Marshallese language explained

Marshallese
Also Known As:	Kajin M̧ajeļ^[1]
Nativename:	(new orthography) Marshallese: Kajin M̧ajel‌̧ (old orthography) Marshallese: Kajin Majōl
States:	Marshall Islands
Speakers:	55,000
Ethnicity:	Marshallese
Date:	1979
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Fam2:	Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:	Oceanic
Fam4:	Micronesian
Fam5:	Micronesian Proper
Fam6:	Nuclear Micronesian
Nation:	Marshall Islands
Script:	Latin (Marshallese alphabet)
Iso1:	mh
Iso2:	mah
Iso3:	mah
Glotto:	mars1254
Glottorefname:	Marshallese
Map:	Micronesian languages.en.svg
Mapcaption:	Map of Micronesian languages; Marshallese is spoken in the orange area.

Marshallese (Marshallese: Kajin M̧ajel‌̧|link=no or Marshallese: Kajin Majōl), also known as Ebon, is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands. The language of the Marshallese people, it is spoken by nearly all of the country's population of 59,000, making it the principal language.^[2] There are also roughly 27,000 Marshallese citizens residing in the United States,^[3] nearly all of whom speak Marshallese, as well as residents in other countries such as Nauru and Kiribati.

There are two major dialects, the western Rālik and the eastern Ratak.

Classification

Marshallese, a Micronesian language, is a member of the Eastern Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian languages. The closest linguistic relatives of Marshallese are the other Micronesian languages, including Gilbertese, Nauruan, Pohnpeian, Mokilese, Chuukese, Refaluwash, and Kosraean. Marshallese shows 50% lexical similarity with Gilbertese, Mokilese, and Pohnpeian.

Within the Micronesian archipelago, Marshallese—along with the rest of the Micronesian language group—is not as closely related to the more ambiguously classified Oceanic language Yapese in Yap State, or to the Polynesian outlier languages Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro in Pohnpei State, and even less closely related to the non-Oceanic languages Palauan in Palau and Chamorro in the Mariana Islands.

Variation

The Republic of the Marshall Islands contains 34 atolls that are split into two chains, the eastern Ratak Chain and the western Rālik Chain. These two chains have different dialects, which differ mainly lexically, and are mutually intelligible. The atoll of Ujelang in the west was reported to have "slightly less homogeneous speech", but it has been uninhabited since 1980.^[4]

The Ratak and Rālik dialects differ phonetically in how they deal with stems that begin with double consonants. Ratak Marshallese inserts a vowel to separate the consonants, while Ralik adds a vowel before the consonants (and pronounced an unwritten consonant phoneme pronounced as //j// before the vowel). For example, the stem Marshallese: kkure 'play' becomes Marshallese: ikkure in Rālik Marshallese and Marshallese: kukure in Ratak Marshallese.^[5]

Status

Marshallese is the official language of the Marshall Islands and enjoys vigorous use. As of 1979, the language was spoken by 43,900 people in the Marshall Islands. in 2020 the number was closer to 59,000.^[2] Additional groups of speakers in other countries including Nauru and the United States increase the total number of Marshallese speakers, with approximately 27,000 Marshallese-Americans living in the United States^[3] Along with Pohnpeian and Chuukese, Marshallese stands out among Micronesian languages in having tens of thousands of speakers; most Micronesian languages have far fewer. A dictionary and at least two Bible translations have been published in Marshallese.^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

Marshallese has a large consonant inventory, and each consonant has some type of secondary articulation (palatalization, velarization, or rounding). The palatalized consonants are regarded as "light", and the velarized and rounded consonants are regarded as "heavy", with the rounded consonants being both velarized and labialized. (This contrast is similar to that between "slender" and "broad" consonants in Goidelic languages, or between "soft" and "hard" consonants in Slavic languages.) The "light" consonants are considered more relaxed articulations.

! colspan="2"

Labial	Coronal			Dorsal
Light	Heavy	Light	Heavy		Heavy
Stop	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Nasal	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Rhotic			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Lateral			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Glide			pronounced as /ink/			(pronounced as /ink/)	pronounced as /ink/

Although Marshallese has no voicing contrast in consonants, stops may be allophonically partially voiced (pronounced as /[p → b]/, pronounced as /[t → d]/, pronounced as /[k → ɡ]/), when they are between vowels and not geminated. (Technically, partially voiced stops would be pronounced as /[p̬~b̥]/, pronounced as /[t̬~d̥]/, pronounced as /[k̬~ɡ̊]/, but this article uses voiced transcriptions pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ for simplicity.) Final consonants are often unreleased.

Glides pronounced as //j ɰ w// vanish in many environments, with surrounding vowels assimilating their backness and roundedness. That is motivated by the limited surface distribution of these phonemes as well as other evidence that backness and roundedness are not specified phonemically for Marshallese vowels. In fact, the consonant pronounced as //ɰ// never surfaces phonetically but is used to explain the preceding phenomenon. (pronounced as //j// and pronounced as //w// may surface phonetically in word-initial and word-final positions and, even then, not consistently.)

