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.
In earlier lessons you learned that ‘j,’ ‘ar,’ ‘kar,’ and ‘naaj’ are markers that can be put on subject pronouns to get the present, past, and future tenses. There is one more of these markers, ‘n.’ In other books it is translated as ‘should,’ but this is not the best way to think about it (‘aikuj’ is the usual word for ‘should’). It is better to think of it as the subjunctive, similar to that of Spanish or French. (If you know what the ‘subjunctive’ is, then it might help you with this lesson, but if you don’t, don’t worry about it.) Putting the ‘n’ marker on the subject pronouns give you these forms:
| i + n = | in | = I-SUBJUNCTIVE |
| kwō + n = | kwōn | = you(singular)-SUBJUNCTIVE |
| e + n = | en | = he,she,it-SUBJUNCTIVE |
| je + n = | jen | = we(inclusive)-SUBJUNCTIVE |
| kōm + n = | kōmin | = we(exclusive)-SUBJUNCTIVE |
| koṃ + n = | koṃin | = you(plural)-SUBJUNCTIVE |
| re + n = | ren | = they-SUBJUNCTIVE |
– These forms can be used to make sentences like ‘I want you to work’ ‘I need you to work,’ ‘I tell you to work,’ etc. Use the word ‘bwe’ before the subjunctive form of the pronoun:
| Ikōṇaan bwe kwōn jerbal = | I-want/that/you-SUBJUN./work | = I want you to work |
| Ij aikuj bwe ren jerbal = | I-PRES/need/that/they-SUBJUN./work | = I need them to work |
| Rej kajjitōk bwe in jerbal = | they-PRES/ask/that/I-SUBJUN./work | = They ask me to work |
| Kwaar ba bwe ren jerbal = | you-PAST/tell/that/they-SUBJUN./work | = You told them to work |
| Ij kōṃṃan bwe ren jerbal = | I-PRES/make/that/they-SUBJUN./work | = I make them work |
– If you make the same kind of sentence with ‘lale’ (‘watch’) then it means ‘make sure that ___’:
| Lale bwe kwōn jab wōtlọk = | watch/that/you-SUBJUN./not/fall | = Make sure you don’t fall |
– The same kind of construction can mean ‘so that’:
| Ij ba ñan kwe bwe kwōn jeḷā = | I-PRES/say/to/you/so that /you-SUBJUN./know | = I am telling you so that you know |
| Iaar bōke bwe ña in maroñ = kōjerbale | I-PAST/take-it/so that/me /I-SUBJUN./can/use-it | = I took it so that I could use it |
– If the word ‘bwe’ is used without the subjunctive after it, it means ‘because’:
| Ij eọñōd bwe iṃōṇōṇō = | I-PRES/fish/because/I-happy | = I am fishing because I am happy |
| Ij eọñōd bwe in ṃōṇōṇō = | I-PRES/fish/so that/I-SUBJUN./happy | = I am fishing so that I will be happy |
– If you say ‘ña in’ (‘me/I-SUBJUNCTIVE’) by itself it means ‘let me ___’:
| Ña in kōṃṃane = | me/I-SUBJUN./do-it | = Let me do it |
| Ña in lale = | me/I-SUBJUN./look at | = Let me look at it or Let me see |
Vocabulary
| to | to get off (a boat, car, etc.), to come down, to climb down |
| tōpar or tōprak | to reach (a place), to get to (a place), to arrive at (a place) Ex. Raar tōpar Majuro inne = They got to Majuro yesterday |
| turun māj | face |
| aetok | long, tall (of people) |
| kadu (E: kanu) | short, brief |
| buḷōn mar or buḷōn wojke or buḷōn jungle | jungle, forest |
| aujpitōḷ (from English) | hospital |
| bwilọk | snapped, broken (of long thin hard objects, like pencils) |
| aorōk | important, precious, valuable |
| kwalọk | to show |
Pronunciation Practice – ‘k’
In the last two Pronunciation Practices you learned that Marshallese ‘t’ sounds like English ‘d’ and Marshallese ‘p’ sounds like English ‘b’ when they are right between two vowels. A similar thing happens with Marshallese ‘k.’ Have a Marshallese person say the word ‘kiki.’ The first ‘k’ sounds like an English ‘k,’ but the second one sounds more like English ‘g’ as in ‘go.’ Usually, Marshallese ‘k’ sounds like English ‘k,’ but if it is surrounded on both sides with vowels, it sounds like English ‘g’ as in ‘go.’
Practice with these words:
| Sounds like English ‘k’ | Sounds like English ‘g’ in ‘go’ | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| kiki | ‘sleep’ | kiki | ‘sleep’ |
| koko | ‘chocolate’ | koko | ‘chocolate’ |
| kuku | ‘ride piggyback’ | kuku | ‘ride piggyback’ |
| lukkuun | ‘very’ | roñjake | ‘listen’ |
| kakkije | ‘to rest’ | ālikin | ‘after’ |
| ak | ‘but’ | pako | ‘shark’ |
| ek | ‘fish’ | jikin | ‘place’ |