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Mortlockese is a language of the people who inhabit the Mortlock Islands, located in Micronesia. The islands inherited their name from the first European to visit, Captain James Mortlock. There is little information on the Islands, as well as the language itself spoken by natives.

Documenting the language by writing it down was uncommon, instead, stories were passed down orally, which leads to less available documented history. Children learned from their parents and the stories told by relatives. The main role of girls growing up was to help their mothers and learn household tasks. For the boys, more “masculine” tasks were promoted. Family life was important, and obedience was widely accepted by children in fear of a supernatural power punishing them. Myths and folktales told stories of religious and cultural beliefs passed down. Families are important to the Mortlock natives. Family structure is important, and different rules are followed depending on the different islands. In several cases, the woman is head of the family. Sleeping arrangements may mean men in large homes separate from the women and children. Friendships are also extremely important within the Mortlockese culture. Friendship was more of a “brotherhood.” It is noted that if a friendship was formed between two people, each of the other’s family members were family as well.

The most common historical belief is the Mortlock people arrived on the islands in canoes. Over the span of the 19th century, traders continued to document their visits to the islands allowing evidence of residency.

As early as January of 1874, missionaries visited the islands and began building schools to teach the natives religious ways of life. Their main efforts were to increase awareness of Puritanism. European clothes were introduced, as well as prohibiting drugs and alcohol. There was concern of children in school falling out of touch with the native ways. The history and traditions of the Natives was approved and a new course was updated and continued for years. According to several documents, several changes to the curriculum were made to incorporate native traditions as well as introduce new information from the Europeans.

In 1907 a typhoon hit the Mortlock islands, destroying homes, and killing hundreds. Unfortunately, natural disasters, war, and other changes to the islands are to blame for little to no documentation of the Mortlock history and language. What is left, is the writings of missionaries who visited the island to teach the word of God, and translate Mortlockese into biblical text. There are documents of what curriculum was taught in the schools opened, as well as the number of students and teachers present. There are also certain rules that are noted in several cases implying that words are not always what they seem. In terms of family and kinship, personal names were used when referring to family instead of terms like “cousin,” or “gradparent.” Kinship terms categorize relatives instead of label them directly. This is just one example of grammar we can study from the way the Mortlockese language is designed.

A language brings:

mass of perceptions

cliches

judgements

inspirations

As each person has their own recognizable voice, each language has its own sounds system or phonology

Rules of combination to create longer words and sentences are also radically different between two languages

Every language defines a community

A language acts as a banner of distinct identity

Languages frame, analyze, and color our views of the world