Bender (1968) explains that it was once believed there were six bilabial consonants because of observed surface realizations, pronounced as //p pʲ pʷ m mʲ mʷ//, but he determined that two of these, pronounced as //p m//, were actually allophones of pronounced as //pʲ mʲ// respectively before front vowels and allophones of pronounced as //pˠ mˠ// respectively before back vowels. Before front vowels, the velarized labial consonants pronounced as //pˠ mˠ// actually tend to have rounded (labiovelarized) articulations pronounced as /[pʷ mʷ]/, but they remain unrounded on the phonemic level, and there are no distinct pronounced as //pʷ mʷ// phonemes. The pronunciation guide used by Naan (2014) still recognizes pronounced as /[p m]/ as allophone symbols separate from pronounced as /[pʲ pˠ mʲ mˠ]/ in these same conditions while recognizing that there are only palatalized and velarized phonemes. This article uses pronounced as /[pʲ pˠ mʲ mˠ]/ in phonetic transcriptions.

The consonant pronounced as //tʲ// may be phonetically realized as pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /[t͡sʲ]/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /[t͡ɕ]/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, or pronounced as /link/ (or any of their voiced variants pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /[d͡zʲ]/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /[d͡ʑ]/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, or pronounced as /link/), in free variation. Word-internally it usually assumes a voiced fricative articulation as pronounced as /link/ (or pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/) but not when geminated. pronounced as //tʲ// is used to adapt foreign sibilants into Marshallese. In phonetic transcription, this article uses pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ as voiceless and voiced allophones of the same phoneme.

Marshallese has no distinct pronounced as //tʷ// phoneme.

The dorsal consonants pronounced as //k ŋ kʷ ŋʷ// are usually velar but with the tongue a little farther back pronounced as /[k̠ ɡ̠ ŋ̠ k̠ʷ ɡ̠ʷ ŋ̠ʷ]/, making them somewhere between velar and uvular in articulation. All dorsal phonemes are "heavy" (velarized or rounded), and none are "light" (palatalized). As stated before, the palatal consonant articulations pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ are treated as allophones of the palatalized coronal obstruent pronounced as //tʲ//, even though palatal consonants are physically dorsal. For simplicity, this article uses unmarked pronounced as /[k ɡ ŋ kʷ ɡʷ ŋʷ]/ in phonetic transcription.

Bender (1969) describes pronounced as //nˠ// and pronounced as //nʷ// as being 'dark' r-colored, but is not more specific. The Marshallese-English Dictionary (MED) describes these as heavy dental nasals.

Consonants pronounced as //rʲ//, pronounced as //rˠ// and pronounced as //rʷ// are all coronal consonants and full trills. pronounced as //rˠ// is similar to Spanish Spanish; Castilian: rr with a trill position just behind the alveolar ridge, a postalveolar trill pronounced as /[r̠ˠ]/, but pronounced as //rʲ// is a palatalized dental trill pronounced as /[r̪ʲ]/, articulated further forward behind the front teeth. The MED and Willson (2003) describe the rhotic consonants as "retroflex", but are not clear how this relates to their dental or alveolar trill positions. (See retroflex trill.) This article uses pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ in phonetic transcription.

The heavy lateral consonants pronounced as //lˠ// and pronounced as //lʷ// are dark l like in English feel, articulated pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ respectively. This article uses pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/ in phonetic transcription.

The velarized consonants (and, by extension, the rounded consonants) may be velarized or pharyngealized like the emphatic consonants in Arabic or Mizrahi Hebrew.

Vowels

Marshallese has a vertical vowel system of just four vowel phonemes, each with several allophones depending on the surrounding consonants.

On the phonemic level, while Bender (1969) and Choi (1992) agree that the vowel phonemes are distinguished by height, they describe the abstract nature of these phonemes differently, with Bender treating the front unrounded surface realizations as their relaxed state that becomes altered by proximity of velarized or rounded consonants, while Choi uses central vowel symbols in a neutral fashion to notate the abstract phonemes and completely different front, back and rounded vowel symbols for surface realizations. Bender (1968, 1969), MED (1976) and Willson (2003) recognize four vowel phonemes, but Choi (1992) observes only three of the phonemes as having a stable quality, but theorizes that there may be a historical process of reduction from four to three, and otherwise ignores the fourth phoneme. For phonemic transcription of vowels, this article recognizes four phonemes and uses the front unrounded vowel pronounced as //æ ɛ e i// notation of the MED, following the approach of Bender (1969) in treating the front vowel surface realizations as the representative phonemes.

On the phonetic level, Bender (1968), MED (1976), Choi (1992), Willson (2003) and Naan (2014) notate some Marshallese vowel surface realizations differently from one another, and they disagree on how to characterize the vowel heights of the underlying phonemes, with Willson (2003) taking the most divergent approach in treating the four heights as actually two heights each with the added presence (+ATR) or absence (-ATR) of advanced tongue root. Bender (1968) assigns central vowel symbols for the surface realizations that neighbor velarized consonants, but the MED (1976), Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) largely assign back unrounded vowel symbols for these, with the exception that the MED uses pronounced as /link/ rather than cardinal pronounced as /link/ for the close-mid back unrounded vowel, and Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) use pronounced as /link/ rather than cardinal pronounced as /link/ for the open back unrounded vowel. Naan (2014) is the only reference providing a vowel trapezium for its own vowels, and differs especially from the other vowel models in splitting the front allophones of pronounced as //i// into two realizations (pronounced as /link/ before consonants and pronounced as /link/ in open syllables), merging the front allophones of pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //e// as pronounced as /link/ before consonants and pronounced as /link/ in open syllables, merging the rounded allophones of pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //e// as pronounced as /link/, and indicating the front allophone of pronounced as //æ// as a close-mid central unrounded vowel pronounced as /link/, a realization more raised even than the front allophone of the normally higher pronounced as //ɛ//. For phonetic notation of vowel surface realizations, this article largely uses the MED's notation, but uses only cardinal symbols for back unrounded vowels.

