Blog — Marshallese

Lesson 40: Conditionals in Marshallese

This post is based on Practical Marshallese by Peter Rudiak-Gould, a freely distributed, full-length textbook for learning the native language of the Marshall Islands. It has been used since 2004 as the official language manual for all volunteers in the WorldTeach Marshall Islands program, and it has formed the basis of language classes for Americans at Kwajalein Atoll. The 102 short lessons describe the grammar of the language in practical and familiar terms, and a glossary presents 1500 useful words.

When you come, when you came, what, where, and if

In Lesson 19 you learned that the word for ‘when’ is ‘ñāāt.’ However, if you want to say ‘Leave when it is finished’ or ‘I’ll fish when it is low tide’ (that is, when the word ‘when’ is not implying a question), then use the word ‘ñe’:

Rọọl ñe eṃōj = (not Rọọl ñāāt eṃōj)	leave/when/it-finished	= Leave when it is finished
Inaaj eọñōd ñe epāāt = (not Inaaj eọñōd ñāāt epāāt)	I-FUTURE/fish/when/it-low tide	= I will fish when it is low tide

– If you are saying ‘when’ in the past tense, such as in the sentence ‘I didn’t know how to fish when I came,’ then you must use ‘ke’ (not ‘ñe’) for ‘when’. Since this is only used for the past tense, having the past tense afterward is optional:

Iaar jaje eọñōd ke ij itok = (not Iaar jaje eọñōd ñe ij itok) or Iaar jaje eọñōd ke iaar itok = (not Iaar jaje eọñōd ñe iaar itok)

I-PAST/not know/fish /when(past)/I-PRES/come I-PAST/not know/fish /when(past)/I-PAST/come

= I didn’t know how to fish when I came

– ‘Ñe’ can also mean ‘if,’ so there is some ambiguity:

Bojrak ñe kwōṃōk =	stop/when,if/you-tired	= Stop when you’re tired or Stop if you’re tired
Rōnaaj ṃōñā ñe rōkwōle =	they-FUTURE/eat /when,if/they-hungry	= They will eat when they are hungry or They will eat if they are hungry

If you want to make sure that you say ‘if,’ not ‘when,’ then say ‘eḷaññe,’ which means only ‘if.’

– If you are saying ‘if’ in a sentence like ‘I don’t know if they are working’ or ‘I am going to see if they are studying’ you can use either ‘eḷaññe’ or make the phrase into a question by adding ‘ke’:

Ijaje eḷaññe rej = jerbal or Ijaje rej ke = jerbal	I-don’t know/if/they-PRES/work 1 I-don’t know /they-PRES/?/work	= I don’t know if they are working = I don’t know are they working?	= I don’t know if they are working
Inaaj lale eḷaññe = rej ekkatak or Inaaj lale rej ke = ekkatak	I-FUTURE/look/if /they-PRES/study I-FUTURE/look /they-PRES/?/study	= I will look if they are studying = I will look are they studying?	= I am going to see if they are studying

– If you are using the word ‘what’ without implying a question (such as in the sentence ‘I know what you did’) then do not use ‘ta,’ but rather ‘men eo’ (‘the thing’) or ‘men ko’ (‘the things’):

Ijeḷā men eo kwaar kōṃṃane=	I-know/thing/the/you-PAST/did-it	= I know what you did
Roñjake men ko ij ba =	listen to/thing/the(plural)/I-PRES/say	= Listen to what I say

– If you are using the word ‘where’ without implying a question (such as in the sentence ‘Go to where there are fish’ then do not use ‘ia,’ but rather ‘ijo’ (‘there’) and put ‘ie’ at the end of the sentence:

Etal ñan ijo ewōr ek ie = (not Etal ñan ia ewōr ek)	go/to/there/there are/fish/in-it	= Go to where there are fish
Eṃṃan ijo iaar ḷotak ie = (not Eṃṃan ia iaar ḷotak)	it-good/there/I-PAST/born/in-it	= I like where I was born

Vocabulary

ṃwilaḷ	deep, profound
pejpej	shallow
uklele (from English)	ukulele, to play the ukulele
kautiej	respect, to treat respectfully
baro (from English)	borrow
innām ḷak ṃōj	and then
kadek	poisonous (of fish), poisoned (from eating fish), intoxicated, drunk, get drunk
ek in kadek	poisonous fish
dānnin kadek	alcohol

Pronunciation Practice – ‘t’

You have already learned some Marshallese letters that are pronounced differently in different contexts. For instance, ‘j’ usually sounds like a cross between ‘s’ and ‘sh,’ but when it is right between two vowels it sounds like a cross between ‘z’ and the ‘g’ in ‘mirage.’

Marshallese ‘t’ is another letter that is pronounced differently in different contexts. Usually it is pronounced close to an English ‘t.’ But listen to the way that Marshallese people say the following word: ‘tutu.’ The first ‘t’ sounds a lot like an English ‘t,’ but the second one sounds more like English ‘d.’ (If they are speaking very carefully and deliberately, both t’s may be like English ‘t.’) Thus, Marshallese ‘t’ usually sounds like English ‘t,’ but when it is right between two vowels, it sounds more like English ‘d.’

