Tongan
Ten Minute Guide to Tongan
Tongan is called a VSO (verb subject object) language in linguistics, meaning that the verb usually comes before the subject and the object. This is very interesting but somewhat very confusing especially during translational purposes. English is SVO (subject verb object), it is always a struggle trying to understand the differences between SVO and VSO languages. Let us have a look at an example.
- Big House (this becomes "House Big" in Tongan, i.e the noun comes before the adjective)
Consider the following simple sentence.
| Ko e fale lahi eni This is a big house. |
- Ko e = this
- eni = is
- fale = house
- Wrong: *Ko e lahi fale eni
Tongan alphabet (Koe 'A Faka-Tonga)
| A | E | F | H | I | K | L | M | N | NG | O | P | S | T | U | V | ' |
Normal Vowels (Vauele)
| a | e | i | o | u |
(same as English).
Long Vowels (Vauele Loloa)
| a | e | i | o | u |
(each vowel has a bar above it - faka'ilonga toloi, however I am still looking for a macro to draw the bar for me. If someone out there knows where to get this word macro for Tongan characters then please let me know).
The effect of having a bar on top makes each sounds as if each vowel is doubled. E.g. mama as in Normal Vowel (a) means chew whereas maama as in Long Vowel(aa) means light. Obviously the effect of having either a normal vowel or long vowel definitely affects the meaning.
Note
The following characters are not in the Tongan alphabet:| b | c | d | g | j | q | r | w | x | y | z |
Also ng are counted as one, they must always go together. The n can be by itself but g can't.
This explains why the name Tonga is spelled as such. You can't have Toga (illegal syntax - can't have g by itself). However, you can have Tona - meaning "wart" , well different meanings ,aren't they?
Numbers: Decimal System
| Digits | Numerical Names |
| 0 | Noa |
| 1 | Taha |
| 2 | Ua |
| 3 | Tolu |
| 4 | Fa |
| 5 | Nima |
| 6 | Ono |
| 7 | Fitu |
| 8 | Valu |
| 9 | Hiva |
"Weights" or Place Values
| Tongan | English | EXAMPLES |
| Matelau | Units | e.g. taha, ua, tolu, .... |
| Ngofulu | Tens | e.g. taha ua, ua nima, tolu ono, .... |
| Ngeau | Hundreds | e.g. teau, teau ma ua, teau ma tolu, .... |
| Afe | Thousands | e.g. tahaafe, tahaafe ma ua, tahaafe ma tolu, .... |
| Mano | Tens of Thousands | e.g. taha mano, tahamono uaafe, tahamano toluafe, .... |
| Kilu | Hundreds of thousands | e.g. tahakilu, tahakilu uamano, tahakilu uamano toluafe, .... |
| Miliona | Millions | e.g. tahamiliona, tahamiliona uakilu, tolumiliona, .... |
| SAMPLE NUMBERS | EXPRESSIONS |
| 10 | Hongofulu, You may also say Taha noa as in "One zero" |
| 11 | Hongofulu ma taha or simply Taha taha (one one) |
| 20 | Uofulu or simply Ua noa,the rest follows a similar pattern |
| 28 | Ua valu |
| 100 | Teau or taha noa noa |
| 500 | Nima ngeau |
| 1,000 | Taha afe |
| 6,000 | Ono afe |
| 30,000 | Tolu mano |
| 90,000 | Hiva mano |
| 400,0000 | Fa kilu |
| 800,0000 | Valu kilu |
| 7,000,000 | Fitu miliona |
Freguently used words and phrases
| Tongan | English |
| Malo e lelei | Hello |
| Fefe hake | How are you? |
| Sai pe | Fine, Alright,well |
| Malo | Thank you |
| Malo 'aupito | Thank you very much |
| 'Ikai | No |
| 'Io | Yes |
| 'Api | Home |
| Feitu'u | Place |
| 'Omai | Get , bring |
| 'Ave,'oatu, foaki | Give |
| 'Oku ou;au | Am |
| Taimi | Time |
| Kai | Eat |
| Inu | Drink |
| 'Alu | Go |
| Ha'u | Come |
| Ako | Study,Learn |
| 'Uhinga | Because |
| Sio | Watch,look |
| Va'inga | Play |
| 'O e | Of |
| Ngaahi | Plural word(s) to go with any noun e.g house = fale <> houses,cars etc = ngaahi fale, ngaahi ka |
| Ko hai ho hingoa ? | Who are you? What is your name? |
Questions(Fehu'i)
| Tongan | English |
| Koe ha ? | What ? |
| Fakaku ? | When ? |
| I fe ? ; Ko fe ? | Where ? |
| 'Uhinga ? | Why ? |
Tongan Currency (Tongan Pa'anga (TOP))
| Tongan | English |
| Seniti | Cents |
| e.g Seniti e nima noa | Fifty cents |
| Pa'anga | Dollars |
| e.g Pa'anga e taha nima | Fifteen dollars |
Putting together what you have learnt so far
| Tongan | English |
| Kataki ha'u o' kai | Please come and eat |
| Malo 'oku ikai keu fiekaia | Thank you, I am not hungry |
| Ko fe pangike ? | Where is the bank ? |
| Koe ha e taimi ? | What is the time ? |
| 'Alu 'o sio Televisone | Go and watch Television |
| Ha'u 'o Va'inga | Come and Play |
| 'Omai e pa'anga 'e tolu nima | Bring thirty five dollars |
| Ko e ha e totongi 'o e sitapa? (ngaahi sitapa?) | What is the cost of one stamp? (stamps ?) Can also specify the number of stamps |