it fluently as it should be
I dont know but I'm from pohnpei and most of our current words are Japanese words which means we speak mix Japanese now....our high words which our ancestors and kings used that I think is an oceanic descendant..as for nukuoro and kapingamarangi their originated from Polynesia speaking hard to understand language like tied up Ramen noodles..Lol No offense guys.
Y'know what I found a bit of a trip? There are words in the Palauan language that strangely sound Arabic. This raises no concern either because my findings aren't enough or thought of as delusional. Palauan words similar to Arabic such as,... (P) ALII & (A) Ali, (P) Ibadul & (A) Abdul, (P) Seid & (A) Said, (P) Makamad & (A) Muhamad, (P) Hal & (A) Halal
Alii = commonly used as greeting (Hello or Hi) -- actually means "watch out" or "danger". Ibedul = Highest Chief title in Koror (Also Paramount Chief Western Alliances). Seid is an Israeli name. Former Palau Politician Alan Seid is son half Isreali and half Palauan. Mekemad means "war". Hal meaning "hold on" or "wait" is commonly used by Palauans but comes the word "Halt" used by German troops while Palau was under German rule.
At some points, the line between languages and dialects are related to modern political border. Languages in different states can be very similar, yet dialects in the same political entity could vary a lot.
You make a good point. The distinction between dialects and languages is often very political. As the saying goes: “a language is a dialect with an army.” What you said definitely applies in Micronesia. Like many of the Chuukic languages can be considered dialects of each other such as Polowatese and Pollapese because they are 100% mutually intelligible. Ultimately, depends on how one defines what a dialect.
Even the term "micronesia" is an idea imposed by westerners, who primarily grouped islands by geographic proximity. And in doing so, does little to explain the region's complex history before European contact. Take for example, Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi. Their ancestors came from the south. From an anthropological point of view, they really should be classified as Polynesian.
Thank you so much this video is a big help for me as I am researching my family tree. My Nang was the oldest Refaluwasch she passed away this year. And I am researching her side of the family. Question how do I go about doing a deeper dive into the Refaluwasch?
There are actually 26 Micronesian languages: * CHUUKESE (also known at Trukese) - spoken primarily on the islands of Chuuk * KAPINGMARNGI - closely related to the Nukuoro language * KOSRAEN - (sometimes rendered Kusiaean) - spoken on the islands of Kosrea * NUKUORO - spoken on the Nukuoro Atoll and on Pohnpei * POHNPEIAN - spoken on the island of Pohnpei * ULITHIAN - spoken on Ulithi Atoll and neighboring islands * WOLEAIAN - main language on the island of Woleai and surrounding smaller islands * YAPESE- spoken by the people on the island of Yap * MORTLOCKESE - spoken on the Mortlock Islands * PINGELAPESE - spoken on Pingelap * MOKILESE - spoken on Mwoakillo * PULUWAT - spoken on Poluwat * PÁÁFANG - spoken on the Hll Island * NAMONUITO - spoken on Namonuito Atoll * NGATIKESE - spoken on Sapwuahfik Atoll * SATAWALESE - very similar to Mortlockese * NGULUWAN - spoken on Nguluwan Atoll * NGATIKESE CREOLE - spoken on the atoll of Sapwuahfik * SONSOROLESE - (Spoken on the island of Palau) * TOBIAN - (spoken on the island Palau) * PALAUAN- ( Spoken on the island of Palau) * MARSHALLESE - (Spoken on the island of Marshall Islands) * I-KIRIBATI - (Spoken on the island of Kiribati islands) * NAURUAN - ( Spoken on the island of Nauru) * REFALUWASCH - ( Spoken on the Northern Mariana Islands) * CHAMORRO - (spoken on the island of Guam)
As a Mortlockese speaker, this makes a lot of sense with what you put for Satawalese. I was wondering why Satawalese sounded more similar to our language even though they are on the other side of Chuuk. Same with Refaluwasch/Carolinian. Which I heard Saipan Carolinian comes from Satawal. I was wondering if there was a connection between Satawal and Satawan (an island in the Mortlocks).
I’m chuukese nd all I gotta say is the outer islands of chuuk are the smartest among chuukese people..I gotta say it..chuukese people in the lagoon can’t understand the outer islands language but the outer island people can understand the lagoon language perfectly nd clearly..
You obviously have never been there, yes in the more populous areas there will be more English speakers and the rural areas they know basic English phrases as they consume American media. But for the most part they aren’t fluent nor are they confident in their English abilities. Im specifically referring to the Populated islands, the atolls probably have less or no English speakers.