Here are some words to practice on:

Sounds like English ‘t’		Sounds like English ‘d’
tutu	‘take a shower’	tutu	‘take a shower’
tata	‘-est’	tata	‘-est’
ti	‘tea’	itok	‘come’
etto	‘a long time ago’	katak	‘learn’
rūtto	‘old’	jota	‘evening’
ṃanit	‘culture’	letok	‘give to me’
lọjet	‘ocean’	ralitōk	‘eight’

Practical Marshallese

Lesson 39: Which fish, what kind of fish, you and who else?

Which fish, what kind of fish, you and who else?

There are even more ways to make questions in Marshallese.

– To say ‘which ___’ or ‘what kind of ____’, use the following words after the noun:

ta	which?
rot or rōt or tor	what kind of?

For example:

Āne ta? =	island/which	= Which island?
Ek rōt? =	fish/what kind	= What kind of fish?

– There is a question word that means ‘and who else?’:

et	and who else?

For example:

Kwe et? =	you/and who else	= You and who else?
Amy et? =	Amy/and who else	= Amy and who else?

– There is yet another word for ‘why,’ which is used in a special way:

jaaṃ

why?

You must put it right after a subject pronoun. For example:

Ejaaṃ jerbal? =	he-why/work	= Why is he working?
Kwōjaaṃ jeḷā = kajin ṃajeḷ?	you-why/know/ language of/Marshall	= Why do you know Marshallese? (i.e. How do you know it? How did you learn it?)

(As you can see from the second example, ‘jaaṃ’ can sometimes imply ‘how.’)

– There are some question words that always go by themselves, never with a sentence:

Ewōr ta?	What’s up? What’s happening?	Ebajeet?	Why?
Eita?	What’s the matter?	Bwe?	Why?
Eita ___?	What’s the matter with ___?	Bwe ta?	Why?
Eet?	What’s the matter?	Bwe et?	Why?
Tu ia?	Where exactly?	Im ta?	In order to do what?

Vocabulary

deḷọñ	to enter, to go inside
diwōj	to exit, to go outside
jimattan	half, half of
kōn menin	so (as in ‘I was sick, so I didn’t go to school’), therefore
joḷọk iien or kọkkure iien	waste time
karjin (from English)	kerosene
laḷ in	the world, the Earth
ḷain (from English)	line, clothesline, line up, form a line
ṃōttan ___	in (a certain amount of time), ___ remaining Ex. Ṃōttan ruo = Two left/two more
peeḷ (from English)	bell

Pronunciation Practice – How to pronounce the name of your island correctly

This book uses the new spelling system, which spells words very close to how they are pronounced. The only exception is the names of places, which have been spelled according to the old system for so long that they are almost never spelled with the new system. However, so that you can pronounce the names of atolls, islands, and parts of Majuro correctly, here are the real pronunciations. As you can see, some of them are quite far from the normal spelling:

Usual Spelling	Actual Pronunciation	Usual Spelling	Actual Pronunciation	Usual Spelling	Actual Pronunciation
Ailinginae	Aelōñinae	Jemo	Jāmọ	Maloelap	Ṃaḷoeḷap
Ailinglaplap	Aelōñḷapḷap	Kili	Kōle	Mejit	Mājeej or Mejeej
Aerok	Aerōk	Knox	Ṇadikdik	Mili	Mile
Je	Je	Kwajalein	Kuwajleen	Namorik	Naṃdik
Woja	Wōja	Ebeye	Ibae	Namu	Naṃo
Arno	Arṇo or Aṇṇo	Lae	Lae	Majkin	Ṃajkōn
Ine	Ine	Likiep	Likiep	Rongelap	Roñḷap
Kilane	Kilañe	Majuro	Mājro	Rongerik	Roñdik
Tinak	Tinak	Ajeltake	Ajeltake	Taka	Tōkā
Aur	Aur	Delap	Teḷap	Ujae	Wūjae
Bikar	Pikaar	Ejit	Ājej	Ujelang	Wūjlañ
Bikini	Pikinni	Enemanit	Āneṃanōt	Utirik	Utrōk
Ebon	Epoon	Laura	Ḷora	Wotho	Wōtto
Taka	Tōkā	Rairok	Rairōk	Wotje	Wōjjā
Eniwetak	Ānewātak	Rita	Rita	Wodmej	Wōdmeej
Erikub	Ādkup	Rongrong	Roñroñ
Jabwot	Jebat	Uliga	Wūlka
Jaluit	Jālwōj or Jālooj	Woja	Wōja

Practical Marshallese

Lesson 38: More about questions

How, how much, how long, how big (More about questions)

In Lesson 19 you learned some common questions words (‘who,’ ‘what,’ etc.) and learned that they can be put in many places in the sentence, not just at the beginning. There are some exceptions to this. For the words for ‘how,’ ‘how much,’ ‘how long,’ and a certain word for ‘why,’ you must put them at the beginning of the sentence. Here are these words:

ewi wāween or enret or ālmen	how?	ewi joñan	how much?
ewi toon	how long? (in time, not length)
ta unin	why?

To use these words, put ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc. afterwards. For instance:

Enret ami kōṃṃane? =	how/your(plural)/do-it	= How do you guys do it?
Ewi joñan aṃ jeḷā = kajin ṃajeḷ?	how much/your/know /language of/Marshall	= How much Marshallese do you know?
Ewi toon aṃ pād ilo = Majuro?	how long/your/located/in/ Majuro	= How long have you been in Majuro?
Ta unin ami ṃōṇōṇō? =	why/your(plur.)/happy	= Why are you guys happy?

