Niuean language

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melski
Posts:1130
Joined:2012-02-17, 1:13
Location:Nantes
Country:FRFrance (France)
Niuean language

Postby melski » 2013-02-21, 22:08

Fakaalofa atu !

I'm not learning this language, but I wanted to let you know about this Polynesian language since it's one with most resources available compared to the numbers of speakers and could be an alternative for those of you willing to learn a Polynesian language through the internet. Niuean is closely related to Tongan or Wallisian (more info on Wikipedia)
Niue is a remote Island in the South Pacific (Wiki page here) with aproximately 1,600 inhabitants. Most Niueans emigrated to New Zealand,but only a tiny percentage (11%) is able to speak the language.
Niue is very active on the internet and is the first country in the world to have ever provided free Wi-Fi access to its entire population :) (link).
They have developed many projects to save this endangered language, therefore many resources are available for free on the internet :

Website to learn the basics : http://www.learnniue.co.nz/
You can also access freely the Niuean state TV channel on Youtube, with news both in English and Niuean
They have made lots of effort to translate computer-related terms ("fakaliliu he tau kupu komopiuta palagi") into Niuean, which I find extremely interesting and could be seen as an example set for other Polynesian languages (who knows ?)
Here is a website in Niuean : http://www.vagahauniue.nu. (with English translations)
Niuean language is also present on Twitter ("he Tuita" :) )
What's more, for language nerds like you and me,you can set your Facebook into Niuean !!!
Niuean Constitution (in Niuean !)

And to get an idea how it sounds like, here's a video about the Niue language week, both in Niuean and English :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hWo6pahNC0
................Native: French (fr) French
................Fluent: English (en) English , Italian (it) Italian
.........Intermediate: German (de) German, Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) Portuguese
.........Conversational: Catalan (ca) Catalan, Spanish (es) Spanish
....................Learning: [flag=Wallisian (East Uvean / faka'uvea)]wls[/flag] Wallisian (topic here)

Koko

Re: Niuean language

Postby Koko » 2015-09-21, 7:32

Thanks for this melski! :D These links shall surely quench my wanderlust for Niuean. Though I'll feel guilty for not doing anything with Malayalam ahead of plans :lol: (my list has Malayalam before Niuean :whistle: )

melski
Posts:1130
Joined:2012-02-17, 1:13
Location:Nantes
Country:FRFrance (France)

Re: Niuean language

Postby melski » 2015-09-21, 20:54

There is a Niuean-English dictionary published in 1997 :
Wolfgang B. Sperlich, Tohi Vagahau Niue - Niue Language Dictionary Niuean-English with English-Niuean Finderlist, 1997.
There is also another book that might be useful : Graeme Whittaker, The Niuean language: an elementary grammar and basic vocabulary, University of the South Pacific, Niue Centre, 1982.
I think there are some other linguistics articles dealing with Niuean grammar, just look for them on google if you want to dabble into some more advanced stuff.

And here's another blog I just found : https://akoniue.wordpress.com/

Good luck in learning Niuean :)
................Native: French (fr) French
................Fluent: English (en) English , Italian (it) Italian
.........Intermediate: German (de) German, Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) Portuguese
.........Conversational: Catalan (ca) Catalan, Spanish (es) Spanish
....................Learning: [flag=Wallisian (East Uvean / faka'uvea)]wls[/flag] Wallisian (topic here)

Koko

Re: Niuean language

Postby Koko » 2015-09-21, 23:55

Fakaue! ^^ I'm sure I'll enjoy it. It is a completely different language family I'm used to.


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