Satawalese is a Micronesian language of the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (, abbreviated FSM), or simply Micronesia, is an island country in Micronesia, a region of Oceania. The federation encompasses the majority of the Caroline Islands (excluding Palau) and consists of four Admin ...

. It is nearly

mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between different but related language varieties in which speakers of the different varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. Mutual intellig ...

with Mortlockese and Carolinian.

Introduction

History

Satawalese is a language spoken on the island of Satawal, located in the

. 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 Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and some parts of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. 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.

Classification

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 A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

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.

Sounds

Consonants

Satawalese language contains 15 specific consonants. /p/, /pʷˠ/, /f/, /m/, /mʷˠ/, /w/, /n/, /t/, /s/, /r/, /j/, /k/, /t͡ʃ/, /ŋ/, /ɻ/ The existence of the

phoneme A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...

is debated in Satawalese. Some scholars believe the phoneme to be an allophone of the phoneme . It is suggested that in Satawalese language both phonemes can be interchanged without changing the meaning of a word. Opposing studies suggest to be its own separate phoneme. Because of evidence that shows use of on its own within Satawalese speech, the suggestion that it is its own phoneme has a stronger stance. The phoneme in Satawalese has been identified as an allophone for the phoneme due to influence of surrounding languages. 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 will produce but in surrounding languages there are cases where roles cannot be reversed; will be able to take the place of but cannot take the place of .

Vowels

Satawalese contains nine vowels:/i/, /a/, /o/, /u/, /æ/, /ɛ/, /ʉ/, /ɞ/, /ɒ/.

Grammar

Basic word order

Satawalese use Subject-Object-Verb word order.

Reduplication

Reduplication In linguistics, reduplication is a Morphology (linguistics), morphological process in which the Root (linguistics), root or Stem (linguistics), stem of a word, part of that, or the whole word is repeated exactly or with a slight change. The cla ...

is available in the Satawalese language. It is used mainly to show a progressive form of a verb, noun, or adjective. *"ras" vt. to pull something until it breaks. :*"rasras" vt. progressive form of ras; the continuous pulling of something until it breaks *"rig" adj. small. :*"rigrig" adj. progressive form of rig; smaller. *"seo" rested. :*"seoseo" v. resting. *"pis" n. splash. :*"pisipis" adj. progressive form of pis; 'splashing around'.

Numerals

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 *‘’Eota’’ *‘’Eot’’ one *‘’Riuwa’’ *‘’Riuw’’ two *‘’Eoniu’’ *‘’Eon’’three *‘’Faeni’’ *‘’Faen’’four *‘’Nima’’ *‘’Nim’’five *‘’Wona’’ *‘’On’’ six *‘’Fiusa’’ *‘’Fius’’seven *‘’Waani’’ *‘’Wan’’ eight *‘’Tiwa*‘’Tiw’’nine 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''.

Vocabulary

Indigenous vocabulary

*saam -father *rheon -leaf *pwun -heart *oattoaur -to eat (polite form) *moat -to sit *manewe -person *ig -fish *kanok -dog *kiuw -louse *wanwan -tree *aweri -to see *mae -to die *eito -to come *rhan -water *fai -stone *rhug -mountain *aenet -sun *pai -hand *fiufiu -star

Loanwords

Satawalese has borrowed words from major language countries that had traveled throughout the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

such as

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and the

, as well as nearby languages within the

, such as Woleaian and Ulithian. Words derived from English: *''aispwoax'' – Ice box; refrigerator *''felowa'' - bread; flour *''finoras'' – flowers *''frii'' – free *''friiseor'' – freezer *''karesiin'' – kerosene Words derived from Ulithian: *''aasi'' – to take (it) *''aaileng'' – world *''fiifi'' – soup *''kaerboaw'' – cow Words derived from Spanish: *''floras'' – flowers *''kanemasa'' – pumpkin Words derived from Japanese: *''kanepwas'' – calabash *''kachito'' – movie Words derived from Woleaian: *''gamaeinoak'' – pretend *''faisun'' – as it is *" ngang"- Me *"Ito-come

Endangerment

Materials

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.

Vitality

According to endangeredlanguages.com Satawalese is classified as an

endangered language An endangered language or moribund language is a language that is at risk of disappearing as its speakers die out or shift to speaking other languages. Language loss occurs when the language has no more native speakers and becomes a " dead langua ...

. 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.

References

{{Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages Chuukic languages Endangered Austronesian languages Endangered languages of Oceania Languages of the Federated States of Micronesia Severely endangered languages