Tag: Oceanic Languages

“MARSHALLESE REFERENCE GRAMMAR” BY BYRON W. BENDER, ALFRED CAPELLE, LOUISE PAGOTTO

May 24, 2020

People interested in languages are usually suckers for language books. All kinds of language books: textbooks, phrasebooks, dictionaries, vocabulary picture books, linguistic volumes – you name it, they love it. Some of those books are of great help, others simply look good sitting on the shelf. Into which of these two categories does “Marshallese Reference Grammar” fall? … More “MARSHALLESE REFERENCE GRAMMAR” BY BYRON W. BENDER, ALFRED CAPELLE, LOUISE PAGOTTO

HAWAIIAN 9.0: ALOHA. E MĀLAMA PONO

May 10, 2020

There’s one thing about goodbyes: rarely are they easy. It is rather hard to say farewell to someone or something that has been a huge and important part of your life. You feel sad, abandoned, lonely, because you just know it is the end. Over the years, I’ve had my share of difficult goodbyes. One of the toughest took place on April, 3rd. On that day I had to say aloha to “Hawaii Five-0”. … More HAWAIIAN 9.0: ALOHA. E MĀLAMA PONO

ARE ALL LANGUAGES EQUAL?

February 2, 2020

When people think about languages, they rarely wonder about linguistic equality. As if it was something not important, something not worthy of their attention. Obviously, it is not one of the hot topics, and it probably won’t change anyone’s life, but you can’t deny that this is an interesting issue. Personally, I would say that all languages are equal. It’s just that some languages are more equal than others. … More ARE ALL LANGUAGES EQUAL?

KIRIBATI 1.0: I MIGHT BE CRAZY. OFFICIALLY

January 19, 2020

When in 2017 I started learning Marshallese, most of my relatives and friends were … a little surprised, to put it mildly. Because who on earth would want to learn Marshallese??? Well, I would! What is more, I would also want to learn Hawaiian and – wait for it – Kiribati; which, I guess, officially makes me a crazy person. … More KIRIBATI 1.0: I MIGHT BE CRAZY. OFFICIALLY

MARSHALLESE 27.0: THIRD ATTEMPT AT KAJIN ṂAJEḶ

December 22, 2019

Another year of my Marshallese adventure is coming to an end. I will be very honest now, by this time I should have known more. After three years of learning I should probably be able to write this post entirely in kajin Ṃajeḷ – with lots of mistakes, yes – but it ought to be written in the language I am trying to master. Unfortunately, this is still beyond my abilities. Nevertheless, I have managed to learn something. Here’s the proof. … More MARSHALLESE 27.0: THIRD ATTEMPT AT KAJIN ṂAJEḶ

HAWAIIAN 7.0: FIRST ATTEMPT AT ʻŌLELO HAWAIʻI

December 8, 2019

I have been learning Hawaiian for almost a year now, so it’s high time I showed you what I have managed to learn so far. I won’t lie, I am quite nervous. Will my sentences be correct? Will they make any sense? Will people laugh at my skills (or rather, lack thereof)? I will never know unless I try. So, let’s do it guys! … More HAWAIIAN 7.0: FIRST ATTEMPT AT ʻŌLELO HAWAIʻI