Talk:Kiribati

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[edit] Pronunciation!

I think this is VERY important, as even journalists are reported to read WP :) I've already heard them pronounce it like ['kiribahs], without the end-I. I've just nicked the pronunciation string from the German article, referred to French one, changed a into ae and put it in. -andy 217.91.47.231 13:16, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Maybe I misunderstand the Blevins article I read on Gilbertese but I was under the impression that /t/ became [s] before /i/. Is there a rule in the language I don't know about that subsequently deletes the /i/? Ƶ§œš¹ [aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi] 09:07, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Kiribati is not a Gilbertese word: transcription of Gilberts, the final i is not pronounced.-Enzino 12:33, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

Can we have an English syllable pronunciation guide as well, for people who don't care about IPA/are stupid, like me? Something like "KI-ri-bahs"? A number of other articles have this, and it makes it easier for a lot of people. --naught101 09:58, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
Done. -Henry W. Schmitt 14:02, 10 September 2007 (UTC)
Actually, the MOS on pronunciation says such ad-hoc methods are deprecated. Although WP may allow it alongside IPA, I believe it's completely inappropriate to use it for foreign words. Ƶ§œš¹ [aɪm ˈfɻɛ̃ⁿdˡi] 19:23, 13 October 2007 (UTC)
Well seeing as only a select few understand the IPA system, I think the kee-ree-bas alongside the IPA is just fine. Personally I would pronounce "ˈkiribæs" as "kearabase". And I think foreign words are the perfect place to spell it out, as IPA is a foreign language for most. -Henry W. Schmitt 21:13, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Sinking of Kiribati

I found this today:

The small island nation of Kiribati is made up of 33 small atolls, none of which is more than 6.5 feet above the South Pacific, and it is only a matter of time before the entire country is submerged by the rising sea.

"For Kiribati, the tipping point has already occurred," Schneider said. "As far as they're concerned, it's tipped, but they have no economic clout in the world."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079935/page/2/

Should this be added?

[edit] Kiribati

Uh... the temp page for Kiribati is at Luxembourg/Temp? Surely that's a typo... -- April

Kingdom or republic?

I don't get it - how can a republic have national motto like "Fear the God, respect the king"? --Romanm 13:27, 14 Mar 2004 (UTC)

According to http://flagspot.net/flags/ki.html, Kiribati has another national motto since 1979, when it became independent. --Peterlin 10:10, 15 Mar 2004 (UTC)
It's true, this is the former motto of the British colony. Now, the motto is Te mauri, te raoi ao te tabomoa since 12 July 1979.

--Enzino 11:01, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)

I removed the old motto (i.e. Motto of the Gilbert & Ellice :'Maaka te Atua, karinea te uea; mataku i te Atua, fakamamalu ki te tupu (Gilbertese and Tuvalu: fear the God, respect the king). A-giau 08:46, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Capital of Kiribati

The capital of Kiribati is not : — Bairiki: this is an islet, next to Betio islet (the former administrative center until it was destroyed by Japanese) where there are the main ministries (and presidency). And main Post office. But the Parliament is now on Ambo islet, quite far away. And some ministries are on Betio or Bikenibeu. And even one on Kiritimati (or Christmas Island). — Tarawa : this is the name of all the atoll. But South Tarawa: from Bairiki to Bonriki, there is one Urban Council, its name is Teinainano Urban Council or TUC. The translation means, the South Branch (of Tarawa). This council is not in the Bairiki islet.

[edit] Coat of arms

This is not the coat of arms of Kiribati but of the former one of Gilbert & Ellice Colony until 1976. The main difference is the motto.--Enzino 17:29, 4 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Old coat of arms: http://www.ngw.nl/int/aus/kiribati.htm

[edit] 1995

When Kiribati, in 1995, realigned the International Date Line, some funky time change must have occurred. Before the change, the eastern part of the country was lagging 23 h behind the western part, since when it was January 1, 01h00 in the east, it was already January 2, 00h00 in the west. So when the change occurred, the eastern part of the country jumped ahead 23 hours and therefore experienced a day lasting just one hour! When did that happen? Urhixidur 02:13, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

International Date Line says the change occurred on January 1, 1995, but not when during that day (or just before). Caroline (Millennium) Island jumped from UTC-10 to UTC+14. It must have skipped a whole day! Did the island skip December 31, 1994, entirely? Urhixidur 02:58, 23 April 2006 (UTC).

Nobody lives on Caroline: who cares they skipped a whole day? :). The nearest unhabited island is Christmas Island…Enzino 00:31, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Two Tourism Links

I added two Kiribati tourism links. Inkan1969 08:44, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Census

I replaced the census figure in the table with the actual total from the 2000 census ( via this page). There wasn't a 2001 census; the figure that had been in our table was the July 2000 est. from the Factbook, it seems.

There was a census in November 2005 but the results are still provisional. I added a link (the page linked above) to the External Links section. --Cam 09:07, 8 September 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Illogical

In Gilbertese there is no letter 's', the sound being represented by 'ti'. That is why Kiritimati Island is known in English as Christmas Island (not to be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, which is administered by Australia).

