JUL 16 JUL Te Taetae ni Kiribati Kiribati Language Week
PACIFIC LANGUAGE WEEKS 10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week Te taetae ni Kiribati | Kiribati Language
The Kiribati Alphabet consists of 13 letters.
The Vowels have the same pronunciation as other Pacific Languages Vowels Short Sound Long Sound including Te Reo Māori (Maori Language). A Sound in ‘ask’ and ‘dark’ March Special Consonants E Sound in ‘elephant’ and ‘enter’ Egg Nasals - M N Ng I Sound in ‘pit’ and ‘in’ Meat
Like the vowels, the nasal sounds may also occur lengthened, which O Sound in ‘ocean’ and ‘oat’ Door may provide some difficulty for English speakers. U Sound in ‘blue’ and ‘you’ Moon This is another area in which spelling systems do not agree, often failing to indicate the additional length. For the most part these sounds are similar to those occurring in English. In the ‘NG’ consonant, we can start, end, and use it in the middle of The consonants consist of 8 letters a word. E.g. Ngare (laugh),‘kangkang’ (delicious) and ‘eng’ (yes). In the English language, NG is used in and at the end of a word. E.g. ‘singing’ and ‘sing’ but never start a word with NG except for nouns. M N NG as in ‘number’ as in ‘in’ as in ‘sing’ R - To pronounce the ‘r’ we don’t roll our tongue T – When an ‘I’ is added to a ‘T’ and becomes a ‘Ti’, B K R ‘Ti’ will be pronounced as ‘si’ as in ‘sing’. Kiribati is pronounced as in ‘be’ as in ‘key’ as in ‘tree’ ‘Key-reh-ba-si’ (pronouncing ‘r’ without rolling the tongue and ‘ba’
T W pronounced as ‘ba’ in ‘bank’) W – This consonant is only used with the vowels ‘a, e, i’ but not ‘o and u’ as in ‘sea’ as in ‘we’
10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week Te taetae ni Kiribati | Kiribati Language
These consonants are used to differentiate the sounds in:
mw mwa mwe mwi As in English ‘ma’ in ‘madam’ ‘mwa’ in ‘mother’ ‘ba’ in
‘badminton’ ‘bwa’ in ‘bar’. Please note that in some parts of the Kiribati islands, these consonants cannot be used with the ‘o’ and ‘u’ vowels. bw bwa bwe bwi Kiribati Alphabet / A na man ni koroboki Kiribati
AEIOU
M, N, NG, B, K, R, T, W (Nasals M N NG)
MW, BW
10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week Taeka aika a bonganga | Useful words Kiribati English Kiribati English
Mauri Greetings / Hello Antai aram? What is your name?
Kam na bane ni mauri Greetings Everyone Arau _____ My name is _____
Ti a bo Goodbye Kaain ia ngkoe? Where are you from?
Ti a bo, tekeraoi Goodbye, have a safe
Ngai kaain _____ I am from _____ te mwananga trip / nice trip
Taiaoka Please Ko mwakuri ia? Where do you work?
Ko rabwa (singular) I mwakuri i
Thank you I work at _____ Kam rabwa (plural) (I makuri n te ____ ) _____
How are you (singular)?
Kabwara te bure Sorry Ko uara? Kam uara? How are you (dual / plural)?
Ko rabwa, I marurung Ko matauninga Excuse me I am fine, thank you (I marurung ko rabwa)
10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week Taeka aika a bonganga | Useful words Kiribati English Kiribati English
Ko a tia n amwarake? Have you eaten? Let’s
Mataniwi / Te Unimwane Leader / The Elder Ti a nako n amwarake go eat
Kabwara te bure ni iremwen te reitaki Apologies for the
Mitinare Church Minister rikaaki… delayed response…
As per my previous Ni kaineti ma au meeri are ma i mwaina… Te nati / te ataei Child email…
I kukurei ni maroroakinna I am happy to discuss Te karo / te tama Father
Te tai ni kamarurung! It’s gym time! Te tina Mother
Ko a reitaki nakoiu n te tarebon / Ko a
Call me Tarim (Your sister, ‘you’ being a ‘girl’) Sister tareboniai
Tekeraoi n am tokanikai! Congratulations! Tarina (Her sister)
Te Atua n tangira God of love Tariia (Their sister, ‘them’ being ‘girls’)
10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week Taeka aika a bonganga | Useful words Kiribati English Kiribati English
Tarira (Our sister, ‘us’ being ‘girls’) Tariia (Their brother, ‘them’ being ‘boys’)
Mwanem (Your sister ‘you’ being a ‘boy’) Tarira (Our brother, ‘us’ being ‘boys’)
Mwanena (His sister) Mwanem (Your brother, ‘you’ being a ‘girl’)
Mwanera (Our sister, ‘us’ being ‘boys’) Mwaneia (Their brother, ‘they’ being ‘girls’) Sister
Tarim (Your brother, ‘you’ being a ‘boy’) Brother Mwanera (Our brother, ‘us’ being ‘girls’)
Tarina (His brother) Raoraom Your friends
10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week Faith is an important aspect of the Kiribati culture. Below is a short prayer and hymn that can be used at the start of your day, to open a meeting or small gathering.
Tataro | Prayer Anene | Hymn
Kiribati English Kiribati English
Ti na tataro Let us pray E tangirai Atuau My God loves me
Tamara are i karawa Our heavenly father Ao I nori kamimi ni kabane And all the wonders I see
Ti bubutiko am kakabwaia We ask for your blessings The rainbow shines through E raititi nei Wirara n au winto n te wiki aei this week my window
Nakoira n tatabemanira nako To each and every one of us E tangirai Atuau My God loves me
Ti tataro n aran Iesu. Amen In Jesus name we pray. Amen
10 16 Te Taetae ni Kiribati JUL JUL Kiribati Language Week
