endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
dialect continuum
A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varie ...
that is spoken by approximately 8,000 people (1987). It is spoken only on the
Austral Islands
The Austral Islands (french: Îles Australes, officially ''Archipel des Australes;'' ty, Tuha'a Pae) are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia, an overseas country of the French Republic in the South Pacific. Geographically, t ...
and the
Society Islands
The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the F ...
of
French Polynesia
)Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze")
, anthem =
, song_type = Regional anthem
, song = "Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui"
, image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of French ...
. The language is also referred to as Tubuai-Rurutu, Tubuai, Rurutu-Tupuai, or Tupuai. In structure, it is similarly compared to Tahitian.
History
Those who originally spoke Austral were the Tubuaians, the people of Tubuai. The island has been inhabited since at least 1215CE.
The first European to visit Tubuai was James Cook in 1777, though he did not land. The next Europeans to arrive were the mutineers of HMS ''Bounty'' in 1789. After establishing a fort, the mutineers degenerated into raiding local villages to kidnap women, and left after two months. Mutineer James Morrison recorded the population of Tubuai as "3000 souls". When Christian missionaries arrived thirty years later, the population had been reduced to just 300 people. One Protestant minister when visiting a congregation on Tubuai on January 3, 1824, wrote that several islanders were still suffering from a devastating illness. He described the symptoms and noted that several hundred had died within the previous four years. As a result, some traditional practices, beliefs, and languages have been lost or have struggled to survive. The languages of the Austral area still lack official recognition, as of 2015.
Genetic classification
Austral is sorted into the Austronesian family, which contains a majority of the Pacific languages. This family is divided into 15 subcategories, starting with Austronesian and ending with Tahitic. Specifically, it is broken down into Austronesian, Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, East, Central, and Tahitic.
Status
The Austral language is classified as "threatened" in the
Catalogue of Endangered Languages
The Catalogue of Endangered Languages (ELCat) is a major resource for information on the endangered languages of the world. It is available to the public via the Endangered Languages Projectbr>website
Language information
The Catalogue of Endan ...
. With less than 6% of the French Polynesian population speaking Austral, its '' Ethnologue'' status is also deemed to be "shifting". This means that the language is staying only within one generation and not being taught to their descendants. Another cause of the Austral language dissipation is that those who speak Austral are now speaking Tahitian. This alteration took place because Tahitian is better known and is spoken by more people in the region, while Austral is seen as futile as only a low percentage of people speak it.
Dialects
There are four dialects in the Austral language: Ra'ivavae, Rimatara, Rurutu, and Tubuai (also known as Tupuai). Each of these are spoken in their corresponding islands: Raivavae, Rimatara, and
Rurutu
Rūrutu is the northernmost island in the Austral archipelago of French Polynesia, and the name of a commune consisting solely of that island. It is situated south of Tahiti. Its land area is .voiced velar stop consonant, similar to the hard "g" sound in English.
All dialects have the same five vowels (, , , , , with long variants) similar to practically all Polynesian languages.
Language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...