Ngatikese Creole, also called Ngatik Men's Creole, is a

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. Wh ...

spoken mostly on the atoll of

Sapwuahfik Sapwuahfik, formerly Ngatik, or the Raven Islands is a atoll of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a village and municipality of roughly 430 people on a land area of in the state of Pohnpei. Geography It is located southwest of the m ...

(formerly Ngatik) in the

Caroline Islands The Caroline Islands (or the Carolines) are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically, they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) in the centra ...

. It is spoken by about 500 on the atoll, and by another 200 on the nearby major island of

Pohnpei Pohnpei "upon (''pohn'') a stone altar (''pei'')" (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic: ''*Fawo ni pei)'' is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnp ...

. It is a

creole Creole may refer to: Anthropology * Creole peoples, ethnic groups which originated from linguistic, cultural, and often racial mixing of colonial-era emigrants from Europe with non-European peoples * Criollo people, the historic name of people ...

consisting of English and Sapwuahfik Pohnpeian spoken primarily by men, especially when engaged in communal activities such as fishing or boat-building, but is readily understood by women and children. It is used as a secret language by Ngatikese people when they are in the presence of Pohnpeian speakers. "

Ngatikese Ngatikese, or Sapwuahfik, is a Micronesian language originating on Sapwuahfik atoll, Federated States of Micronesia. Of the 700 Ngatikese speakers, only about 450 live on Sapwuahfik. It was previously considered a distinct dialect of Pohnpeian ...

" also refers to the non-creolized language, descending from Pohnpeian, that is spoken on the atoll.

History

The Ngatik Men's Creole developed as a result of the 1837

Ngatik massacre The Ngatik massacre took place over two days of fighting on the atoll of Sapwuahfik in the Micronesian island chain in July 1837. Captain C. H. Hart and his crew of beachcombers of the trading cutter ''Lampton'' from Sydney, Australia, massacred a ...

, during which the island's male population was wiped out by the crew of Australian captain C.H. Hart's ship ''Lambton'' and Pohnpeian warriors. Some of the Europeans and

Pohnpeians The Micronesians or Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan. E ...

settled and repopulated the island, taking the local women as wives. The island formed a new culture and language, a mixture of English and

References

External links

* Kaipuleohone holds audio recordings of Ngatik Men's Creole including

word lists A word is a basic element of language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communica ...

, and

a conversation ''A Conversation'' is a play by the Australian author David Williamson David Keith Williamson AO (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian dramatist and playwright. He has also written screenplays and teleplays. Early life David Williamson ...

English-based pidgins and creoles Languages of the Federated States of Micronesia Pohnpeic languages Pohnpei {{Micronesia-stub

History

See also

References

External links