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.
Ever since the Marshall Islands has had contact with the outside world, it has adopted many foreign words. Most things from the outside world, and even some things native to the Marshall Islands, have been given foreign names. Although some of these ‘loan words’ come from German, Spanish, and Japanese, the vast majority come from English. This makes learning Marshallese vocabulary a bit easier for English speakers. However, when these words enter the language, they become ‘Marshallized’ in order to fit in with normal Marshallese pronunciation. For instance, since Marshallese has no f or v, these sounds usually become p or b in Marshallese. In the same way, d becomes t, g becomes k, and h is dropped altogether. So when you say a word from English, give it the best Marshallese accent that you can muster. And if you don’t know the word for an object that comes from outside the Marshall Islands, just say the English word, and you will usually be right.
A good example of these loan words are the names of the days of the week and the months of the year, which didn’t exist in Marshallese before contact with the outside world. Although these words come from English, try to say them as they are spelled in Marshallese. By seeing the difference between the original English word and the way it turned out in Marshallese, you can get a sense of how the pronunciation of the two languages differs.
| Marshallese | English | Marshallese | English |
| Mande | Monday | Jānwōde | January |
| Juje | Tuesday | Pāpode | February |
| Wōnje | Wednesday | Ṃaaj | March |
| Taije | Thursday | Eprōḷ | April |
| Bōlaide or Bōraide | Friday | Māe | May |
| Jadede | Saturday | Juun | June |
| Jabōt (from ‘Sabbath’) | Sunday | Juḷae | July |
| Ọkwōj | August | ||
| Jeptōṃba | September | ||
| Oktoba | October | ||
| Nobōṃba | November | ||
| Tijeṃba | December |
– Here are some phrases you can use to practice the days and months:
| Raan in ta in? | day/this/what/this | What day is today? |
| Allōñ in ta in? | month/this/what/this? | What month is this? |
| Kwaar ḷotak ñāāt? | you-PAST/born/when? | When were you born? |
| Juun roñoul juon raan, juon tọujin ratimjuonbukwi ralitoñoul ruo | June 21st, 1982 |
– Here are some of the most useful words in Marshallese that come from English. Looking over these words is a quick way to build a large starting vocabulary:
| jikuuḷ | school |
| Amedka | America |
| ṃaṃa | mom |
| baba | dad |
| kain | kind, type |
| wiik | week |
| iiō | year |
| awa | hour |
| kilaj | class |
| baamḷe | family |
| peba | paper |
| nōṃba | number |
| piik | pig |
| tọọl | towel |
| taḷa | dollar |
| ki | key |
| ḷak | lock |
| jāān | cent |
| taktō | doctor |
| ti | tea |
| peen | pen |
| pilawā | flour |
| pinjeḷ | pencil |
| wūnto | window |
| minit | minute |
| pija | picture |
| pileij | plate |
| baankek | pancake |
| tebōḷ | table |
| jipeeḷ | spell |
| naip | knife |
| pinana | banana |
| tonaaj | donut |
| luuj | lose |
| wiin | win |
| tūrak | truck, car |
| jiṃaat | smart |
| jukwa | sugar |
| peet | bed |
| tiṃōṇ | demon |
| kwōpej | garbage |
| retio | radio |
| tāākji | taxi |
| teej | test |
| bọọj | boss |
| jea | chair |
| joob | soap |
| juub | soup |
| kuuṃ | comb |
| ḷait | elec. light |
| ṃōrō | murder |
| boriñ | boring |
| peeḷ | bell |
| booḷ | full |
| mājet | matches |
| papōḷōr | popular |
| jodi | zorries |
| ḷaita | lighter |
| pāāk | back up |
| aij | ice |
| jikka | cigarette |
| ṃare | marry |
| taibuun | typhoon |
| wōteḷ | hotel |
| jōōt | shirt |
| ọọj | horse |
| reja | razor |
| tūkōt | ticket |
| būrae | fry |
| jọọl | salt, salty |
| kūriij | grease, fat |
| tibat | teapot |
| weiḷ | oil |
| pair | fired |
| aṃa | hammer |
| jebta | chapter |
| karjin | kerosene |
| ḷain | line |
| tūrep | trip, voyage |
| tọọl | towel |
| uklele | ukulele |
| bọọk | box |
| ḷāibrāre | library |
| ṃaiḷ | mile |
| pātōre | battery |
| waj | wristwatch |
| bakōj | bucket |
| juuj | shoe |
| kiaj | gas |
| kūta | guitar |
| ḷaaṃ | lamp |
| pakij | package |
| Baibōḷ | Bible |
| būrinjibōḷ | principal |
| aujpitōḷ | hospital |
| pāāk | bag |
| pejtōbōḷ | vegetable |
| kaal | call |
| baṃ | pump |
| kọpe | coffee |
| jiit | sheet |
| nuuj | news |
| nuujpeba | newspaper |
| talboon | telephone |
| kea | care |
| buruṃ | broom |
| jāntōj | sentence |
| tipi | TV |
| baajkōḷ | bicycle |
| iiaḷo | yellow |
| kūre | gray |
| kūriin | green |
| bilu | blue |
| būrawūn | brown |
| oran | orange |
| baijin | poison |
| jibuun | spoon |
| kaḷan | gallon |
| kāānjeḷ | cancel |
| wōpij | office |
| būḷañkōj | blanket |
| at | hat |
| bato | bottle |
| bọọk | fork |
| ṃupi | movie |
| tūraṃ | drum |
| buḷajtiik | plastic |
| kūrjin | Christian |
| tūrabōḷ | trouble |
| lojen | lotion |
Vocabulary
| kwōle | hungry, famine |
| maro | thirsty |
| nañinmej | sick, sickness, illness, disease |
| ṃōṇōṇō | happy, glad |
| būroṃōj | sad |
| illu (E: sometimes lilu) | angry |
| mejki | sleepy |
| ṃōk | tired |
| mijak | scared, scared of, fear |
Pronunciation Practice – Double letters
You may have noticed that some words in Marshallese are spelled with two of the same letter in a row. This is not just a spelling convention (like spelling ‘hammer’ with two m’s in English) but rather indicates that the sound of the letter is pronounced for twice as long. To get a feel for this, have a Marshallese person pronounce these common words: eṃṃan and ennọ. Notice how the speaker holds the ‘ṃ’ and ‘n’ for twice as long as you would expect. To get an even better sense of how double letters differ from single letters, have a Marshallese person pronounce these pairs of words which differ only in whether one of the sounds is double or not:
| jān | ‘from’ | jāān | ‘money’ |
| eṃṃan | ‘good’ | eṃṃaan | ‘man’ |
| eto | ‘it is a long time’ | etto | ‘a long time ago’ |
| ine | ‘seed’ | inne | ‘yesterday’ |
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
Loan Words from Spanish
You can find loan words in the Marshallese-English Online Dictionary by doing a Google site search (site:trussel2.com/MOD/) for “from Span.”, “from Engl.”, “from Germ.”, or “from Japn.”.
Kiole Naṃdik tract.
baak {bahak}. From Span. barco. n. al.; n. pers. ri-baak; v. distrib. bōbaakak (ebbaakak), n. constr. baakin. ship; barque; frigate.
One response to “Lesson 4: Marshallese Words from English”
Jeramnan nan aolep marshall