Niuafoou, or Niuafoʻouan, is the language spoken on

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

's northernmost island, Niuafoou. Niuafoʻouan has traditionally been classified as closest to Uvean and

Tokelauan Tokelauan is a Polynesian language spoken in Tokelau and on Swains Island (or Olohega) in American Samoa. It is closely related to Tuvaluan and is related to Samoan and other Polynesian languages. Tokelauan has a co-official status with Englis ...

, in an East Uvean–Niuafoʻou branch. However, recent research suggests that it is closest to its neighbour, Tongan, as one of the

Tongic languages The Tongic languages are a small group of the Polynesian languages. It consists of at least two languages, Tongan and Niuean, and possibly a third, Niuafoʻouan. See also * Tonga * Niue * Niuafo'ou References Polynesian language ...

. In September 2022 language campaigners called for it to be taught in primary schools on Niuafo’ou.

Phonology

The phonology of Niuafoʻou is similar to that of Tongan, with twelve consonants and five vowel phonemes. Vowels are more centralized when unstressed. and are de-voiced under some conditions. Sometimes the phoneme /t/ is realized as a apico-

alveolar flap The voiced alveolar tap or flap is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents a dental, alveolar, or postalveolar tap or flap is . The terms ''tap'' and ''flap' ...

(/ɾ/). /h/ is only realized as /h/ at the beginning of words. In the middle of words, it is either /ɦ/ or /x/.

Syllable structure

Niuafoʻou has a very simple syllable structure, (C)V. However, it is apparently transitioning towards allowing consonant clusters, due to the influence of foreign languages and the de-voicing of vowels.

References

Languages of Tonga Tongic languages Endangered Austronesian languages {{Tonga-stub