Lesson 41: Directionals

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.

To me, to you (Directionals)

– To say ‘to me,’ ‘to you,’ etc. in Marshallese, you can sometimes just say ‘ñan ña,’ ‘ñan kwe,’ etc. like in English. However, you can also use the following words:

Directionals

tok	to me/us (towards where I am or where we are)
wōj or waj	to you (towards where you are)
ḷọk	to him/her/it/them (away from where you are and where I am)

These can be put after most verbs involving the movement of something from one place to another. For example:

aō =	swim	aōwōj=	swim to you or swim to where you are
aōtok =	swim to me/us or swim to here	aōḷọk =	swim to him/her/it/them or swim away

– There are some verbs that always have one of these words attached to them. They cannot exist without them. Here are some of these verbs:

i-	go	rei-	look at	jilkin-	send
le-	give	lo-	visit	eḷ-	pay attention to, take seriously
kā-	fly, jump	jo-	throw	po-	to arrive in a boat

For example:

letok =	give-to me,us	= give to me/us	reiwōj =	look at-to you	= look at you
lewōj =	give-to you	= give to you	lotok =	visit-to me,us	= visit me/us
leḷọk =	give-away	= give to him/her/it/them	joḷọk =	throw-away	= throw away
kātok =	fly-to me,us	= fly to here	jilkinwōj =	send-to you	= send to you
kāḷọk =	fly-away	= fly away	eḷtok =	pay att.-to me	= pay att. to me

– Sometimes when you put these directionals onto a word, we would use a different word in English. For example:

i-	go	bōk	take
itok	go to me/us = come	bōktok	take to me/us = bring
iwōj	go to you = come with you	bōkwōj	take to you = bring to you
iḷọk[1]	go to anywhere other than me or you = go or go away	bōkḷọk	take to anywhere other than me or you = take to him/her/it/them
delọñ	enter	rọọl	leave
delọñtok	enter to me/us = come in	rọọltok	leave to here => return (to here)
delọñwōj	enter to you = come in to where you are	rọọlwōj	leave to where you are = return (to where you are)
delọñḷọk	enter to anywhere other than me or you = go in	rọọlḷọk	leave to there = return (to there)

– If you put ‘ḷọk’ at the end of other verbs, it means ‘hurry up and’:

ṃōñā ḷọk =	hurry up and eat
itok ḷọk =	hurry up and come

– There are directionals other than ‘tok,’ ‘wōj,’ and ‘ḷọk.’ There are ones meaning ‘forward,’ ‘backward,’ ‘to the lagoon,’ ‘to the ocean,’ and so forth. These are in Lesson 100.

Vocabulary

men in le- (with -tok, -wōj, and -ḷọk)	gift, present Ex. Juon men in lewōj = A gift for you
kimej	palm frond
bọọk (from English)	box
bwilōñ or ilbōk	surprised, amazed
kekōb	dipper
ḷāibrāre (from English)	library
ṃaiḷ (from English)	mile
pātōre	battery
waj (from English)	wristwatch
wōnṃaanḷọk	to go forward, to go on, to continue
epaak (ñan)	near (to), close (to)

Pronunciation Practice – ‘p’

In the last Pronunciation Practice you learned that Marshallese ‘t’ sounds like English ‘d’ when it is sandwiched between two vowels. A very similar thing happens with Marshallese ‘p.’ Have a Marshallese person say the following word: ‘pepe.’ The first ‘p’ sounds like an English ‘p,’ but the second one sounds more like English ‘b.’ Normally, Marshallese ‘p’ sounds like English ‘p,’ but if it is sandwiched directly between two vowels, it sounds like English ‘b.’

Here are some words to practice on:

Sounds like English ‘p’		Sounds like English ‘b’
pepe	‘decide’	pepe	‘decide’
pād	‘located’	ripālle	‘American’
ippān	‘with’	tōpar	‘get to a place’
kappok	‘look for’	tipi	‘television’
kilep	‘big’	wōpij	‘office’

[1] The word ‘etal’ (‘go’) is more commonly used for the same meaning.

Directionals

Vocabulary

Practical Marshallese

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