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The Linguistic Position of Niuafo'ou

1980; Polynesian Society; Volume: 89; Linguagem: Inglês

2230-5955

Tom Dye,

Island Studies and Pacific Affairs

Niuafo'ou, the northernmost island in the Kingdom of Tonga, lies roughly equidistant from Fiji to the west, Samoa to the east, and to the south. Very few reports of anthropological or linguistic field work on the island have been published; the linguistic evidence has been limited to a short discussion of non Tongic elements in the language (Collocott 1922). While Collocott believed he was detailing a language that exhibits forms once common to the whole Tongan area but less affected by Fijian influence,, (Collocott 1922: 185) than the Tongan (TON) spoken on islands farther south, he noted four phonological and five morphological items, including an h/0 doublet, which he admitted cast doubt on the supposition of antiquity for Niuafo'ou (NFU). Biggs (1971:491) has reviewed Collocott's data, noting Nuclear Polynesian (NP) forms for second per son dual and plural, exclusive pronouns, the positional nei 'near speaker', and retention of PPN *fea 'where'. These data indicate a non-TON language that, as early as 1922, was fast disappearing before the political and cultural authority of Tonga (Collocott 1922: 189). It was with the intention of hearing NFU and collecting data sufficient to place the language within a subgroup of PN that I visited Niuafo'ou from December 16,1976, to January 17, 1977. The island is an active volcanic cone 12 miles in cir cumference and up to 244 metres high; about seven freshwater lakes fill the main caldera and smaller ash cones. Some 300 people live in five villages along the seaward slopes. This total includes both native Niuafo'ouans and recent immi grants from other Tongan islands. TON is spoken in church, Government offices, and many homes. Those who speak NFU at home are bilingual and converse easily in TON. NFU is said to be intelligible to TON speakers only if spoken slowly. In 1946, an eruption on the northern flank of the island destroyed the village at Angah?, then the Government seat. The Tongan Government responded to the disaster by relocating the entire population of the island to 'Eua, the southern most island in the Kingdom of Tonga. Most Niuafo'ouans remained on 'Eua for at least 12 to 15 years; thereafter gradual repopulation of the home island began.