(Remember that there is another word for ‘why’ [‘etke’] which is used exactly like in English: ‘Etke kwōj jerbal?’ means ‘Why are you working?’)

– ‘Ewi joñan’ can also be used for the ‘how’ in ‘how big?’ ‘how tall?’ ‘how small?’ etc.:

Ewi joñan an kilep? =	how much/its/big	= How big is it?
Ewi joñan aṃ nañinmej? =	how much/your/sick	= How sick are you?

– If you want to say any of these sentences in the past or future, add ‘kar’ or ‘naaj’ either before the question word, or after the word for ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc.:

Naaj enret aer kōṃṃane? = or Enret aer naaj kōṃṃane? =	FUTURE/how/their/do-it how/their/FUTURE/do-it	= How will they do it?
Kar ewi joñan am nañinmej? = or Ewi joñan am kar nañinmej? =	PAST/how much/your/sick how much/your/PAST/sick	= How sick were you?

– You must be careful when you want to say ‘how.’ If you mean ‘how’ in the sense of ‘in what way,’ ‘by what means,’ use ‘ewi wāween,’ ‘enret,’ or ‘ālmen.’ If you mean ‘how’ in the sense of ‘is it good?’ ‘do you like it?’, then use ‘eṃṃan ke’ (‘is it good?’). If you mean ‘how’ in the sense of ‘what’s it doing?’ ‘what is its condition?’, then use ‘ej et’ (‘it does what’). For example:

Ewi wāween aṃ = ṃōñā mā?	how/your/eat/breadfruit	= How do you eat breadfruit? (In what way? By what means?)
Eṃṃan ke = Ṃaḷoeḷap?	it-good/?/Maloelap	= How’s Maloelap? (Is it good? Do you like it?)
Ej et lañ? =	it-PRES/do what/weather	= How’s the weather? (What is it doing? What is its condition?)

Vocabulary

joob (from English)	soap
joob in tutu	soap for bathing
joob in kwaḷkoḷ	soap for washing
kijeek	fire
pā	hand, arm, wing
pedped	reef, foundation
tōmak	believe Ex. Ij jab tōmak eok = I don’t believe you Ex. Ij tōmak bwe kwōnaaj bar itok = I think you will come back
wōn	turtle
bōjrak	stop
kọkkure	to mess up (something), waste, break (a rule), violate, hurt, ruin, damage, harm

Pronunciation Practice

More about j

In the Pronunciation Practice in the last lesson, you learned that ‘j’ is pronounced halfway in between ‘s’ and ‘sh,’ or ‘ts’ and ‘ch.’ The only time when this isn’t true is when ‘j’ is surrounded by vowels on both sides, such as in the words ‘ṃajeḷ’ and ‘mijak.’ In this case ‘j’ is pronounced halfway in between English ‘j’ (as in ‘jam’) and the ‘g’ in ‘mirage.’ Start by pronouncing an English ‘j’ (as in ‘jam’) and slowly turn it into the ‘g’ in ‘mirage.’ If you stop halfway in between, then you have the pronunciation of Marshallese ‘j’ when it is between vowels.

Here are some words to practice on:

ṃajeḷ	‘Marshall Islands’	rijikuuḷ	‘student’	kōjerbal	‘use’
mijak	‘scared’	kajin	‘language’	bwijin	‘many’

Practical Marshallese

Lesson 37: After, before

After you go, before you go, I see you go, I watch you go

– You can use ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc. in yet another way in Marshallese. To say ‘after you go,’ or ‘before you go,’ you say instead ‘after your go,’ ‘before your go’. Here are the words for ‘after’ and ‘before’:

ālikin or ṃōjin	after
ṃokta jān	before

For example:

ṃōjin jerbal =	after/work	= after working
ṃōjin am jerbal =	after/your/work	= after you work
ṃokta jān iukkure =	before/play	= before playing
ṃokta jān aer iukkure =	before/their/play	= before they play

– You can also use ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc. to say ‘I let you go’ (‘I let your go’) ‘I watch you go (‘I watch your go’) or ‘I wait for you to go’ (‘I wait for your go’), etc.:

Rej kōtḷọk aṃ iukkure =	they-PRES/let/your/play	= They let you play.
Ij alwōj am iukkure =	I-PRES/watch/your/play	= I am watching you play
Kwaar lo aō etal =	you-PAST/see/my/go	= You saw me go
Raar roñ ad bwebwenato =	they-PAST/hear/our/talk	= They heard us talking
Ij kōttar aṃ kōmat =	I-PRES/wait for/your/cook	= I am waiting for you to cook

– You can also use ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc. after the word for ‘because of’ (‘kōn’) to make a phrase like ‘because you are sick,’ ‘because you are working’:

kōn am nañinmej =	because of/your/sick	= because you are sick
kōn an Alino jerbal =	because of/her/Alino/work	= because Alino is working

(You can also just say ‘kōnke’ or ‘bwe’ to mean ‘because,’ as in ‘kōnke kwōnañinmej’ (‘because you are sick.’)