Marshallese vowel phonemes and surface realizations

Bender					MED						Choi						Willson					Naan^[6]
Height	Unrnd.		Rnd.		Height	Phon.	Unrnd.		Rnd.		Height	Phon.	Unrnd.		Rnd.		Height	Unrnd.		Rnd.		Unrnd.		Rnd.
	Frt.	Back					Frt.	Back					Frt.	Back				Frt.	Back			Frt.	Back
Close	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		Close	Marshallese: {i}	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		Close	pronounced as //ɨ//	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /[ɪ, i]/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Close-mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		Mid	Marshallese: {ȩ}	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/									pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /[ɛ, e]/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			Marshallese: {e}	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		Mid	pronounced as //ə//	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/
Open	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		Open	Marshallese: {a}	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		Open	pronounced as //ɐ//	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/			pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

Superficially, 12 Marshallese vowel allophones appear in minimal pairs, a common test for phonemicity. For example, pronounced as /[mʲæ]/ (Marshallese: mā, 'breadfruit'), pronounced as /[mʲɑ]/ (Marshallese: ma, 'but'), and pronounced as /[mʲɒ]/ (Marshallese: mo̧, 'taboo') are separate Marshallese words. However, the uneven distribution of glide phonemes suggests that they underlyingly end with the glides (thus pronounced as //mʲæj//, pronounced as //mʲæɰ//, pronounced as //mʲæw//). When glides are taken into account, it emerges that there are only 4 vowel phonemes.

When a vowel phoneme appears between consonants with different secondary articulations, the vowel often surfaces as a smooth transition from one vowel allophone to the other. For example, Marshallese: jok 'shy', phonemically pronounced as //tʲɛkʷ//, is often realized phonetically as pronounced as /[tʲɛ͡ɔkʷ]/. It follows that there are 24 possible short diphthongs in Marshallese:

Phoneme	pronounced as /◌ʲ_◌ˠ/	pronounced as /◌ʲ_◌ʷ/	pronounced as /◌ˠ_◌ʲ/	pronounced as /◌ˠ_◌ʷ/	pronounced as /◌ʷ_◌ʲ/	pronounced as /◌ʷ_◌ˠ/
pronounced as //i//	pronounced as /[i͡ɯ]/	pronounced as /[i͡u]/	pronounced as /[ɯ͡i]/	pronounced as /[ɯ͡u]/	pronounced as /[u͡i]/	pronounced as /[u͡ɯ]/
pronounced as //e//	pronounced as /[e͡ɤ]/	pronounced as /[e͡o]/	pronounced as /[ɤ͡e]/	pronounced as /[ɤ͡o]/	pronounced as /[o͡e]/	pronounced as /[o͡ɤ]/
pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as /[ɛ͡ʌ]/	pronounced as /[ɛ͡ɔ]/	pronounced as /[ʌ͡ɛ]/	pronounced as /[ʌ͡ɔ]/	pronounced as /[ɔ͡ɛ]/	pronounced as /[ɔ͡ʌ]/
pronounced as //æ//	pronounced as /[æ͡ɑ]/	pronounced as /[æ͡ɒ]/	pronounced as /[ɑ͡æ]/	pronounced as /[ɑ͡ɒ]/	pronounced as /[ɒ͡æ]/	pronounced as /[ɒ͡ɑ]/

These diphthongs are the typical realizations of short vowels between two non-glide consonants, but in reality the diphthongs themselves are not phonemic, and short vowels between two consonants with different secondary articulations can be articulated as either a smooth diphthong (such as pronounced as /[ɛ͡ʌ]/) or as a monophthong of one of the two vowel allophones (such as pronounced as /[ɛ ~ ʌ]/), all in free variation. Bender (1968) also observes that when the would-be diphthong starts with a back rounded vowel pronounced as /[ɒ ɔ o u]/ and ends with a front unrounded vowel pronounced as /[æ ɛ e i]/, then a vowel allophone associated with the back unrounded vowels (notated in this article as pronounced as /[ɑ ʌ ɤ ɯ]/) may also occur in the vowel nucleus. Because the cumulative visual complexity of notating so many diphthongs in phonetic transcriptions can make them more difficult to read, it is not uncommon to phonetically transcribe Marshallese vowel allophones only as one predominant monophthongal allophone, so that a word like pronounced as /[tʲɛ͡ɔkʷ]/ can be more simply transcribed as pronounced as /[tʲɔkʷ]/, in a condensed fashion. Before Bender's (1968) discovery that Marshallese utilized a vertical vowel system, it was conventional to transcribe the language in this manner with a presumed inventory of 12 vowel monophthong phonemes, and it remains in occasional use as a more condensed phonetic transcription. This article uses phonemic or diphthongal phonetic transcriptions for illustrative purposes, but for most examples it uses condensed phonetic transcription with the most relevant short vowel allophones roughly corresponding to Marshallese orthography as informed by the MED.