"That is why..."? Eh, What? That makes no sense at all. Obviously the logic of Gilbertese is also somewhat different from that of English. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.162.31.181 (talk) 14:36, 24 September 2006

I agree that there is a problem in that sentence, but the issue is in English, not in the language of Kiribati. It should read: "That is why the Pacific island known as Christmas Island in English is called Kiritimati Island in Gilbertese. This island should not be confused with the Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, which is administered by Australia."
Another section that needs a lot of help is the demographics section. It refers to the language as "Gilbertese" early on, then calls the language "Kiribati" (linking to "Kiribati language", a redirect to Gilbertese language). These are both alternate names for "te taetae ni kiribati" ("The language of Kiribati"), the official name. The article should be consistent throughout. Oh, and don't forget to sign your posts with "~~~~". Happy editing! --Cromwellt|talk|contribs 16:07, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Hey, to make this idea clearer. There is a sound sssss in the language but just not the letter. The sound sssss is represented by the letters [ti].

For similar distortions of English borrowings, check out the Hawaiian or Japanese pronunciations of Christmas, kelikimaki and kurisumasu. Gilbertese phonemic /kiritimati/ is broadly phonetic [kiɾisimasi], not a bad approximation. kwami (talk) 00:54, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
You're saying that Kiritimati is pronounced with an I at the end? like Christmasee? --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 02:57, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
We've gone over this with Kiribati itself. I can't find any ref. to final i being silent after t; it might be so in general, or maybe in English borrowings, I don't know. I was just trying to illustrate that it's not that weird a spelling. kwami (talk) 07:11, 17 December 2007 (UTC)
Britannica,Merriam-Webster and reference.com. I am sure the same sources can tell you how to pronounce Kiribati as well. --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 08:58, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed WikiProject

There is now a proposed WikiProject dealing with the area of Micronesia at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Micronesia. Any interested parties should add their names there, so we can see if there is enough interest in this project to try to officially start it. Thank you. Badbilltucker 21:22, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] History

I would like to see more history on the islands. When were they first inhabited? Is there any information on historic population levels? How about events of note? Interactions with the rest of the world? How about current trends, such as population growth, migration patterns, etc? --greenmoss 15:41, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removed "Hula" reference

The dance section used to read "Smiling whilst dancing as seen in the modern Hawaiin Hula is generally considered vulgar within the context of Kiribati dancing. This is due to its origin of not being solely as a form of entertainment but as a form of storytelling and a display of the skill, beauty and endurance of the dancer. "

Hula is also a form of storytelling, and a display of the skill, beauty, and endurance of the dancer, so this description does not explain why the Kiribati do not smile during dance. The old version implies that Hula is "solely a form of entertainment", which it is not. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.25.244.2 (talk) 09:06, 9 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Kiribati Scouting

Can someone render "Be Prepared", the Scout Motto, into i-Kiribati? Thanks! Chris 15:30, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

I know nothing about i-Kiribati grammar, but this dictionary suggests "Mena tauraoi." Axeman89 19:59, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
The language is called Gilbertese; the people are called I-Kiribati. I have confirmed this with an I-Kiribati in the past. -Indolences 20:38, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
Thank you so much, and sorry for my misunderstanding. Chris 21:26, 7 August 2007 (UTC)
I knew that, but had forgotten it! Axeman89 00:39, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Environment - POV?

The section "The politics of the environment" seems a tad POV to me, and has no external references. I suggest a cleanup. --Popoi 15:52, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGTb9OB17xc -Indolences 06:28, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

hanah —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.108.81.150 (talk) 14:20, 4 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Demonym

Isn't the demonym technically Kiribatian instead of I-Kiribati? ArchonMeld (talk) 07:20, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

What makes you say that?--Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 22:57, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
In English it's Gilbertese, in Tungaru it's I-Kiribati. kwami (talk) 00:22, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
You win. Despite being the Kiribati connoisseur I am, I was not familiar with the word Tungaru. thanks for using it here. --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 06:52, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Confusion

I don't know what the answer should be as I was just browsing this page to learn about Kiribati after seeing it on a map, but I do know that the Human development page needs work as the average life expectancy reported is higher than either that of the males or females. I expect maybe this is a typo and is suppose to be 60?

The page states, "The population of Kiribati has a life expectancy at birth of 70 years (57 for males, and 63 for females) and an infant mortality rate of 54 deaths per 1,000 live births." Dorothy Robinett (talk) 19:03, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Prehistory: Samoa

Is there any evidence more solid for supporting Tonga and Fiji as prehistory influences? From what I've seen much of the prehistory influence was Samoan. I have lived in both Samoa and Kiribati for periods of time. The songs and dances show a lot of Samoan influence. What's more, the traditional songs refer to Samoa by name, although in Gilbertese it is rendered "Tamoa". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.88.199.103 (talk) 11:36, 5 June 2008 (UTC)