– This can also be used to say ‘Thank you for ____’

Koṃṃool kōn ṃōñā eo =	thank you/because of/food/the	= Thank you for the food
Koṃṃool kōn aṃ jipañ eō =	thank you/because of/your/help/me	= Thank you for helping me

Vocabulary

kinaak	to tell on, to report someone to an authority figure
bọọj (from English)	boss, leader
bar	head, head hair
bōran	head of, head hair of, tip of
inepata	worry, worried, upset Ex. Jab inepata = Don’t worry
jea (from English)	chair
jitto	western half of an island
jittak	eastern half of an island

Pronunciation Practice

‘j’

Marshallese ‘j’ sounds something like English ‘s,’ ‘sh,’ ‘z,’ ‘j,’ ‘ts,’ ‘ch,’ or ‘garage,’ but it is not quite any of these. To learn how to pronounce it more accurately, say English ‘s’ and then ‘sh.’ Say one and then the other over and over again and notice what your tongue is doing. In both sounds the tongue is near the top of the mouth, and a little bit of air is escaping over it, making a hissing sound. With ‘s,’ the tongue is behind the teeth, but with ‘sh’ it is farther back, behind the ridge that is behind the teeth. Now pronounce ‘s,’ hold it, and slowly turn it into ‘sh.’ If you stop halfway in between, then you have Marshallese ‘j.’

‘j’ sometimes sounds different than this, but it is always pronounced in the same place in the mouth, halfway in between where English ‘s’ and ‘sh’ are pronounced. Another pronunciation of ‘j’ other than the one described in the paragraph above is as follows: pronounce English ‘ts’ (like in ‘pots’) over and over and slowly change it into ‘ch’ (like in ‘chat’). If you stop halfway in between, you will have this other pronunciation of ‘j.’ Try saying these words with either the s/sh pronunciation or the ts/ch pronunciation:

jaab	‘no’	ṃōj	‘finished’	ejjeḷọk	‘there are no’
juon	‘one’	aebōj	‘drinking water’	kajjitōk	‘question’
jān	‘from’	mej	‘dead’	kajjioñ	‘try’

Practical Marshallese

Lesson 36: Comparatives in Marshallese

Pretty big, very big, big enough, too big

In the last lesson you learned how to make sentences like ‘I fish often’ by saying ‘it is often my fish.’ You can also do the same sort of thing with adjectives, to say things like ‘It is very good,’ ‘it is pretty good,’ etc. Here are some words you can use this way:

eḷap	very
edik	not very
ebwe	somewhat, pretty, fairly, enough
ejabwe	not enough

For example:

Eḷap an eṃṃan =	it-big/its/good	= It is very good
Edik an eṃṃan =	it-small/its/good	= It is not very good
Ebwe an kilep =	it-enough/its/big	= It is pretty big or It is big enough
Ejabwe an kilep =	it-not enough/its/big	= It is not big enough
Eḷap aṃ nañinmej =	it-big/your/sick	= You are very sick
Ejabwe aer aetok =	it-not enough/their/tall	= They are not tall enough
Eḷap an kilep =	it-big/its/big	= It is big

– If you want to say sentences like ‘It is big enough,’ ‘I walk slowly,’ or ‘I eat a lot’ in the past or future, then put ‘naaj’ or ‘kar’ either with the first word or after the word for ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc.:

Ekar bwe an kilep = or Ebwe an kar kilep =	it-PAST/enough/its/big enough/its/PAST/big	= It was big enough
Ekar ṃōkaj aō etetal = or Eṃōkaj aō kar etetal =	it-PAST/fast/my/walk it-fast/my/PAST/walk	= I walked fast
Enaaj ḷap aṃ ṃōñā = or Eḷap aṃ naaj ṃōñā =	it-FUTURE/big/your/eat it-big/your/FUTURE/eat	= You will eat a lot

– There are also a few words like this that go right before the adjective, like in English:

lukkuun or lukkuun in	very, really	kanooj or kanooj in	very, really	kadik	particularly, too
jab lukkuun or jab lukkuun in	not very	jab kanooj or jab kanooj in	not very

For example:

Elukkuun kilep =	it-very/big	= It is very big
Ejab lukkuun eṃṃan =	it-not/very/good	= It is not very good
Kwōkanooj in jouj =	you-very/of/nice	= You are very nice
Ekadik kilep =	it-particularly,too/big	= It is particularly big or It is too big
Ekadik lōñ =	it-particularly,too/there are	= There are too many

Vocabulary

retio (from English)	radio
tāākji (from English)	taxi
teej (from English)	test, exam, take a test
pāātḷọk	tide going out (getting lower)
ibwijtok	tide coming in (getting higher)
kaṇaṃṇaṃ	mosquito coil
kabbōl	to turn on (a light, lamp, etc.)
kun	to turn off (a light, lamp, etc.)
jabdewōt	any, anything, anybody
marok	dark
kōtḷọk	let, allow, let go, release

Language Tip

Too much, too big

To say phrases like ‘too much,’ ‘too many,’ or ‘too big’ in Marshallese, you can use ‘kadik’ for ‘too.’ But you can also just say ‘a lot,’ ‘very many,’ ‘very big,’ and context indicates that you mean ‘too much,’ ‘too big.’ For instance:

