Carolinians
| Carolinian | |
|---|---|
| Refaluwasch | |
| Native to | Northern Mariana Islands |
| Region | Saipan, Anatahan, and Agrihan islands, Marianas. |
|
Native speakers
|
3,100 (2000) |
|
Austronesian
|
|
| Official status | |
|
Official language in
|
 Northern Mariana Islands
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | caro1242 |
Carolinian is an Austronesian language originating in Caroline Islands, but spoken in the Northern Mariana Islands, where it is an official language along with English, by the Carolinian people. Carolinian is a threatened language according to ELCat, but available data is scarce. There are approximately 3,100 native speakers in the world. Carolinian has 95% lexical similarity with Satawalese, 88% with Woleaian and Puluwatese; 81% with Mortlockese; 78% with Chuukese, 74% with Ulithian.
The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas occupies a chain of 14 islands in the Pacific around 1,300 miles southeast of Japan. The total land areas are only 183.5 square miles and some of the islands are unpopulated. The population is approximately 15,000 are Chamorros and 1,000 are Chamorros and 4,000 are Carolinians, total are 20,000 people. Most Carolinians live on Saipan, the largest island, though a very small island. Agrigan, is reported to be populated solely by Carolinians speaking Carolinian language.
Carolinian language is more usually known as Saipan Carolinian, it was born from several languages in the Carolinian language continuum, due to a century of migration from the west Carolinian atolls to the Northern Marianas island of Saipan in 1815. Spoken mostly by the Carolinian people, Carolinian is the most closely related dialect to Satawalese, Woleaian, and Puluwatese languages. Nowadays, Carolinian is still changing quickly in the face of English, which has dominated Micronesia since World War II. There are only a small percentage of Carolinian children left on Saipan, who can confidently speak the traditional form of the Carolinian.
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