Some syllables appear to contain long vowels: Marshallese: naaj 'future'. They are thought to contain an underlying glide (pronounced as //j//, pronounced as //ɰ// or pronounced as //w//), which is not present phonetically. For instance, the underlying form of Marshallese: naaj is pronounced as //nʲæɰætʲ//. Although the medial glide is not realized phonetically, it affects vowel quality; in a word like pronounced as //nʲæɰætʲ//, the vowel transitions from pronounced as /link/ to pronounced as /link/ and then back to pronounced as /link/, as pronounced as /[nʲæ͡ɑɑ͡ætʲ]/. In condensed phonetic transcription, the same word can be expressed as pronounced as /[nʲɑɑtʲ]/ or pronounced as /[nʲɑːtʲ]/.

Phonotactics

Syllables in Marshallese follow CV, CVC, and VC patterns. Marshallese words always underlyingly begin and end with consonants. Initial, final, and long vowels may be explained as the results of underlying glides not present on the phonetic level. Initial vowels are sometimes realized with an onglide pronounced as /link/ or pronounced as /link/ but not consistently:

• pronounced as //jætʲ/ → [<!--æ̯-->ætʲ ~ jætʲ]/ 'weave'

Only homorganic consonant sequences are allowed in Marshallese, including geminate varieties of each consonant, except for glides. Non-homorganic clusters are separated by vowel epenthesis even across word boundaries. Some homorganic clusters are also disallowed:

• Obstruent-obstruent, nasal-nasal, liquid-liquid, nasal-obstruent, and nasal-liquid clusters undergo assimilation of the secondary articulation except if the first consonant is a rounded coronal or a rounded dorsal. Then, the clusters undergo assimilation of the rounded articulation.
• †Obstruent-liquid and liquid-obstruent clusters besides pronounced as //lʲtˠ// and pronounced as //lˠtˠ// undergo epenthesis.
• Liquid-nasal clusters undergo nasal assimilation.
• Obstruent-nasal clusters undergo epenthesis (if coronal) or nasal assimilation (if non-coronal).
• Clusters involving any glides undergo epenthesis, including otherwise homorganic clusters of two of the same glide.

The following assimilations are created, with empty combinations representing epenthesis.

Bilabials

↓→	pronounced as //p//	pronounced as //m//
pronounced as //p//	pronounced as //pː//	pronounced as //mː//
pronounced as //m//	pronounced as //mp//

Coronals

↓→	pronounced as //t//	pronounced as //n//	pronounced as //r//	pronounced as //l//
pronounced as //t//	pronounced as //tː//
pronounced as //n//	pronounced as //nt//	pronounced as //nː//	pronounced as //nr//	pronounced as //nl//
pronounced as //r//			pronounced as //rː//	pronounced as //rl//
pronounced as //l//	†		pronounced as //lr//	pronounced as //lː//

Dorsals

↓→	pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //ŋ//
pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //kː//	pronounced as //ŋː//
pronounced as //ŋ//	pronounced as //ŋk//

Secondary

↓→	pronounced as //◌ʲ//	pronounced as //◌ˠ//	pronounced as //◌ʷ//
pronounced as //◌ʲ//	pronounced as //◌ʲ◌ʲ//	pronounced as //◌ˠ◌ˠ//	pronounced as //◌ʷ◌ʷ//
pronounced as //◌ˠ//
pronounced as //◌ʷ//	pronounced as //◌ʷ◌ʷ//

The vowel height of an epenthetic vowel is not phonemic as the epenthetic vowel itself is not phonemic, but is still phonetically predictable given the two nearest other vowels and whether one or both of the cluster consonants are glides. Bender (1968) does not specifically explain the vowel heights of epenthetic vowels between two non-glides, but of his various examples containing such vowels, none of the epenthetic vowels has a height lower than the highest of either of their nearest neighboring vowels, and the epenthetic vowel actually becomes pronounced as //ɛ̯// if the two nearest vowels are both pronounced as //æ//. Naan (2014) does not take the heights of epenthetic vowels between non-glides into consideration, phonetically transcribing all of them as a schwa pronounced as /link/. But when one of the consonants in a cluster is a glide, the height of the epenthetic vowel between them follows a different process, assuming the same height of whichever vowel is on the opposite side of that glide, forming a long vowel with it across the otherwise silent glide. Epenthetic vowels do not affect the rhythm of the spoken language, and can never be a stressed syllable. Phonetic transcription may indicate epenthetic vowels between two non-glides as non-syllabic, using IPA notation similar to that of semi-vowels. Certain Westernized Marshallese placenames spell out the epenthetic vowels:

• Ebeye, from earlier Ebeje, from Marshallese: Epjā
• Erikub, from Marshallese: Ādkup
• Kwajalein, from Marshallese: Kuwajleen
• Majuro, from Marshallese: Mājro
• Namorik, from Marshallese: Nam̧dik
• Omelek, from Marshallese: Kom̧le ("Marshallese: K<u>om̧le, K</u>om̧le")
• Rongelap, from Marshallese: Ron̄l‌̧ap
• Rongerik, from Marshallese: Ron̄dik
• Ujelang, from Marshallese: Wūjlan̄
• Uliga, from Marshallese: Wūlka
• Utirik, from Marshallese: Utrōk

Epenthetic vowels in general can be omitted without affecting meaning, such as in song or in enunciated syllable breaks. This article uses non-syllabic notation in phonetic IPA transcription to indicate epenthetic vowels between non-glides.