Elukkuun lōñ armej =	it-very/there are/people	= There are many people or There are too many people
Ekadik lōñ armej =	it-too/there are/people	= There are too many people
Eḷap aṃ idaak =	it-big/your/drink	= You drink a lot or You drink too much
Ekadik ḷap aṃ idaak =	it-too/big/your/drink	= You drink too much

If you want to say ‘it is too big to carry’ or ‘the tide is too low to fish’ just use ‘lukkuun’ for ‘too’ and ‘ñan’ for ‘to’ :

Elukkuun pāāt ñan eọñōd=

it-very/low tide/for/fishing

= The tide is too low to go fishing

Practical Marshallese

Lesson 35: Adverbs

I walk fast, I walk slow, I fish often, I fish sometimes

In the last three lessons you learned how to use ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc. to say sentences like ‘I have eaten,’ ‘you have eaten.’ In this lesson you will learn how to use them to say sentences like ‘I walk fast,’ ‘you walk slow,’ ‘I fish often,’ ‘I fish sometimes’:

– In Marshallese, instead of saying ‘I walk fast’ you would say ‘it is fast my walk.’ For instance:

Eṃōkaj aō etetal =	it-fast/my/walk	= I walk fast
Eruṃwij aṃ etetal =	it-slow/your/walk	= You walk slow
Eṃṃan aṃ kōṃṃane =	it-good/your/do-it	= You do it well
Enana aer kōṃṃane =	it-bad/their/do-it	= They do it badly

– In the same way, you can make sentences like ‘I fish often,’ ‘I usually fish,’ etc. Here are some words you can use in this way:

emakijkij =	often	eḷap =	a lot
ejọkkutkut =	seldom	edik =	little
ekkā wōt =	usually, very often	juon/ruo/jilu alen = or juon/ruo/jilu katten	one/two/three times
eto =	for a long time

For example:

Emakijkij aō eọñōd =	often/my/fish	= I fish often
Ejọkkutkut am eọñōd =	seldom/your/fish	= You seldom fish
Ekkā wōt an nañinmej =	very often/his/sick	= He is sick very often
Eto aō pād ilo Tōkā =	long time/my/located/in/Taka	= I have been on Taka a long time
Eto aō jab lo eok =	long time/my/not/see/you	= I haven’t seen you for a long time
Eto aō jañin lo eok =	long time/my/not yet/see you	= I haven’t seen you for a long time
Eḷap ad idaak =	a lot/our/drink	= We drink a lot
Eḷap an Merina ekkatak =	a lot/her/Merina/learn	= Merina learns a lot
Edik am ṃōñā =	little/your/eat	= You don’t eat very much
Ruo katten aō pād ilo Je =	two/time/my/located/in/Je	= I have been in Je twice
Jete katten am eọñōd? =	how many/time/your/fish?	= How many times have you fished?

– For a few words, you can just put them at the end of the sentence like in English:

jidik	a little, for a little while	juon/ruo/jilu alen or juon/ruo/jilu katten	one/two/three times
jet ien	sometimes
aolep iien	always	lōñ alen	often, many times

For example:

Kwōj ṃōñā jidik =	you-PRES/eat/a little	= You eat a little
Ij iukkure jet ien =	I-PRES/play/sometimes	= I play sometimes
Iaar etal ñan Ebeye juon alen =	I-PAST/go/to/Ebeye/one/time	= I went to Ebeye once

Vocabulary

keememej	remember Ex. Ij keememej = I remember
jibwe	to take, to grab, to touch
būbū	grandma
jiṃṃa	grandpa
kōḷḷā	to pay, to get paid
kōmat	to cook
mat	cooked (not raw)
kūbwe	feces
kwōpej (from English)	garbage
ḷotak	to be born

Pronunciation Practice

r and d

Marshallese ‘r’ and ‘d’ are very different from English ‘r’ and ‘d,’ but very similar to each other. To start being able to pronounce them, say the following sentence over and over: ‘dead-headed Ed edited it.’ As you do it faster and faster, you will notice that your tongue is going up towards the ridge behind your teeth and quickly tapping it before going back down. This is equivalent to the untrilled (not rolled) ‘r’ in Spanish, and is very close to both ‘r’ and ‘d’ in Marshallese. If you can master this untrilled ‘r’ then you can use it for both ‘r’ and ‘d,’ and Marshallese people will usually understand you.

If you want to be able to pronounce Marshallese ‘r’ and ‘d’ even better, than you need to learn to trill (roll) your r’s. Say ‘oughta’ over and over, and feel your tongue tapping against the ridge behind your teeth. Eventually, you will find the right tongue position where the air coming out of your mouth makes your tongue vibrate against the ridge behind your teeth. Practice it every day until you get it.

If you want to pronounce Marshallese ‘r’ and ‘d’ perfectly, then you need to learn the slight difference between them. ‘d’ is the same as ‘r’ except that ‘d’ is pronounced with the tongue a little bit closer to the front of the mouth. ‘r’ is articulated on the ridge behind the teeth, but ‘d’ is articulated right at the top of the teeth. This is a very difficult contrast to master, but it is worth trying.

