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.
I have a pencil with me, You have a book with you
In the last lesson you learned how to say ‘I have,’ ‘you have’ etc. There is another way to say these kinds of sentences. If you mean ‘I have a ___ with me’ or ‘I am carrying a ____’ (as opposed to ‘I own a ___’ or ‘There is a ___ that belongs to me’), then you use the word for ‘with me,’ ‘with you,’ etc. instead of the word for ‘my,’ ‘your,’ etc. Instead of saying ‘there is my pencil’ you would say ‘there is pencil with me’:
‘Have’
| Ewōr __ ippa or Elōñ __ ippa = | there is/__/with me/ | = I have a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippaṃ or Elōñ __ ippaṃ = | there is/__/with you(sing.) | = You (sing.) have a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippān or Elōñ __ ippān = | there is/__/with him,her,it | = He, She, or It has a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippān Marcy = or Elōñ __ ippān Marcy | there is/__/with/Marcy | = Marcy has a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippād or Elōñ __ ippād = | there is/__/with us(incl.) | = We (incl.) have a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippām or Elōñ __ ippām = | there is/__/with us(excl.) | = We (excl.) have a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippāmi or Elōñ __ ippāmi = | there is/__/with you(plur.) | = You (plur.) have a __ |
| Ewōr __ ippāer or Elōñ __ ippāer = | there is/__/with/them | = They have a __ |
‘Don’t Have’
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippa = | there is no/__/with me/ | = I don’t have a __ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippaṃ = | there is no/__/with you(sing.) | = You (singular) don’t have a __ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippān = | there is no/__/with him,her,it | = He, She, or It doesn’t have a__ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ = ippān Marcy | there is no/__/with/Marcy | = Marcy doesn’t have a __ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippād = | there is no/___/with us(incl.) | = We (inclusive) don’t have a __ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippām = | there is no/__/with us(excl.) | = We (exclusive) don’t have a __ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippāmi = | there is no/__/with you(plur.) | = You (plural) don’t have a __ |
| Ejjeḷọk __ ippāer = | there is no/__/with/them | = They don’t have a __ |
– If you are talking about who has a specific thing at the moment (like when someone asks you ‘Who has the book?’ and you answer ‘I have the book’ or ‘You have it’) then you say ‘The book is with me,’ or ‘It is with you’:
| Bok eo epād ippān = wōn? | book/the/it-located/with/who = | Who is the book with? | = Who has the book? |
| Bok eo epād ippa = | book/the/it-located/with me = | The book is with me | = I have the book |
| Epād ippaṃ = | it-located/with you = | It is with you | = You have it |
Dialogue
| A: Kwōj ta? | A: What are you doing? |
| B: Ña ij pukot ki ko aō. Rejako. | B: I’m looking for my keys. They’re gone. |
| A: Rejab pād ippaṃ? | A: You don’t have them with you? |
| B: Aet, rejab pād ippa. | B: That’s right, I don’t have them with me. |
| A: Erri? | A: Where are they? |
| B: Iñak. Bōlen repād ippān Peter. | B: I don’t know. Maybe Peter has them. |
| A: Etke repād ippān? | A: Why does he have them? |
| B: Kōnke aolep iien ej kọọt men ko aō. | B: Because he’s always stealing my things. |
Vocabulary
| kāḷọk | to fly, to jump, to jump out of a boat into the water |
| eo | here you go (said when giving something to someone) |
| baankek | pancake |
| jinoe | start, start it |
| jinoin | beginning, beginning of |
| kakkije | rest, relax, take a break, recess, go to recess |
| keemem | traditional party held on an infant’s first birthday, to attend or put on such a party, birthday party |
| menninmour | animal |
| kōto | wind |
| ekkōtoto (E: sometimes kōkōtoto) | windy |
Practical Marshallese
- Glossary of Useful Words from Practical Marshallese
- Lesson 1: The letters and sounds of Marshallese
- Lesson 2: Beginning Marshallese Phrases
- Lesson 3: Numbers, time, age, and price
- Lesson 4: Marshallese Words from English
- Lesson 5: Marshallese Subject Pronouns
- Lesson 6: Verbs that work like adjectives
- Lesson 7: The present tense
- Lesson 8: The Past Tense
- Lesson 9: The future tense
- Lesson 10: Near future tense
- Lesson 11: Location
- Lesson 12: Object pronouns
- Lesson 13: The emphatic pronouns
- Lesson 14: Negatives
- Lesson 15: Wrapping up pronouns and tenses
- Lesson 16: Yes/No questions
- Lesson 17: Do you know?, Yes I know, No I don’t know
- Lesson 18: Can you?, Yes I can, No I can’t
- Lesson 19: Wh-questions
- Lesson 20: More about wh-questions
- Lesson 21: Definite and Indefinite Articles, and Plurals
- Lesson 22: Possessives
- Lesson 23: House of, time of, place of
- Lesson 24: With
- Lesson 25: I like, I don’t like
- Lesson 26: There is, there are, there are many
- Lesson 27: I have, you have, I don’t have, you don’t have
- Lesson 28: I have a pencil with me
- Lesson 29: I have one, I have two, I have many
- Lesson 30: Do you have?
- Lesson 31: Not yet and never
- Lesson 32: Perfect Past
- Lesson 33: Negative Perfect Past
- Lesson 34: Perfect Past Questions
- Lesson 35: Adverbs
- Lesson 36: Comparatives in Marshallese
- Lesson 37: After, before
- Lesson 38: More about questions
- Lesson 39: Which fish, what kind of fish, you and who else?
- Lesson 40: Conditionals in Marshallese
- Lesson 41: Directionals
- Practical Marshallese