Tobian (, literally "the language of Tobi") is the language of

Tobi ToBI (; an abbreviation of tones and break indices) is a set of conventions for transcribing and annotating the prosody of speech. The term "ToBI" is sometimes used to refer to the conventions used for describing American English specifically, whic ...

, one of the Southwest Islands of Palau, and the main island of

Hatohobei Tobi, or Hatohobei ( Tobian), is the southernmost of Palau's sixteen states, consisting of Tobi Island and Helen Reef. The total land area is about 0.88 km². The population was 25 in 2015. Tobian, English, and Sonsorolese are the offici ...

state. Tobian is a

Micronesian language The twenty Micronesian languages form a family of Oceanic languages. Micronesian languages are known for their lack of plain labial consonants; they have instead two series, palatalized and labio-velarized labials. Languages According to Jack ...

spoken by approximately 150 people, about 22 are native speakers. The speakers are located in either the island of Tobi or in Echang, a hamlet of

Koror Koror is the state comprising the main commercial centre of the Republic of Palau. It consists of several islands, the most prominent being Koror Island (also ''Oreor Island''). It is Palau’s most populous state. History In the oral tradition ...

, the former capital of Palau. Tobian and Sonsorolese are very close, and appear to be gradually merging towards a new dialect called "Echangese". Earlier in the 20th century, about 1000 people lived on the island. Shortly before and during the First World War, those numbers dropped severely due to an abundance of disease.

Classification

Tobian and the dialects of

Sonsorol Sonsorol is one of the sixteen states of Palau. The inhabitants speak Sonsorolese, a local Chuukic language, and Palauan. The islands of the state of Sonsorol, together with the islands of Hatohobei, form the Southwest Islands of Palau. Hi ...

Merir Merir or Melieli is a small outlying island of the Palau group, in the western Pacific Ocean. The island measures 0.90 km2 and is uninhabited. There is an abandoned village in the north-west of the island which previously hosted a radio stat ...

, and

Pulo Ana Pulo may refer to: Places * Pulo, Cabuyao, a village in the Philippines * Pulo do Lobo, a waterfall in Portugal * Pulo Gadung, a subdistrict in Jakarta, Indonesia * Pulo Jehat, an island in Malaysia * Duri Pulo, Gambir, a village in Indonesia * ...

, the other inhabited Southwest Islands, are closely related to the languages spoken in the

Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...

outer islands of

Yap Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...

and

Chuuk Lagoon Chuuk Lagoon, previously Truk Atoll, is an atoll in the central Pacific. It lies about northeast of New Guinea, and is part of Chuuk State within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). A protective reef, around, encloses a natural harbou ...

. These include

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest i ...

and the

Central Carolines Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. Altogether, these languages form a sub-group within the Micronesian languages. The names of these dialects are the terms that are commonly used in European terms. Below are the native names as compared to the common names: Tobi is the basis of a local

pidgin A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from s ...

Examples

* animal = ''mar'' * coconut palm = ''ruh'' * goodbye = ''sabuho'' * language = ''ramarih'' * soldierfish = ''red''

Counting

* one = ''sewo'' * two = ''huwou'' * three = ''soruo'' * four = ''fauwo'' This is only base counting. There are different numerals for a lot of different objects. Base Counting Words by Isauro Andre

Isauro Andrew

Phonology

Vowels

"œ" is used rarely and sounds similar to the French "eu" but the lips do not round out at the end of the sound and has critical meaning in words. There is a central low vowel that sounds like the "u" in "but", but it does not have semantic value and it has very rare occurrence.

Diphthongs

There are a lot of diphthongs in Tobian and according to Capell, "several of them are difficult for Europeans". äe as in mäe: breadfruit äi fäivi: woman aḛ wa′ŋaḛt: then ai maik: swordfish a:i ms:il, forehead decoration ao̯ wao̯: top au jau: needle, sauruai: my friend a:u sa:u: piece ei lei: agent of action oʉ woʉ: rather of house øi røi: coconut oil øʉ Pannøʉ: Palau

Homonyms and Near Homonyms

Like most other languages, Tobian has examples of homonyms but they are not as abundant. Meanings can vary solely on vowel length. Also small differences in sounds can produce major differences in meanings. For example, the difference between voiceless (f) and voiced (v) consonants are important but there are many exceptions where it does not affect the meaning. ŋøŋa 1. to chew betelnut 2. a stick used in weaving ʉl 1. a lobster 2. to pull, drag taitai 1. to excel, precede 2. to shave

Differences In Sounds

mäk: tatooing as compared with ma: kind of garnish ′pannʉ: coconut leaf Pannøʉ: Palau i′te: my name i′tøʉ?: who? teiføʉ: thirsty taivøʉ: new ŋøs: tired ŋo̯s: glans penis

Accents Of Words And Sentences

Tobian utilizes both stress and pitch accents or tones. Compared to the other dialects, it uses less musical tone. It is not a tonal language because the tone does not change the meaning of the word. Although it is not tonal, the speech has a wide variety of tone variations that appear to be emotional rather than linguistic and either show emphasis or other semantic components. Stress accents are used but not as much as English or Russian. In the past, the stress marks would normally be placed on the last syllable of the words. In the present, the stress marks can be placed either on the last syllable or the second to last syllable. # Accent on the Penultimate (Second to last) # Accent on the Final Syllable # Accent on the Antepenultimate (Third to last) # Sentence Stress # Vowel Harmony # Vowel Length # Furtive Vowels (Slightly heard or silent vowels)

Consonants

References

External links

Tobian language at ''Friends of Tobi Island''
*Open access recordings o
Hatohobei word lists, paradigms and narratives
are available through

Kaipuleohone Kaipuleohone is a digital ethnographic archive that houses audio and visual files, photographs, as well as hundreds of textual material such as notes, dictionaries, and transcriptions relating to small and endangered languages. The archive is stored ...

{{Austronesian languages Chuukic languages Languages of Palau Hatohobei Endangered Austronesian languages