Here are some words to practice on:

riṃajeḷ	‘Marshallese person’	dik	‘small’
ripālle	‘American’	dān	‘liquid’
ire	‘fight’	idaak	‘drink’
ṃōrō	‘kill’	jidik	‘a little’
karreo	‘to clean’	leddik	‘girl’
jorrāān	‘problem’	ḷaddik	‘boy’
iar	‘lagoon’	ad	‘our’
kōttar	‘wait’	pād	‘located’

Lesson 34: Perfect Past Questions

Have you fished? Have you ever fished?

– Similar to the last two lessons, in Marshallese all of the following are said in the same way:

Are you finished eating?
Have you eaten?
Did you already eat?
Have you already eaten?

Just add ‘ke’ after ‘eṃōj’ in the phrases you learned in Lesson 32:

Eṃōj ke aṃ ṃōñā =	it-finished/?/ your(sing.)/eat	= Are you(sing.) finished eating? or Have you(sing.) eaten?
Eṃōj ke an ṃōñā =	it-finished/?/ his,her,its/eat	= Is he/she/it finished eating? or Has he/she/it eaten?
Eṃōj ke an Colleen ṃōñā =	it-finished/?/ her/Colleen/eat	= Is Colleen finished eating? or Has Colleen eaten?

etc.

– There is another phrase which means ‘Have you ____?’ or ‘Have you ever ____?’, but not ‘Are you finished ____?’:

Kwōnañin ke ____?	Have you ____? or Have you ever _____?
Enañin ke ____?	Has he/she/it ____? or Has he/she/it ever ____?
Renañin ke ____?	Have they ____? or Have they ever ____?

etc.

– To answer any of these questions, use what you learned in the previous two sections:

Question	Meaning	Possible answers	Meaning
Eṃōj ke aṃ ṃōñā?	Are you finished eating? or Have you eaten?	Aet, eṃōj aō ṃōñā Jaab, ejañin ṃōj aō ṃōñā Jaab, ij jañin ṃōñā	Yes, I am finished eating No, I am not finished yet No, I haven’t eaten
Kwōnañin ke eọñōd?	Have you ever fished?	Aet, eṃōj aō eọñōd Jaab, ejañin ṃōj aō eọñōd Jaab, ij jañin eọñōd	Yes, I have fished No, I have never fished No, I have never fished

– You can also just answer with ‘eṃōj,’ ‘ejañin,’ or ‘ij jañin’:

Question	Meaning	Possible answers	Meaning
Eṃōj ke aṃ ṃōñā?	Are you finished eating? or Have you eaten?	Eṃōj Ejañin Ij jañin	Yes (I am finished eating) No (I am not finished yet) No (I haven’t eaten)
Kwōnañin ke eọñōd?	Have you ever fished?	Eṃōj Ejañin ṃōj Ij jañin	Yes (I have fished) No (I have never fished) No (I have never fished)

Dialogues

A: Kwōnañin ke pād ilo Amedka?	A: Have you ever been to America?
B: Ij jañin pād ilo Amedka, ak eṃōj aō pād ilo Ebeye.	B: I’ve never been to America, but I’ve been to Ebeye.
A: Eṃōj ke aṃ pād ilo outer island?	A: Have you been on the outer islands?
B: Eṃōj. Eṃōj aō jaṃbo ñan Arno.	B: Yes. I’ve taken a trip to Arno.
A: Kwaar ke tutu iar im alwōj wōd ko?	A: Did you swim in the lagoon and look at the coral?
B: Iaar jab, kōnke imijak pako.	B: I didn’t, because I’m afraid of sharks.

A: Eṃōj ke aṃ jerbal?	A: Are you finished working?
B: Ejañin ṃōj.	B: Not yet.
A: Kwōj ta?	A: What are you doing?
B: Ña ij koṃṃane juon ekkatak ñan ilju.	B: I’m making a lesson for tomorrow.
A: Ekwe. Ne eṃōj, jenij kakkije im bwebwenato ippān doon.	A: Okay. When you’re done, we’ll relax and chat together.

Vocabulary

le	informal word used at the end of a sentence when talking to a woman or girl Ex. Kwōj etal ñan ia le? = Where are you going, girl?
ḷe	informal word used at the end of a sentence when talking to a man or boy Ex. Kwōj etal ñan ia ḷe? = Where are you going, man?
liṃa	informal word used at the end of a sentence when talking to more than one woman or girl Ex. Iọkwe liṃa = Hi girls
ḷōṃa	informal word used at the end of a sentence when talking to more than one man or boy Ex. Iọkwe ḷōṃa = Hi guys
peet (from English)	bed
tiṃōṇ	demon
ṃane	hit, spank, kill
wūt	flower, flower headdress
wōjke	tree
bwiro	preserved breadfruit (a common food)

Language Tip

le, ḷe, liṃa, and ḷōṃa

In the vocabulary above you saw the words ‘le,’ ‘ḷe,’ ‘liṃa,’ ‘ḷōṃa.’ These are used between people who are on friendly and informal terms with each other. Use them in these circumstances and you will sound very Marshallese. Use them in the wrong circumstances and the worst that is likely to happen is that people will laugh at you.

