Te taetae ni Kiribati

The language of Kiribati

Grammar Handbook

 

Lesson 2 DIALECTS (Note to teachers: This lesson is optional. See manual.) Although little difficulty is encountered in understanding the speakers from all areas, there are two main dialects, the Northern and Southern. The Northern dialect extends from Butaritari/Makin south to Nonouti, and includes Tarawa, the capital island. The southern dialect encompasses the remainder of the group, extending from Tabiteuea south to Arorae. The principal difference in pronunciation is in the sound of the t when it occurs before u. In the North, t is pronounced as an s before u, just as it is before i in both areas. In the South, t is pronounced as a t before u, just as it is before all the vowels except i. Some differences may also be encountered in the pronunciation of some common words or phrases, such as North   South   gloss ngke   ngkoe   you itua   itiua   seven wanua   waniua   eight na   naba   also kunuu   kuniu   my skin There are also some dialect distinctions between the language as spoken in the Butaritari/Makin area and the rest of the group: "Standard" Butaritari/Makin gloss antai nanta who? naaka taakam you people nakomai kuriko/nakomaikoa come here teraa teikara what? kawaetatako kuria waem hurry up waekoa waetoka quickly tebaei telkaei this thing naakai taakai these people naakekei taakekea those people eng aeng yes enga (e nga) anga (a nga) where is? neiko neingee Miss naewa nangee so-and-so te atama te nono gravel karea kabakabaka (kabakaa) throw te moimoto te ni drinking coconut moi moimoto kaatoa drink moimoto baabarantiko tokoro gossip wirebwerebwe wi n tokoro gossip ngae buu satisfied tekateka takataka to sit Another characteristic difference between the speech of Butaritari/Makin and the rest of the group is in the pronunciation of the article te. In Butaritari/Makin it is pronounced ta before nouns beginning with ka and nga: "Standard" Butaritari/Makin gloss te kai ta kai the stick te nga ta nga (the) fathom te ngabingabi ta ngabingabi kind of mat te katam'a ta katam'a the cat Exercises Practice pronouncing the words in the following list, first with a Northern pronunciation, then with a Southern: matua   to sleep tuai   not yet itiua   seven Tuun   June tua   law Turai   July katuka   leave behind katua   kind of game butubutu   to crowd rotu   dull tituaraoi   generous tu   needle tuka   lower (as a sail) In addition, if you will be spending time in Butaritari/Makin, it will be useful to study the list of expressions shown in the lesson as special to that area. Kiribati page © 1979, 2003 Stephen Trussel, ACTION / Peace Corps, The Experiment in International Living. The Experiment in International Living, Inc., prepared this handbook for the U. S. Government under ACTION Contract number 78-043-1037. The reproduction of any part of this handbook other than for such purposes as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, research, or other "fair use" is subject to the prior written permission of ACTION.