The (''dorerin Naoero'') is an
Austronesian language spoken in
Nauru . It is estimated that it has 7,000 speakers, approximately 50% of the population. Almost all speakers are bilingual in
English .
It is a member of the
Micronesian family of Austronesian languages. Its
ISO 639 codes are 'na' and 'nau'. Nauruan is a
UNO recognized language.
According to a report published in 1937 in Sydney, there was a diversity of dialects until Nauru became a colony of
Germany in 1888, and until the introduction of publication of the first texts written in Nauruan. The variations were largely so different that people of various
Districts often had problems understanding each other completely. With the increasing influence of foreign languages and the increase of Nauruan texts, the dialects blended into a standardized language, which was promoted through dictionaries and translations by
Alois Kayser and
Philip Delaporte .
Today there are practically no variations or dialects remaining. Solely in the district of
Yaren is there a dialect still spoken, which is only slightly different; the eponymous dialect is spoken in Yaren and the surrounding area.
In . Approximately 1650 German words are
Gloss ed in Nauruan, often by phrases or synonymous forms. There are some 1300 'unique' Nauruan forms in the glosses, including all those occurring in phrases, and ignoring
Diacritical marks. The accents used there are not common; just one accent (the
Tilde ) is in use today.
In the Nauruan written language, 17 letters were originally used:
- The five Vowel s: a, e, i, o, u
- Twelve Consonant s: b, d, g, j, k, m, n, p, q, r, t, w
The letters c, f, h, l, s, v, x, y and z were not included. With the growing influence of foreign languages (most of all
German ,
Pidgin English and
Kiribati ) ever more letters were incorporated into the Nauruan alphabet. In addition, phonetic differences of a few vowels arose, so that
Umlaut s and other similar sounding sounds could only be seen with a
Tilde .
In
1938 there was an attempt by the Nauruan language committee and
Timothy Detudamo to make the language easier to understand for Europeans and Americans. It was intended to introduce as many
Diacritic al symbols as possible for the different vowel sounds to state the variety of the Nauruan language in writing. Finally it was decided to only introduce diacritical symbols, an accent, in the place of the former
Tilde , so that the umlauts "õ" and "ũ" were replaced by "ò" and "ù". The "ã" was substituted with "e".
Further, the "y" was introduced, in order to differentiate words with the English "j" (e.g. ''puji''). Thus words like ''ijeiji'' changed to ''iyeyi''. The "ñ" was replaced with "ng", in order to differentiate the
Spanish Ñ . Also the double consonants "bu" and "qu" were replaced with "bw" and "kw". In addition, the usual "ts", which is pronounced like the English "j", was replaced with this "j". Also the "w" written at the end of words was removed.
These reforms were only partly carried out: the umlauts "õ" and "ũ" are still written with tildes. However today the letters "ã" and "ñ" are only seldomly used and are replaced with "e" and "ng", as it is prescribed by the reform. Likewise the writing of the double consonants "bw" and "kw" has been implemented. Although the "j" took the place of "ts", certain spellings with "ts" remain. For example, the districts
Baiti and
Ijuw (according to the reform ''Beiji'' and ''Iyu'') are still written with the old writing style. The "y" has largely become generally accepted.
Today the following 28 Latin letters are used.
- Vowel s: a, ã, e, i, o, õ, u, ũ
- Semivowel s: j
- Consonant s: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, p, q, r, s, t, w, y, z
To this day the letters v and x are not used.
- The vowel has five different sounds:
- --- as in the English word "father". Example: ''abab'' ("kill")
- --- as in the French word "madame". Example: ''e man'' ("he has died")
- --- as in the English word "quantity". Example: ''ouwak'' ("wide, large")
- --- as in the French word "lâche". Example: ''eokwan'' ("the sun")
- --- as in the German word "Mähne" (). Example: ''imuinãn'' ("the (piece of) news")
- The vowel has three different sounds:
- --- as in the English word "pet" . Example: ''emedena'' ("the street")
- --- as in the English word "pain". Example: ''innen'' ("his mother")
- --- as in the French word "épée". Example: ''bebe'' ("light, not heavy")
- The vowel has two different sounds:
- --- as in the German word "Sinn". Example: ''imin'' ("thing, item")
- --- a combination sound of "ü" and "i", which also appears sometimes in Swiss German . Example: ''ninenin'' ("to pull")
- The vowel has three different sounds:
- --- as in the English word "roll". Example: ''bobo'' ("to smell")
- --- as in the English word "son". Example: ''ekom'' ("inquiry")
- --- as in the German word "Möhre" or in the French word "feu" (). Example: ''ebõg'' ("fresh water")
- The vowel has four different sounds:
- --- as in the English word "took". Example: ''dudu'' ("to water")
- --- as in the German word "Mühe" (). Example: ''ibũgibũgi'' ("grass")
- --- a deep sound as in the ü in "Mühe". Example: ''iju'' ("fish")
- --- a combination sound of "u" and "ü". Example: ''ewadudu'' ("hill")
The letter N with a tilde ( is called in Nauruan ''Meneñ'' as well as ''Meneng''.
The following example of text is from the
Bible (
Genesis , 1.1-1.8):
''
1Ñaga ã eitsiõk õrig imim, Gott õrig ianweron me eb.
2Me eitsiõk erig imin ñana bain eat eb, me eko õañan, mi itũr emek animwet ijited, ma Anin Gott õmakamakur animwet ebõk.
3Me Gott ũge, Enim eaõ, me eaõen.
4Me Gott ãt iaõ bwo omo, me Gott õekae iaõ mi itũr.
5Me Gott eij eget iaõ bwa Aran, me E ij eget itũr bwa Anũbũmin. Ma antsiemerin ma antsioran ar eken ũrõr adamonit ibũm.
6Me Gott ũge, Enim tsinime firmament inimaget ebõk, me enim ekae ebõk atsin eat ebõk.
7Me Gott eririñ firmament, mõ õ ekae ebõk ñea ijõñin firmament atsin eat ebõk ñea itũgain firmament, mõ ũgan.
8Me Gott eij egen firmament bwe Ianweron. Ma antsiemerin ma antsioran ar eke ũrõr karabũmit ibũm.''
It is notable that the Nauruan vocabulary contains a few
German Loanword s (e.g. ''Gott'',
God ; and ''Firmament'',
Celestial Sphere ), which is traced back to the strong influence of
German Missionaries . There are also
Latin loanwords such as "õrig" (from Lat. ''origo'',
Beginning ) that appear.
- ''"Nauru Grammar"'', by Alois Kayser compiled ( 1936 ); distributed by the German embassy 1993 , ISBN 0-646-12854-X