Timing

The short vowel phonemes pronounced as //æ ɛ e i// and the approximant phonemes pronounced as //j ɰ w// all occupy a roughly equal duration of time. Though they occupy time, the approximants are generally not articulated as glides, and Choi (1992) does not rule out a deeper level of representation. In particular, pronounced as //V// short vowels occupy one unit of time, and pronounced as //VGV// long vowels (for which pronounced as //G// is an approximant phoneme) are three times as long.

As a matter of prosody, each pronounced as //C// consonant and pronounced as //V// vowel phonemic sequence carries one mora in length, with the exception of pronounced as //C// in pronounced as //CV// sequences where the vowel carries one mora for both phonemes. All morae are thus measured in pronounced as //CV// or shut pronounced as //C// sequences:

• pronounced as //CVC// is two morae: pronounced as //CV-C//. It is also the shortest possible length of a Marshallese word.
• pronounced as //CVCVC// is three morae: pronounced as //CV-CV-C//. Since approximants are also consonants, long vowel sequences of pronounced as //CVGVC// are also three morae.
• pronounced as //CVCCVC// is four morae: pronounced as //CV-C-CV-C//.
• Prefixes like Marshallese: ri- are pronounced as //CV-// sequences occupying only one mora but are attached to words rather than standing as words on their own.
• Suffixes like Marshallese: -in are pronounced as //-VC// sequences. The syllable itself occupies two morae but adds only one mora to the word because the vowel attaches itself to the last consonant phoneme in the word, changing pronounced as //-C// into pronounced as //-C‿V-C//.

That makes Marshallese a mora-rhythmed language in a fashion similar to Finnish, Gilbertese, Hawaiian, and Japanese.

Historic sound changes

Marshallese reflexes of Proto Oceanic consonants

Proto-Oceanic	mp	mp,ŋp	p	m	m,ŋm	k	ŋk	ŋ	y	w	t		s,nj	ns,j	j	nt,nd	d,R	l	n	ɲ
Proto-Micronesian	p	pʷ	f	m	mʷ	k	x	ŋ	y	w	t	T	s	S	Z	c	r	l	n	ɲ
Marshallese	pronounced as //pʲ//	pronounced as //pˠ//	pronounced as //j//	pronounced as //mʲ//	pronounced as //mˠ//	pronounced as //k, kʷ//	pronounced as /∅/	pronounced as //ŋ, ŋʷ//	pronounced as //j//	pronounced as //w//	pronounced as //tʲ//	pronounced as //tʲ//	pronounced as //tˠ//	pronounced as //tˠ//	pronounced as /∅/	pronounced as //rʲ//	pronounced as //rˠ, rʷ//	pronounced as //lʲ, lˠ, lʷ//	pronounced as //nʲ, nˠ, nʷ//	pronounced as //nʲ//

Marshallese consonants show splits conditioned by the surrounding Proto-Micronesian vowels. Proto-Micronesian *k *ŋ *r become rounded next to *o or next to *u except in bisyllables whose other vowel is unrounded. Default outcomes of *l and *n are palatalized; they become velarized or rounded before *a or sometimes *o if there is no high vowel in an adjacent syllable. Then, roundedness is determined by the same rule as above.

Orthography

Marshallese is written in the Latin alphabet. There are two competing orthographies. The "old" orthography was introduced by missionaries. This system is not highly consistent or faithful in representing the sounds of Marshallese, but until recently, it had no competing orthography. It is currently widely used, including in newspapers and signs. The "new" orthography is gaining popularity especially in schools and among young adults and children. The "new" orthography represents the sounds of the Marshallese language more faithfully and is the system used in the Marshallese–English dictionary by Abo et al., currently the only complete published Marshallese dictionary.

Here is the current alphabet, as promoted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands. It consists of 24 letters.

Marshallese: A

Marshallese: Ā

Marshallese: B

Marshallese: D

Marshallese: E

Marshallese: I

Marshallese: J

Marshallese: K

Marshallese: L

Marshallese: L‌̧

Marshallese: M

Marshallese: M̧

Marshallese: N

Marshallese: N‌̧

Marshallese: N̄

Marshallese: O

Marshallese: O̧

Marshallese: Ō

Marshallese: P

Marshallese: R

Marshallese: T

Marshallese: U

Marshallese: Ū

Marshallese: W

Marshallese: a

Marshallese: ā

Marshallese: b

Marshallese: d

Marshallese: e

Marshallese: i

Marshallese: j

Marshallese: k

Marshallese: l

Marshallese: l‌̧

Marshallese: m

Marshallese: m̧

Marshallese: n

Marshallese: n‌̧

Marshallese: n̄

Marshallese: o

Marshallese: o̧

Marshallese: ō

Marshallese: p

Marshallese: r

Marshallese: t

Marshallese: u

Marshallese: ū

Marshallese: w

Orthographic consonants of Marshallese Labial Coronal Dorsal Light Heavy Light Heavy Heavy Stop Marshallese: p Marshallese: b(w) Marshallese: j Marshallese: t Marshallese: k Marshallese: k(w) Nasal Marshallese: m Marshallese: m̧(w) Marshallese: n Marshallese: n‌̧ Marshallese: n‌̧(w) Marshallese: n̄ Marshallese: n̄(w) Rhotic Marshallese: d Marshallese: r Marshallese: r(w) Lateral Marshallese: l Marshallese: l‌̧ Marshallese: l‌̧(w) Glide Marshallese: e/i/- Marshallese: - Marshallese: w/-

