Sonsorolese language

The Sonsorolese language is a Micronesian language spoken in Palau, originally on the islands composing the state of Sonsorol, and spreading through migration elsewhere in the country. It is very close to Tobian.

Geographic distribution

• Northern Mariana Islands: unknown (immigrant language)
• Palau: 600 speakers
  • Sonsorol: 60 speakers
    • Merir: 5 speakers
    • Pulo Anna: 25 speakers
    • Sonsorol: 29 speakers
  • Rest of the country: 540 speakers
• United Kingdom: 1 speaker (immigrant language)

Dialects

• Pulo-Annan
• Sonsorolese

Orthography and pronunciation

Sonsorolese is usually a spoken language, but is occasionally written to the writer's preference. Many of the sounds are like that in Tobian and Woleaian. A couple of dialects include the pronunciation of d, which is common at the beginning of words and similar to [ð]; r is pronounced as in Spanish, as opposed to English; also, l is always pronounced with tongue touching the back roof of the mouth and sounds something like a combination of the [ɡ] and [l] sounds. For that reason, some Sonsorolese prefer to spell their els as ⟨ɡl⟩. As in Woleaian, silent vowels are usually found at the end of Sonsorolese words. For example, in Dongosaro, the native name for Sonsorol island, the final -o is silent.

Examples

• what?: meta?
• dangerous: ehamatahutohu
• cold: fou
• I don't speak Sonsorolese: itei hae ramari Dongosaro

References

External links

• (English) Language page at Sonsorol.com