Making a Case for Tongan as an Endangered Language

Abstract

This paper examines the sociolinguistic situation in Tonga and discusses its relevance to language maintenance in Polynesia. The environment surrounding Tongan is not visibly ominous: it is an official language of an independent state and is spoken by a sizable population in a predominantly monolingual community. Tongan represents an instance of language shift as a result of globalization, wherein a speech community voluntarily gives up its indigenous language(s) for another, more socioeconomically beneficial language, in this case, English. The paper proposes that language endangerment should be understood in terms of a unit larger than the nation-state. This is particularly relevant in the Polynesian context, in which international borders are obscured by transnational migrants. The paper also discusses some positive roles the diasporic communities may potentially play in language maintenance.

The Representation of Indigenous Languages of Oceania in Academic Publications

“…Even traditionally vital languages like Tongan that enjoy official national status are becoming increasingly at risk of endangerment [38]. Perhaps one of the origins of the problem is the loss of intergenerational transmission of the language through compulsory education in English.…”

Tongan ways of talking

“…It is the level of use that is to be maintained if the language is declining. Studies show it is the last of the registers to be lost because it is the "unmarked" level of use (Otsuka 2007, Taumoefolau et al 2004. With regard to rank, we can call it the neutral way of talking, used by a speaker to address their social equal in a way in which rank imposes no restriction because it is irrelevant at the time in question.…”

“…They speak mostly WOT 5, and research suggests that WOT 6 is also used widely (Fonua 2003, Morton 1996. According to language maintenance research, when a language declines it is the more formal ways of talking that are the first to go because language maintenance depends on use, and formal registers tend to be the least used (Davis 1998, Davis and Starks 2005, Otsuka 2007, Taumoefolau et al 2004). 2 Because of the esoteric nature of knowledge of some of these honorific ways of talking, it is not easy to find examples of texts that would give a good indication of the range and scope of their use, and this has influenced my choice of texts (see my selection of Text 1 and Text 8 below).…”

Teacher-researchers promoting cultural learning in an intercultural kindergarten inAotearoaNew Zealand

“…Lazaruk, 2007;Stewart, 2004). However, it is also suggested that to achieve these gains bilingual educational provisions need to be minority language based (Otsuka, 2007;Seigal, 1996). Positive outcomes tend to be dependant on attaining an adequate fluency threshold in first language (Bialystok, 1988), especially when this is a minority language.…”

“…Cullen et al (p. 180). Because of the more powerful status of the English language, however, heritage language loss may be particularly prevalent among minority Pasifika languages (Otsuka, 2007), such as Samoan. In contrast, Samoan children at WNT appeared to be acquiring English while simultaneously maintaining their minority first language.…”