Lesson 33: Negative Perfect Past

I haven’t eaten, you haven’t eaten

– Similar to what you learned in the last lesson, in Marshallese the following are all said in the same way:

I am not finished eating

I am not finished eating yet

I haven’t eaten

I haven’t eaten yet

I have never eaten

To express this, you must say ‘It is not yet finished my eat,’ ‘It is not yet finished your eat,’ etc. For ‘not yet’ use ‘jañin’:

Ejañin ṃōj aō ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /my/eat	= I am not finished eating or I have not eaten
Ejañin ṃōj aṃ ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /your(sing.)/eat	= You(sing.) are not finished or You(sing.) have eaten
Ejañin ṃōj an ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /his,her,its/eat	= He, She, or It is not finished eating or He, She, or It has not eaten
Ejañin ṃōj an Colleen ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /her/Colleen/eat	= Colleen is not finished eating or Colleen has not eaten
Ejañin ṃōj ad ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /our(incl.)/eat	= We(incl.) are not finished eating or We(incl.) have not eaten
Ejañin ṃōj am ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /our(excl.)/eat	= We(excl.) are not finished eating or We(excl.) have not eaten
Ejañin ṃōj ami ṃōñā =	it-not yet/finished /your(plur.)/eat	= You(plur.) are not finished eating or You(plur.) have not eaten
Ejañin ṃōj aer ṃōñā =	it-not yet /finished/their/eat	= They are not finished eating or They have not eaten

– There is also another construction that means ‘I haven’t eaten,’ ‘I haven’t eaten yet,’ or ‘I have never eaten’ but not ‘I am not finished eating’:

Ij jañin ṃōñā =	I-PRES/not yet/eat	= I haven’t eaten (yet)
Kwōj jañin ṃōñā =	you(sing.)-PRES/not yet/eat	= You(sing.) haven’t eaten (yet)
Ej jañin ṃōñā =	he,she,it-PRES/not yet/eat	= He, She, or It hasn’t eaten (yet)
Colleen ej jañin ṃōñā =	Colleen/she-PRES/not yet/eat	= Colleen hasn’t eaten (yet)
Jej jañin ṃōñā =	we(incl.)-PRES/not yet/eat	= We(incl.) haven’t eaten (yet)
Kōmij jañin ṃōñā =	we(excl.)-PRES/not yet/eat	= We(excl.) haven’t eaten (yet)
Koṃij jañin ṃōñā =	you(plur.)-PRES/not yet/eat	= You(plur.) haven’t eaten (yet)
Rej jañin ṃōñā =	I-PRES/not yet/eat	= They haven’t eaten (yet)

Vocabulary

doon	each other
ippān doon	together, with each other, to cooperate
jiṃaat (from English) or mālōtlōt	smart
jukwa	sugar, use sugar
kab	and also
kajoor	strong, powerful
kweet	octopus
laḷ	ground
ilaḷ	on the ground
ṇaṃ (E: jokwajok)	mosquito

Pronunciation Practice

ọ

‘Ọ’ is difficult for some English speakers to pronounce. If you come from the East Coast of the United States, then you may already pronounce this vowel in English. Say the words ‘cot’ and ‘caught.’ If you pronounce them differently, then you speak a dialect of English that has the ‘ọ’ sound. It is the ‘au’ in ‘caught,’ and you can simply pronounce Marshallese ‘ọ’ this way. However, if you pronounce ‘cot’ and ‘caught’ the same way, then you speak a dialect of English that does not have the ‘ọ’ sound, and you will need to learn to pronounce it.

To learn to pronounce ‘ọ,’ first say the ‘oa’ in English ‘boat.’ Hold the vowel sound and notice what your lips are doing. They are scrunching together slightly to form a circle. Now pronounce the ‘o’ in ‘lot.’ Hold the vowel sound and pucker your lips like you did with the ‘oa’ in ‘boat,’ and you have ‘ọ.’ It is just the ‘o’ in ‘lot’ with your lips rounded.

Here are some words to practice on:

lọjet	‘ocean’	kọọt	‘steal’	bọọk	‘box’	turọñ	‘spearfish’
iọkwe	‘love’	tọọl	‘towel’	bọọj	‘boss’	ennọ	‘tasty’
kọpe	‘coffee’	rọọl	‘leave’	deḷọñ	‘enter’	piọ	‘feel cold’

Lesson 32: Perfect Past

I have eaten, you have eaten

– In Marshallese the following are expressed in the same way:

I am finished eating

I have eaten

I already ate

I have already eaten

To make sentences like this, say ‘It is finished my eat,’ ‘It is finished your eat,’ etc.:

Eṃōj aō ṃōñā =	it-finished/my/eat	= I am finished eating or I have eaten or I already ate
Eṃōj aṃ ṃōñā =	it-finished/your(sing.)/eat	= You(sing.) are finished eating or You(sing.) have eaten or You(sing.) already ate
Eṃōj an ṃōñā =	it-finished/his,her,its/eat	= He, She, or It has finished eating or He, She, or It has eaten or He, She, or It already ate
Eṃōj an Colleen ṃōñā =	it-finished/her/Colleen/eat	= Colleen is finished eating or Colleen has eaten or Colleen already ate
Eṃōj ad ṃōñā =	it-finished/our(incl.)/eat	= We(incl.) are finished eating or We(incl.) have eaten or We(incl.) already ate
Eṃōj am ṃōñā =	it-finished/our(excl.)/eat	= We(excl.) are finished eating or We(excl.) have eaten or We(excl.) already ate
Eṃōj ami ṃōñā =	it-finished/your(plur.)/eat	= You(plur.) are finished eating or You(plur.) have eaten or You(plur.) already ate
Eṃōj aer ṃōñā =	it-finished/their/eat	= They are finished eating or They have eaten or They already ate