Thanks for your post. In 1964 I served on a ship that patrolled the Caroline Islands, and Marianas extensively. In addition, we visited Rabaul, New Britain of Papua New Guinea and south through the Solomon Islands. My home port at the time was Guam. We also patrolled the Bonin Islands north of the Marianas.
fascinating little overview and introduction to all the different languages of micronesia. saina ma'åse for making this content, always a pleasure to learn from you ✌
This is awesome! I haven't heard about Micronesian languages in this much detail before
This is fantastic! Groundbreaking!
Si Yu’os ma’åse’! Appreciate it brother!
Nice review! This video is so useful and easy to follow! I like how you clarified about the "proto" language concept and continued with showing the language tree diagram
Saina ma’åse’ for picking up on those aspects! I wanted the video to be as easy to follow as possible!
Damn that's is amazing! Sulang olei!
Yap itself 6 languages
Nice. I speak Chamorro, Pohnpeian and almost all the Chuukic sub languages. I find that there are a few chuukic ancient languages, like the one used in medicine and ritual, are more similar to pohnpeian and maybe proto chuukic. If this is correct, I'd wish the inhabitants can take a look and these words and learn more from them as they might offer more insight into the development and branching of the source of these languages.
I’m outer island Chuukese (aka Fanapii) from the Mortlocks. I can kinda understand the people with the Puluwatese dialect. Sometimes lagoon Chuukese is a little bit hard for me, but for the most part I can understand them. And I can understand the people who speak Carolinian as well as Satawalese (I believe the Carolinians came from them). All the other Chuukic-languages I don’t understand. Like I can see a lot of similarities in some of our words, but if they were to fully speak to me in their language, I wouldn’t understand what they were saying. It must be from the Palauan and Yapese influence.
The Yapese love 😘 their “Q". You'll hear a lot of q sounds when Yapese speak. As for Palauan, its the “G" sound.🤙🏼
Shit I’m from the lagoon and I too be having hard time understanding other chuukese dialects especially the outer islands I usually have to listen more closely to understand what they’re saying
@@gulfbase4747 so true! Lol
@@yourztruly8255 I think I know why lol. It’s more common for people from Fanapii to move to the lagoon than it is for lagoon Chuukese to move to Fanapii. The lagoon has more jobs, stores, hospitals and they have things like cars and electricity. So that is why the outer islanders move to the lagoon. And that’s when they pick up some of the lagoon Chuukese language (the REAL Chuukese). The people from the lagoon don’t really have a reason to move to the outer islands. It’s nothing out there lol it’s just like in the old days. The outer islanders sailed in to the lagoon for trade while the lagoon people stayed in the lagoon.
Whatttt your fanapi I'm tonoas
Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi are closest to several Melanesian Polynesian outliers along with Tuvaluan
Cus they are aPolynesian ppl who went n settle on Pohnpei islands.And even tho they know how to speak pohnpeian language as welll.
They are both micro-poly but the language is very similar to Tokelau or Tuvalu.
@@rikocelzy470 to be fair both Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi are part of the Federation of Micronesia
@@anonymousanonymous4465as a Samoan i can understand Nukuoro fairly easily bur Kapingamarangi seems closer to Tuvaluan or Niuean
Nukuoro people came from samoa .
Im a Chuukese speaker from Chuuk lagoon & i can understand Carolinian & the Southwest islands of Palau.
Wow fascinating! If you don’t mind me asking, which Chuukic languages are the most difficult for you to understand?
@@pulanspeaks for someone like me who had elders who spoke the old Chuukic language its really not a problem. The Lagoon Chuukic dialect was & is just exposed to outside languages like English for example but to really understand it from my perspective knowing the language the other dialect are only speaking the older version of the Chuukese language while we Chuukese lagoon speakers are translating outside languages & using it as ours even though it is still Chuukese. The thing is we translate outside words or sayings & make it ours or vise versa. We find words or sayings in outside languages & translate them into Chuukese & use them as Chuukese. For the most part i am proud of my culture because after the japanese left we did go back to our own original language & “tried” to drop all Japanese loan words. Same went for the German loan words. But since we are predominantly Catholic we did not change the Spanish loan words. We still have “rosario”(rosary), “medalia”(medal), “Sakiristia”(sacristy), “nopena”(novena), “paatere”(padre) so on & so forth we even have alot of old Spanish names that every other Micronesians thinks they are Micro names but are actually Spanish.
