Gilbertese language
Austronesian language of Kiribati with two main dialects.
Gilbertese, known natively as *taetae ni Kiribati* or simply *Kiribati* (sometimes also called Kirabatese or Tungaru), is an Austronesian language belonging to the Micronesian branch of the Oceanic languages. The country’s name, Kiribati, is the local pronunciation of the European name "Gilberts," adapted to the sounds of the language.
The language has two main dialects, Northern and Southern, which differ mainly in pronunciation. The islands of Butaritari and Makin have their own dialect, distinct in both vocabulary and pronunciation. Further dialectal varieties include Banaban (spoken on Banaba and Rabi Island in Fiji), Nuian (in Tuvalu), and the standard Northern and Southern Kiribati groupings.
The first known vocabulary list of Gilbertese was published in 1847 by a French naval surgeon who had taken aboard a drifting Gilbertese man from Kuria near Tabiteuea. However, the language only began to take written form in the 1860s, when missionary Hiram Bingham II began work on Abaiang. Bingham produced the first Bible translation, hymn books, a posthumous dictionary (1908), and other commentaries. Around the same period, French priest Alphonse Colomb published a vocabulary based on earlier manuscripts, while Horatio Hale had produced the first English description of the language in 1846. The first comprehensive description was Father Ernest Sabatier’s *Dictionnaire gilbertin–français* (981 pages, 1952–1954), later partially translated into English by Sister Olivia with help from the South Pacific Commission.
The official name of the language is *te taetae ni Kiribati*, but it is commonly called *te taetae n aomata*, meaning "the language of the people."
Over 96% of Kiribati’s 119,000 residents identify as I-Kiribati and speak the language. Gilbertese is also spoken by most inhabitants of Nui (Tuvalu), Rabi Island (Fiji), and by relocated communities in the Solomon Islands (especially Choiseul Province) and Vanuatu, as well as by emigrants in New Zealand and Hawaii. Literacy in Gilbertese among Kiribati residents is 97%, while 80% can read English. Among Oceanic languages, Gilbertese is one of several with over 100,000 speakers, alongside Tongan, Tahitian, Māori, Western Fijian, and Tolai. In 2020, Finlayson Park School in Auckland became the first in New Zealand to establish a Gilbertese language unit, taught by Erika Taeang.
The language uses the Latin
- Language family
- Austronesian, Oceanic, Micronesian
- Number of speakers
- Over 103,000 in Kiribati (2010 census)
- Official name
- te taetae ni Kiribati
- Writing system
- Latin script (introduced 1860s)
- Word order
- Verb–object–subject (VOS)
- First vocabulary list
- 1847 (French Revue coloniale)
- First complete dictionary
- Dictionnaire gilbertin–français (1952–1954)
Lore & Background
The first vocabulary list of Gilbertese was published in 1847 by a French auxiliary surgeon on corvette Le Rhin, who took on board a drift Gilbertese of Kuria near Tabiteuea. However, the language began to take written form only when Hiram Bingham II took up missionary work on Abaiang in the 1860s. Bingham was the first to translate the Bible into Gilbertese and wrote hymn books, a dictionary (1908, posthumous), and commentaries. Alphonse Colomb, a French priest in Tahiti, wrote in 1888 a vocabulary based on earlier work by Father Levêque and Horatio Hale. The first complete description was published in Dictionnaire gilbertin–français of Father Ernest Sabatier (981 pp, 1952–1954), later partially translated into English by Sister Olivia with help from the South Pacific Commission.
Reader's Guide
Gilbertese is significant as the native language of over 96% of Kiribati's population and is also spoken in Tuvalu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Zealand, Nauru, and Hawaii. It is one of the Oceanic languages with over 100,000 speakers, alongside Tongan, Tahitian, Māori, Western Fijian, and Tolai. The language has a high literacy rate: 97% of those in Kiribati can read Gilbertese. Its writing system uses the Latin script, introduced by missionaries in the 1860s, and since independence in 1979, long vowels and consonants are represented by doubling the character. The language has two main dialects (Northern and Southern) and a distinct dialect on Butaritari and Makin. Gilbertese grammar features a verb–object–subject word order, lacks a morphological noun-marker system, and distinguishes animate/inanimate and alienable/inalienable nouns. In 2020, Finlayson Park School in Auckland became the first school in New Zealand to set up a Gilbertese language unit.
Did You Know?
- The word Kiribati is the local adaptation of the European name 'Gilberts' to Gilbertese phonology.
- The first vocabulary list of Gilbertese was published in 1847 by a French auxiliary surgeon.
- Hiram Bingham II was the first to translate the Bible into Gilbertese in the 1860s.
- The first complete dictionary was Dictionnaire gilbertin–français by Father Ernest Sabatier (1952–1954).
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