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Kiribati Languages: Difference between revisions
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==Description== | ==Description== | ||
The people of Kiribati speak '''Gilbertese''', an Oceanic language. English is the other official language, but is not used very often outside the island capital of South Tarawa. It is more likely that some English is mixed in its use with Gilbertese. Older generations of I-Kiribati tend to use more complicated versions of the language. Several words in Gilbertese have been adopted from European settlers, for instance, ''kamea'' is one of the Gilbertese words for dog, ''kiri'' being the Oceanic one which has its origins in the I-Kiribati people hearing the European settlers saying "come here" to their dogs, and adopting that as ''kamea''. | The people of Kiribati speak '''Gilbertese''' (also known as Kiribatese or Ikiribati), an Oceanic language. English is the other official language, but is not used very often outside the island capital of South Tarawa. It is more likely that some English is mixed in its use with Gilbertese. Older generations of I-Kiribati tend to use more complicated versions of the language. Several words in Gilbertese have been adopted from European settlers, for instance, ''kamea'' is one of the Gilbertese words for dog, ''kiri'' being the Oceanic one which has its origins in the I-Kiribati people hearing the European settlers saying "come here" to their dogs, and adopting that as ''kamea''. | ||
Many other loanwords have been adopted (like ''buun'', spoon, ''moko'', smoke, ''beeki'', pig, ''batoro'', bottle) but some typical Gilbertese words are quite common, even for European objects (like ''wanikiba'', plane – the flying canoe, ''rebwerebwe'', motorbike – for the motor noise, ''kauniwae'', shoes – the cow for the feet). <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Kiribati," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribati#Languages, accessed 2 February 2021.</ref> | Many other loanwords have been adopted (like ''buun'', spoon, ''moko'', smoke, ''beeki'', pig, ''batoro'', bottle) but some typical Gilbertese words are quite common, even for European objects (like ''wanikiba'', plane – the flying canoe, ''rebwerebwe'', motorbike – for the motor noise, ''kauniwae'', shoes – the cow for the feet). <ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Kiribati," in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'', https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiribati#Languages, accessed 2 February 2021.</ref> | ||