– If you want to emphasize that the thing has already happened, then you can add ‘kadede’ (‘beforehand, already,’) to a sentence like ‘Eṃōj aō ṃōñā’:

Eṃōj aō ṃōñā kadede =

it-finished/my/eat/already

= I already ate or I have already eaten

Vocabulary

uwaak	answer (noun or verb), reply
wōd	coral, coral reef, coral head
iakiu or baseball (from English)	baseball
volleyball	volleyball
basket	basketball
outer island (from English) or aelōñ ko ilikin	outer islands
bōd	wrong, error, mistake, make a mistake, fault Ex. Ebōd = It is wrong Ex. Kwaar bōd = You were wrong/You made a mistake Ex. Aṃ bōd = It’s your fault
joḷọk bōd	I’m sorry, to apologize
jiṃwe	correct, right, straight
kōjām	door, gate

Practical Marshallese

Lesson 31: Not yet and never

Not yet and never

– Marshallese has a word ‘jañin’ (or ‘jāñin’) that means ‘not yet.’ It goes before the verb or adjective:

Eṃōj =	it-finished	= It is finished
Ejañin ṃōj =	it-not yet/finished	= It isn’t finished yet
Ij eọñōd =	I-PRES/fish	= I am fishing
Ij jañin eọñōd =	I-PRES/not yet/fish	= I haven’t fished yet

– This leads to a very common phrase meaning ‘It hasn’t been decided yet,’ ‘We’re not sure yet,’ ‘I’m not sure yet’:

Ejañin alikkar =

it-not yet/clear

= It hasn’t been decided yet or I’m/we’re not sure yet

For instance, if someone asks you when you are going back to America, and you have decided yet, say ‘ejañin alikkar.’

– ‘Jañin’ can also mean ‘never,’ but only in certain circumstances. To see how to use ‘jañin’ as ‘never,’ and other ways to say ‘never,’ look at the following examples:

Iaar jañin eọñōd =	I-PAST/not yet/fish	= I hadn’t fished yet or I never fished
Ij jañin eọñōd =	I-PRES/not yet/fish	= I haven’t fished yet or I have never fished
Iban eọñōd =	I-will not/fish	= I will not fish or I will never fish
Aolep iien ij jab eọñōd =	all/time/I-PRES/not/fish	= Always I don’t fish	= I never fish

– With adjectives, you can also use ‘jaje’ or ‘ñak’ (‘don’t know’) to mean ‘never’:

Ijaje mijak =	I-don’t know/afraid	= I don’t know how to be afraid	= I am never afraid
Eñak ṃōk =	She-don’t know/tired	= She doesn’t know how to be tired	= She is never tired

As you can see, there is no general word for ‘never,’ but with the phrases above you can express ‘never’ in many ways.

Vocabulary

pinana (from English)	banana
kain rot or kain rōt (E: kain tor)	what kind?
tonaaj (from English)	donut
jañ	to cry, make a noise, be played on the radio
kōrkōr	small outrigger canoe, paddled or with a sail
tipñōl	larger outrigger canoe, with a sail
luuj (from English)	lose
wiin (from English)	win
māj	eye, face, mask, snorkeling mask, glasses
tūrak (from English)	truck, car

Pronunciation Practice

The two e’s

The letter ‘e’ in Marshallese actually stands for two different sounds. To hear the difference between these sounds, have a Marshallese person say these words:

‘leg’

āne

‘island’

Notice that the first ‘e’ sounds like the ‘ai’ in English ‘bait,’ but the ‘e’ in ‘āne’ sounds halfway in between ‘ai’ in English ‘bait’ and ‘ea’ in English ‘beat.’ In the Marshallese-English Dictionary, the second kind of ‘e’ is indicated in the phonetic transcription of a word by an ‘e’ with a hook under it, and the first kind of ‘e’ is indicated by an ‘e’ with no hook.

If you want to perfectly pronounce the kind of ‘e’ that is in ‘āne,’ start by pronouncing the ‘ai’ in English ‘bait,’ and then slowly turn it into the ‘ea’ in English ‘beat.’ If you stop halfway in between, you have the Marshallese ‘e’ in ‘āne.’ (Sometimes it is halfway between ‘bet’ and ‘bit’ instead.) However, this sound is very close to the ‘ea’ in ‘beat’ or the ‘i’ in ‘bit’ so you can pronounce it that way as well.

Here are some common words with ‘e’ sorted by which sound it stands for:

Bait or Bet		Bait/Beat or Bet/Bit		Bait or Bet		Bait/Beat or Bet/Bit
ne	‘leg’	āne	‘island’	meḷeḷe	‘understand’	pen	‘hard’
etal	‘go’	ek	‘fish’	jete	‘how many’	jokwe	‘live’
etke	‘why’	eṃ	‘house’	bwebwe	‘tuna’	bwebwe	‘stupid’
lale	‘look’	armej	‘person’			jaje	‘don’t know
men	‘thing’	mejki	‘sleepy’			eddeb	‘to husk’
jeḷā	‘know’	mej	‘dead’