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Language

Horatio Hale was the first person to publish a Tokelauan dictionary of sorts, which he did in 1846. Rather than being the accepted definition of dictionary, it was reference only contained 214 entries of vocabulary. Hale’s publication remained the only published Tokelauan reference until 1969. However, Tokelauan had been instituted into schools in the late 1940’s, so prior to this publication, there wasn’t much headway made in the teaching of the language. In 1969, the New Zealand Department of Education published D. W. Boardman’s Tokelau-English Vocabulary. This second, more advanced reference was a collection of around 1200 vocabulary entries. In the times that passed after the second publication, the necessity of a more detailed and in depth reference to the language for the purpose of education with the Tokelauan community was realized by Hosea Kirifi (who later became the first Tokelau Director of Education) and J. H. Webster. In the year 1975, Kirifi and Webster published the first official precursory Tokelauan dictionary, which contained an estimated 3000 items, called the Tokelau-English Dictionary. This entire movement was a basis of the fact that The Tokelauan people take a great deal of pride in their language. Tokelauan schools lacked an abundance of resources and materials that could be used to education their children on the language. It has a high place in their culture, and the revitalization and renewal of the language for their younger generation had eventually reached a point where action had to be taken. One year after the publication of the 1975 Tokelau-English Dictionary, the government approved the installation of Ropati Simona who was to head the Tokelau Dictionary Project. This eventually led to the publication of the first comprehensive Tokelauan dictionary, Tokelau Dictionary by the Office of Tokelau Affairs in 1986.

Articles

There are two articles used in the English language. These articles are the and a/an. The usage for the word the when speaking of a noun is strictly reserved for when the receiver of the word should be aware of its context, or if said item has been referred to previously. This is because in English, the word the acts as what is called a definite article, meaning that a defined object or person is being spoken of. However, in the case of definite article usage in Tokelauan language, if the speaker is speaking of the same item they need not to have referred to it previously so long as the item is specific. The same can be said for the reference of singular being. Because of the difference is grammatical ruling, although the definite article in the Tokelauan language is te, it is very common for it to translate to the English indefinite article a. An indefinite article is used when there is no specification of noun being referred to. The usage of the word he, the indefinite article in Tokelauan is ‘any such item’. In negative statements the word he is used because that is where it is most often found, as well as when phrasing a question. However, it is important to remember that just because these two types of statements are where he occurs the greatest it does not mean that he does not occur in other types of statements as well. Examples of both te and he are as such:

Tokelauan: Kua hau te tino

English: ‘A man has arrived’ or ‘The man has arrived’

(Notice how te in Tokelauan has been translated to both a and the in English.)

Tokelauan: Vili ake oi k'aumai he toki

English: ‘Do run and bring me an axe’

The use of he and te in Tokelauan are reserved for when describing a singular noun. When describing a plural noun, different articles are used. For plural definite nouns, nā is the article that is used. However, in some cases, rather than using nā, plural definite nouns are subject to the absence of an article represented by 0. The absence of an article is usually used if a large amount or a specific class of things are being described. An example of an exception to this commonality would be if one was describing an entire class of things, but in a nonspecific way. In this case, rather than nā as the article, the singular definite noun te would be used. The article ni is used for describing a plural indefinite noun. Examples of nā, a 0 exception, and ni are as such:

Tokelauan: Vili ake oi k'aumai nā nofoa

English: ‘Do run and bring me the chairs’

Tokelauan: Ko te povi e kai mutia

English: ‘Cows eat grass’

(‘Ko’ in this sentence acts as a preposition to ‘te’.)

Tokelauan: E i ei ni tuhi?

English: ‘Are there any books?

(Notice that this is the use of an indefinite article in an interrogative statement. As mentioned above, the use of indefinite articles in these types of statements is very common.)

Particles

The particles of the Tokelauan language are ia, a (or ā), a te, and ia te. When describing personal names as well as the names of the month, pronouns (the use here is optional and it is most commonly used when there are words in between the pronoun and verb), and collaborative nouns that describe a group of people working together the most common particle is used. This particle is ia, which is used so long as none of the nouns listed above follow the prepositions e, o, a, or ko. When the subject of a sentence is a locative or name of a place, ia is also used as the particle in those particular, as well as other specific instances. The particle a is used before a person’s name as well as the names of months and the particle a te is used before pronouns when these instances are following the prepositions i or ki. If describing a pronoun and using the preposition mai, the article that follows is ia te.

Concepts

Articles

When using a definite article in Tokelauan language, unlike in some languages like English, if the speaker is speaking of the an item they need not to have referred to it previously as long as the item is specific. This is also true when it comes to the reference of a specific person. So, although the definite article used to describe a noun in the Tokelauan language is te, it can also translate to the indefinite article in languages that require the item being spoken of to have been referenced prior. When translating to English, te could translate to the definite article the, or it could also translate to the indefinite article a. An example of how the definite article te can be used as an interchangeable definite or indefinite article in the Tokelauan language would be the sentence “Kua hau te tino”. In the English language, this could be translated as “A man has arrived” or “The man has arrived” where using te as the article in this sentence can represent any man or a particular man. The word he, which is the indefinite article in Tokelauan, is used to describe ‘any such item’. The word he is used in negative statements because that is where it is most often found, alongside its great use in interrogative statements. Though this is something to make note of, he not used in just in negative statements and questions alone. Although these two types of statements are where he occurs the most, it is also used in other statements as well. An example of the use of he as an indefinite article is “Vili ake oi k'aumai he toki ”, where ‘he toki ’ mean ‘an axe’. The use of he and te in Tokelauan are reserved for when describing a singular noun. However, when describing a plural noun, different articles are used. For plural definite nouns, rather than te, the article nā is used. ‘Vili ake oi k'aumai nā nofoa ’ in Tokelauan would translate to “Do run and bring me the chairs” in English. There are some special cases in which instead of using nā, plural definite nouns have no article before them. The absence of an article is represented by 0. One way that it is usually used is if a large amount or a specific class of things are being described. Occasionally, such as if one was describing an entire class of things in a nonspecific fashion the singular definite noun te would is used. In English, ‘Ko te povi e kai mutia’ means “Cows eat grass”. Because this is a general statement about cows, te is used instead of na. The ko serves as a preposition to the “te” The article ni is used for describing a plural indefinite noun. ‘E i ei ni tuhi?’ translates to “Are there any books?”

Particles

In Tokelauan, ia is used when describing personal names, month names, and nouns used to describe a collaborative group of people participating in something together. It also can be used when a verb does not directly precede a pronoun to describe said pronouns. Its use for pronouns is optional but mostly in this way. Ia cannot be used if the noun it is describing follows any of the prepositions e, o, a, or ko. A couple of the other ways unrelated to what is listed above that ia is used is when preceding a locative or place name. However, if ia is being used in this fashion, the locative or place name must be the subject of the sentence. Another particle in Tokelauan is a, or sometimes ā. This article is used before a person’s name as well as the names of months and the particle a te is used before pronouns when these instances are following the prepositions i or ki. Ia te is a particle used if following the preposition mai.