! colspan="2" Unrounded Rounded Front Back Close Marshallese: i Marshallese: ū Marshallese: u Mid Marshallese: e Marshallese: ō Marshallese: o Open Marshallese: ā Marshallese: a Marshallese: o̧

Marshallese spelling is based on pronunciation rather than a phonemic analysis. Therefore, backness is marked in vowels despite being allophonic (it does not change the meaning), and many instances of the glides pronounced as //j ɰ w// proposed on the phonemic level are unwritten, because they do not surface as consonants phonetically. In particular, the glide pronounced as //ɰ//, which never surfaces as a consonant phonetically, is always unwritten.

The letter Marshallese: w is generally used only in three situations:

1. To mark a rounded consonant (one of Marshallese: kw l‌̧w n‌̧w n̄w rw) or approximant phoneme (Marshallese: w) before a vowel that precedes an unrounded consonant phoneme (Marshallese: a ā e i ō ū). Even then, if the consonant phoneme comes after a back rounded vowel Marshallese: o̧ o u and before another vowel, it is common to write one of Marshallese: l‌̧ n‌̧ r instead of Marshallese: l‌̧w n‌̧w rw, but the rounded dorsal consonants Marshallese: kw n̄w are still written with Marshallese: w in these circumstances.
2. To mark a velarized bilabial consonant (either Marshallese: bw or Marshallese: m̧w) before a vowel that precedes a palatalized consonant phoneme (Marshallese: ā e i).
3. To indicate a pronounced as /link/ glide phonetically surfacing either word-initially or between two vowels.

Marshallese: w is never written out word-finally or before another consonant.

• Marshallese: Kuwajleen / Kuajleen pronounced as /[kʷuwɑzʲɛ̆lʲɛːnʲ]/ "Kwajalein".^[7]

The palatal glide phoneme pronounced as //j// may also be written out but only as Marshallese: e before one of Marshallese: a o ō o̧, or as Marshallese: i before one of either Marshallese: u ū. The approximant is never written before any of Marshallese: ā e i. A stronger raised palatal glide pronounced as /link/, phonemically analyzed as the exotic un-syllabic consonant-vowel-consonant sequence pronounced as //ji̯j// rather than plain pronounced as //j//, may occur word-initially before any vowel and is written Marshallese: i. For historical reasons, certain words like Marshallese: io̧kwe may be written as Marshallese: yokwe with a Marshallese: y, which does not otherwise exist in the Marshallese alphabet.

One source of orthographic variation is in the representation of vowels. Pure monophthongs are written consistently based on vowel quality. However, short diphthongs may often be written with one of the two vowel sounds that they contain. (Alternate phonetic realizations for the same phonemic sequences are provided purely for illustrative purposes.)

• Marshallese: wōtōm / otem pronounced as /[wɤdˠɤmʲ ~ o͜ɤdˠɤ͜emʲ ~ odˠemʲ]/ "all; every".^[8]

Modern orthography has a bias in certain spelling choices in which both possibilities are equally clear between two non-approximant consonants.

• Marshallese: a is preferred over Marshallese: ā.

Marshallese: l‌̧ap pronounced as /[lˠɑpʲ ~ lˠɑ͜æpʲ ~ lˠæpʲ]/ "big", not Marshallese: *l‌̧āp^[9]

• Marshallese: i is preferred over Marshallese: ū.

Marshallese: dik pronounced as /[rʲik ~ rʲi͜ɯk ~ rʲɯk]/ "small", not Marshallese: *dūk^[10]

• Historically, both Marshallese: ō and Marshallese: e have been common and sometimes interchangeable. It is still true today with some words. In the new orthography, Marshallese: ō is generally preferred over Marshallese: e in most such situations.

Marshallese: aelōn̄ pronounced as /[ɑelʲɤŋ ~ ɑelʲe͜ɤŋ ~ ɑelʲeŋ]/ "atoll; island; land", not Marshallese: *aelen̄

Marshallese: Epatōn pronounced as /[ɛbʲɑdˠʌnʲ ~ ɛbʲæ͜ɑdˠʌ͜ɛnʲ]/ "Ebadon", not Marshallese: *Epaten^[11]

Marshallese: Kūrijm̧ōj pronounced as /[kɯrˠizʲĭmˠɤtʲ ~ kɯrˠɯ͜izʲĭ͜ɯ̆mˠɤ͜etʲ]/ "Christmas", not Marshallese: *Kūrijm̧ej^[12]

Marshallese: Nōl‌̧ pronounced as /[nʲʌlˠ ~ nʲɛ͜ʌlˠ ~ nʲɛlˠ]/ "Nell", not Marshallese: *Nel‌̧^[13]

• However, after one of Marshallese: d j m p and before one of unrounded Marshallese: b k l‌̧ m̧ n‌̧ n̄ r t, the spelling Marshallese: e is preferred over Marshallese: ō.

