Tvl

Also Known As: Ellice,Tuvalu,Ellicean,Tuvaluan Description: Tuvaluan is a Polynesian language of the Ellicean group spoken in Tuvalu. It is more or less distantly related to all other Polynesian languages, such as Hawaiian, Māori, Tahitian, Samoan, and Tongan, and most closely related to the languages spoken on the Polynesian Outliers in Micronesia and Northern and Central Melanesia. Tuvaluan has borrowed considerably from Samoan, the language of Christian missionaries in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There are about 13,000 Tuvaluan speakers worldwide. Like all other Polynesian languages, Tuvaluan descends from an ancestral language, which historical linguists refer to as "Proto-Polynesian," which was spoken around 3000 years ago. The sound system of Tuvaluan consists of five vowels (i, e, a, o, u) and 10 or 11 consonants (p, t, k, m, n, g, f, v, s, h, l), depending on the dialect. All sounds, including consonants, come in short and long forms, which are contrastive. There are four possible articles in Tuvaluan: definite singular te, indefinite singular se or he (depending on the dialect), definite plural zero form, and indefinite plural ne or ni (depending on the dialect). The verb can be either clause-initial or clause-medial,..... full article at Wikipedia Location of Tuvaluan Language Speakers http://llmap.org/languages/tvl/static_map.png?width=400&height=300&kilroywashere=.png Rosetta Document Collection Genesis Translation: 1 (download) (browse)

Overview Main Country: Tuvalu Spoken In: Countries: Tuvalu Regions: Oceania ISO 639-3 Code: tvl Classification Taxonomy Malayo-Polynesian Group   Central-Eastern Group     Eastern Malayo-Polynesian Group       Oceanic Group         Central-Eastern Oceanic Group           Remote Oceanic Group             Central Pacific Group               East Fijian-Polynesian Group                 Polynesian Group                   Nuclear Polynesian Group                     Samoic-Outlier Group                       Ellicean Group                         Tuvaluan Language