Mortlockese
| Mortlockese | |
|---|---|
| Mortlock, Kapsen Mwoshulók, or Nomoi | |
| Native to | Federated States of Micronesia |
| Region | Caroline Islands |
|
Native speakers
|
(5,900 cited 1989 census) |
|
Austronesian
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | mort1237 |
Mortlockese (Kapsen Mwoshulók), also known as Mortlock or Nomoi, is a language that belongs to the Chuukic group of Micronesian languages in the Federated States of Micronesia spoken primarily in the Mortlock Islands (Nomoi (Lower Mortlock) Islands and the Upper Mortlock Islands). It is nearly intelligible with Satawalese, with an 18 percent intelligibility and an 82 percent lexical similarity, and Puluwatese, with a 75 percent intelligibility and an 83 percent lexical similarity. The language today has become mutually intelligible with Chuukese, though marked with a distinct Mortlockese accent. Linguistic patterns show that Mortlockese is converging with Chuukese since Mortlockese now has an 80 to 85 percent lexical similarity.
There are approximately 7,000 people that continue to speak Mortlockese in the Mortlock Islands. In communities of Guam, Hawaii and some other parts of the US. There are at least eleven different dialects that show some sort of correspondence to the Mortlock Island groups.
The Mortlockese Language is an Austronesian language that currently holds a 6b language status meaning that it is threatened for extinction. More specifically, a language is given the 6b language status when it is used by its speakers for in person communication between people of all generations while the amount of speakers decrease. In the nuclear Micronesian languages, Mortlockese Language falls under the Chuukic category. One factor that contributed to the classification of the Mortlock Language and how it is currently threatened to be extinct is the natural disasters like the typhoon that struck the Mortlock islands in 1907. These natural disasters killed many speakers of the Mortlock language and since most of the language was passed on orally, the natural disasters removed many outlets for passing on the culture and language to the youth.
The Mortlock islands, where Mortlockese is mainly spoken, is estimated to have had its first settlement around eight hundred to nine hundred years ago. There is evidence showing that the Mortlockese Language originated from the Chuuk Lagoon since many Mortlock natives trace their history back to the Chuuk Lagoon islands. Along with the genealogies, many clans that exist in the Mortlock islands also exist in the Chuuk Lagoon islands. In 1907, there was a typhoon that hit the Mortlock island Ta which caused the people there to move to Saipan and Pohnpei. Now, Mortlockese Language speakers can be found not only on the Mortlock islands, but also on Saipan and Pohnpei.
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