Marshallese: pinjel‌̧ pronounced as /[pʲinzʲɛlˠ ~ pʲinzʲɛ͜ʌlˠ ~ pʲinzʲʌlˠ]/ "pencil", not Marshallese: *pinjōl‌̧^[14]

• For the name of the Marshall Islands, the new orthography prefers Marshallese: e, but the spelling with Marshallese: ō is still found.

Marshallese: M̧ajel‌̧ or Marshallese: M̧ajōl‌̧ pronounced as /[mˠɑːzʲɛlˠ ~ mˠɑːzʲɛ͜ʌlˠ ~ mˠɑːzʲʌlˠ]/, "Marshall Islands"^{[15] [16]}

In a syllable whose first consonant is rounded and whose second consonant is palatalized, it is common to see the vowel between them written as one of Marshallese: a ō ū, usually associated with a neighboring velarized consonant:

• Marshallese: O̧kwōj pronounced as /[ɒɡʷʌtʲ ~ ɒɡʷɔ͜ɛtʲ]/ "August".^[17]
• Marshallese: Wūjlan̄ pronounced as /[wɯzʲĭlʲɑŋ ~ u͜izʲĭlʲæ͜ɑŋ ~ uzʲĭlʲɑŋ]/ "Ujelang".^[18]

The exception is long vowels and long diphthongs made up of two mora units, which are written with the vowel quality closer to the phonetic nucleus of the long syllable:

• Marshallese: jouj pronounced as /[tʲoutʲ]/ "kindness".^[19]
• Marshallese: naaj pronounced as /[nʲɑːtʲ]/ "will be".^[20]
• Marshallese: tāākji pronounced as /[tˠæːɡĭzʲi]/ "taxicab".^[19]

If the syllable is phonetically open, the vowel written is usually the second vowel in the diphthong: the word Marshallese: bwe pronounced as /[pˠɛ]/^[21] is usually not written any other way, but exceptions exist such as Marshallese: aelōn̄ (pronounced as //ɰajɘlʲɘŋ/ [ɑelʲɤŋ]/ "land; country; island; atoll"^[22]), which is preferred over Marshallese: *āelōn̄ because the Marshallese: a spelling emphasizes that the first (unwritten) glide phoneme is dorsal rather than palatal.

The spelling of grammatical affixes, such as Marshallese: ri- (pronounced as //rˠi-//^[23]) and Marshallese: -in (pronounced as //-inʲ//) is less variable despite the fact that their vowels become diphthongs with second member dependent on the preceding/following consonant: the prefix Marshallese: ri- may be pronounced as any of pronounced as /[rˠɯ͜i, rˠɯ, rˠɯ͜u]/ depending on the stem. The term Marshallese: Ri-M̧ajel‌̧ ("Marshallese people") is actually pronounced pronounced as /[rˠɯmˠɑːzʲɛlˠ]/ as if it were Marshallese: Rūm̧ajel‌̧.^[24]

Display issues

In the most polished printed text, the letters Marshallese: L‌̧ l‌̧ M̧ m̧ N‌̧ n‌̧ O̧ o̧ always appear with unaltered cedillas directly beneath, and the letters Marshallese: Ā ā N̄ n̄ Ō ō Ū ū always appear with unaltered macrons directly above. Regardless, the diacritics are often replaced by ad hoc spellings using more common or more easily displayable characters. In particular, the Marshallese-English Online Dictionary (but not the print version), or MOD, uses the following characters:

Standard						MOD
Marshallese: L‌̧	Marshallese: M̧	Marshallese: N‌̧	Marshallese: N̄	Marshallese: O̧		Marshallese: Ḷ	Marshallese: Ṃ	Marshallese: Ṇ	Marshallese: Ñ	Marshallese: Ọ
Marshallese: l‌̧	Marshallese: m̧	Marshallese: n‌̧	Marshallese: n̄	Marshallese: o̧		Marshallese: ḷ	Marshallese: ṃ	Marshallese: ṇ	Marshallese: ñ	Marshallese: ọ

As of 2019, there are no dedicated precomposed characters in Unicode for the letters Marshallese: M̧ m̧ N̄ n̄ O̧ o̧; they must be displayed as plain Latin letters with combining diacritics, and even many Unicode fonts will not display the combinations properly and neatly. Although Marshallese: L‌̧ l‌̧ N‌̧ n‌̧ exist as precomposed characters in Unicode, these letters also do not display properly as Marshallese letters in most Unicode fonts. Unicode defines the letters as having a cedilla, but fonts usually display them with a comma below because of rendering expectations of the Latvian alphabet. For many fonts, a workaround is to encode these letters as the base letter Marshallese: L l N n followed by a zero-width non-joiner and then a combining cedilla, producing Marshallese: L‌̧ l‌̧ N‌̧ n‌̧.