How can you understand Carolinian isn’t chuuk language and refaluwasch two different languages ?
@@vincentteregeyo5236 it is other wise we wouldn't understand it as much
@@vincentteregeyo5236 I’m from the Mortlocks (southeast of Chuuk lagoon) and I understand Refaluwasch/Carolinian. Even the word “Refaluwasch” sounds like “Refonuwash” in my language. The Carolinians came from outer islands of Yap, where the people there speak languages related to the islands around Chuuk. So Carolinian is not really a whole different language. They are just people who went into the Marianas from the Carolines (which is why they’re called Carolinians lol).
Can you give us a look to what life is like there modern day? Heading out there fairly soon and trying to grab insight :)
Wow! Overwhelming
Micronesians and their siblings next to them: 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
Nauruan: 🥲
Yapese: 🙃
Nauruan 🫱🏾🫲🏿 Yapese
The Polynesian outliers, Kapingamarangi & Nukuoro: 🧐🤨
I am Yapese(Wa’ab) and I can tell that yapese lingo is far different from other micro languages. Was told by my elders that our ancestors came from PNG.
Aroha,
It is possible to share your languages map and your board ? Please.
Congrats for this video, very instructive
Yes I can! Please send me your email
Would you consider the Ogasawara Islands as Micronesian too?
It’s believed that the original inhabitants came from the Mariana Islands but no in present day they are apart of Japan.
@@santospaul8103or the other way around.
Damn, I looked this up to see if I could learn the native language of my new coworker to maybe make him feel more welcome, but now I need to ask what specific island he’s from😂
Great vid chelu. Can you do a vid about the pros on cons of Guam being independent sovereign nation like Tonga and what struggles it would have to face , fears from China takeover, choosing sides with a superpower, following the lead of Singapore as an example, maybe joining forces with FSM and Palau and CNMI, what about a standing military if we are invaded, if we should be capitalist or communist, etc. ?
Communist China is pure slavery and oppression.
a Wa’abese can learn, speak Belauan and Chamoru languages fluently but a Belauan and Chamoru can never learn Wa’abese fluently. Talking about rice fields in Guahan but y’all never seen the hills of Wa’ab.. talk about pottery designs but y’all never seen the pieces of pottery that the Japanese destroy!! Too long we get thrown under the bus 😂
Do you know whether colonization has a greater effect on certain languages more than others? For instance, a majority of Chamorros, even if they spent their whole life in Guam, don’t speak the language. Of course, the opposite is true in many areas of Micronesia.
Yes, the reason being is because the United States banned chamorro language from being spoken by the ones before us. Our great grandparents and before them would get punished for speaking the Chamorro language instead of English which is why a lot of the people today don’t speak it fluently as it should be
What map is this? Is there a photo online that I can download this language map.
I need this map too!!!! 🤔
I dont know but I'm from pohnpei and most of our current words are Japanese words which means we speak mix Japanese now....our high words which our ancestors and kings used that I think is an oceanic descendant..as for nukuoro and kapingamarangi their originated from Polynesia speaking hard to understand language like tied up Ramen noodles..Lol No offense guys.
Lol being polynesian its the opposite cos i understand those languages quite easy.
Depends what part of polynesia
Y'know what I found a bit of a trip? There are words in the Palauan language that strangely sound Arabic. This raises no concern either because my findings aren't enough or thought of as delusional. Palauan words similar to Arabic such as,... (P) ALII & (A) Ali, (P) Ibadul & (A) Abdul, (P) Seid & (A) Said, (P) Makamad & (A) Muhamad, (P) Hal & (A) Halal
Alii = commonly used as greeting (Hello or Hi) -- actually means "watch out" or "danger". Ibedul = Highest Chief title in Koror (Also Paramount Chief Western Alliances). Seid is an Israeli name. Former Palau Politician Alan Seid is son half Isreali and half Palauan. Mekemad means "war". Hal meaning "hold on" or "wait" is commonly used by Palauans but comes the word "Halt" used by German troops while Palau was under German rule.
@@bakayero8527 absolutely fascinating!
that is before Nepali langoes but 1800 BC coming grokha coming now difren langoes
Who even gave out the Chuukese island to Palau and Yap? Lol😂
Nobody, chuukese chose us to be their god😂jk
I’m a mwokilese but I speak englis
At some points, the line between languages and dialects are related to modern political border. Languages in different states can be very similar, yet dialects in the same political entity could vary a lot.
Do you think if this is the same in Micronesia?
You make a good point. The distinction between dialects and languages is often very political. As the saying goes: “a language is a dialect with an army.” What you said definitely applies in Micronesia. Like many of the Chuukic languages can be considered dialects of each other such as Polowatese and Pollapese because they are 100% mutually intelligible. Ultimately, depends on how one defines what a dialect.
Years ago i found my first micronesian ( chukese )
Juicy wife ❤
Even the term "micronesia" is an idea imposed by westerners, who primarily grouped islands by geographic proximity. And in doing so, does little to explain the region's complex history before European contact. Take for example, Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi. Their ancestors came from the south. From an anthropological point of view, they really should be classified as Polynesian.
Kapingamarangi is also part of the same WEF ecoregion as the rest of Pohnpei
@@everettduncan7543 they’re Polynesian
Thank you so much this video is a big help for me as I am researching my family tree. My Nang was the oldest Refaluwasch she passed away this year. And I am researching her side of the family.
Question how do I go about doing a deeper dive into the Refaluwasch?
Bonitu talu chelu’hu 🤙🏽
Dångkolo si Yu’os ma’åse’ che’lu! Hu gof agradesi iyo-mu suppote!
There are actually 26 Micronesian languages:
* CHUUKESE (also known at Trukese) - spoken primarily on the islands of Chuuk
* KAPINGMARNGI - closely related to the Nukuoro language
* KOSRAEN - (sometimes rendered Kusiaean) - spoken on the islands of Kosrea
* NUKUORO - spoken on the Nukuoro Atoll and on Pohnpei
* POHNPEIAN - spoken on the island of Pohnpei
* ULITHIAN - spoken on Ulithi Atoll and neighboring islands
* WOLEAIAN - main language on the island of Woleai and surrounding smaller islands
* YAPESE- spoken by the people on the island of Yap
* MORTLOCKESE - spoken on the Mortlock Islands
* PINGELAPESE - spoken on Pingelap
* MOKILESE - spoken on Mwoakillo
* PULUWAT - spoken on Poluwat
* PÁÁFANG - spoken on the Hll Island
* NAMONUITO - spoken on Namonuito Atoll
* NGATIKESE - spoken on Sapwuahfik Atoll
* SATAWALESE - very similar to Mortlockese
* NGULUWAN - spoken on Nguluwan Atoll
* NGATIKESE CREOLE - spoken on the atoll of Sapwuahfik
* SONSOROLESE - (Spoken on the island of Palau)
* TOBIAN - (spoken on the island Palau)
* PALAUAN- ( Spoken on the island of Palau)
* MARSHALLESE - (Spoken on the island of Marshall Islands)
* I-KIRIBATI - (Spoken on the island of Kiribati islands)
* NAURUAN - ( Spoken on the island of Nauru)
* REFALUWASCH - ( Spoken on the Northern Mariana Islands)
* CHAMORRO - (spoken on the island of Guam)
As a Mortlockese speaker, this makes a lot of sense with what you put for Satawalese. I was wondering why Satawalese sounded more similar to our language even though they are on the other side of Chuuk. Same with Refaluwasch/Carolinian. Which I heard Saipan Carolinian comes from Satawal. I was wondering if there was a connection between Satawal and Satawan (an island in the Mortlocks).
Osapw mwas aten inget ike erngonuk pwe use weweiti fosen moshulok ain hard to understand otherwise I'm from Udot halfcast Eot nepukos
I'm chomorro pompein I'm born in saipan I wanna go back
Malay Malaysian
Palau, Marianas, Guam, micronesia(Caroline Islands) is former part of Philippines since spanish east indies
chuukese people from satawal island were the first people to inhabit the marianas and thats 💯 ... just ask the carolinian .
True we sails the whole Micronesia and it shows.
When is the Chamoru language expected to go extinct on Guam?
I’m chuukese nd all I gotta say is the outer islands of chuuk are the smartest among chuukese people..I gotta say it..chuukese people in the lagoon can’t understand the outer islands language but the outer island people can understand the lagoon language perfectly nd clearly..
Its not about being smart or not. They know what language their language originated from thats why! Whose smart now ? 🤣🤣🤣🤣
you speek alot
Most of them just speak english today 🙁
You obviously have never been there, yes in the more populous areas there will be more English speakers and the rural areas they know basic English phrases as they consume American media. But for the most part they aren’t fluent nor are they confident in their English abilities. Im specifically referring to the Populated islands, the atolls probably have less or no English speakers.
Micronesia Ano Wika