Both systems already require fonts that display Basic Latin (with Marshallese: A a B b D d E e I i J j K k L l M m N n O o P p R r T t U u W w) and Latin Extended-A (with Marshallese: Ā ā Ō ō Ū ū). The standard orthography also requires Combining Diacritical Marks for the combining diacritics. The MOD's alternative letters have the advantage of being neatly displayable as all-precomposed characters in any Unicode fonts that support Basic Latin, Latin Extended-A along with Latin-1 Supplement (with Marshallese: Ñ ñ) and Latin Extended Additional (with Marshallese: Ḷ ḷ Ṃ ṃ Ṇ ṇ Ọ ọ). If a font comfortably displays both the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration and the Vietnamese alphabet, it can also display MOD Marshallese.

This chart highlights the display issues in common web fonts and common free Unicode fonts that are known to support standard or MOD Marshallese lettering. Distinct typefaces appear only if the operating environment supports them. Some fonts have combining diacritic alignment issues, and the vast majority of the fonts have the Latvian diacritic issue; of the fonts shown below, only the Noto series displays Marshallese correctly.

Marshallese letters in various typefaces

Typeface	Standard letters																With "mh" code				With zero-width non-joiner				MOD alternates
Arial	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Arial Unicode MS	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Calibri	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Cambria	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Candara	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Charis SIL	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Code2000	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Consolas	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Constantia	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Corbel	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Cormorant	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Courier New	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
DejaVu Sans	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
DejaVu Sans Mono	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
DejaVu Serif	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Gentium	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Gentium Basic	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Gentium Book Basic	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Gentium Plus	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Inconsolata	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Junicode	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Linux Libertine	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Lucida Sans Unicode	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Noto Sans	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Noto Sans Mono	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Noto Serif	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Open Sans	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Segoe UI	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Source Code Pro	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Source Sans Pro	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Source Serif Pro	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Tahoma	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ
Times New Roman	Ā	ā	Ļ	ļ	M̧	m̧	Ņ	ņ	N̄	n̄	O̧	o̧	Ō	ō	Ū	ū	Ļ	ļ	Ņ	ņ	L‌̧	l‌̧	N‌̧	n‌̧	Ḷ	ḷ	Ṃ	ṃ	Ṇ	ṇ	Ñ	ñ	Ọ	ọ

Differences in orthography

The old orthography was still very similar to the new orthography but made fewer phonological distinctions in spelling than the new orthography does. The new orthography attempts phonological consistency while adhering to most of the spelling patterns of the old orthography, especially in regard to vowels and Marshallese: w. It has made the new orthography relatively easy for old orthography users to learn. The phonology of Marshallese was documented by Bender (1969) with written examples using the old orthography. Here are some differences between the new and old orthographies:

• The new orthography uses the cedillaed letters Marshallese: l‌̧ m̧ n‌̧ o̧. The old orthography did not use cedillas and ambiguously wrote them Marshallese: l m n o.
• The new orthography uses Marshallese: p for "light" pronounced as //pʲ// and Marshallese: b for "heavy" pronounced as //pˠ//. The old orthography used Marshallese: b for both.

Compare old Marshallese: binjel vs. new Marshallese: pinjel‌̧ pronounced as /[pʲinzʲɛlˠ]/, 'pencil'.

• The new orthography consistently uses Marshallese: d for "light" pronounced as //rʲ// in all positions. The old orthography often wrote Marshallese: dr before vowels, and Marshallese: r after vowels.

Compare old Marshallese: Amerka vs. new Marshallese: Amedka pronounced as /[ɑmʲɛrʲɛ̆ɡɑ]/, 'United States'.

Compare old Marshallese: indreo or Marshallese: indrio vs. new Marshallese: indeeo pronounced as /[inrʲeːɔ]/, 'forever'.

• Except in certain affixes like Marshallese: -an whose spelling may be fixed, the new orthography spells the vowel monophthong allophone pronounced as /link/ as Marshallese: ā in all positions. The old orthography had Marshallese: ā, but it was relatively less common, and pronounced as /link/ was sometimes written Marshallese: e instead.

Compare old Marshallese: Ebeje vs. new Marshallese: Epjā pronounced as /[ɛbʲɛ̆zʲæ]/, 'Ebeye'.

• Except in certain affixes like Marshallese: ri- whose the spelling of the vowels may be fixed, the new orthography spells the vowel monophthong allophone pronounced as /link/ as Marshallese: ū in all positions. The old orthography spelled pronounced as /link/ as Marshallese: i between consonants.

Compare old Marshallese: Kirijmōj vs. new Marshallese: Kūrijm̧ōj pronounced as /[kɯrˠizʲĭmˠɤtʲ]/, 'Christmas'.

• The new orthography uses only Marshallese: e o ō for allophones of the vowel phoneme pronounced as //e//. In the old orthography, some words used Marshallese: e o ō, but other words used Marshallese: i u (ū) instead.

Compare old Marshallese: ailin̄ vs. new Marshallese: aelōn̄ pronounced as /[ɑelʲɤŋ ~ ɑelʲeŋ]/, 'land'.

• The new orthography uses the letter Marshallese: o̧ for the vowel monophthong allophone pronounced as /link/ along with many of its related diphthong allophones. The old orthography spelt pronounced as /link/ as Marshallese: a between consonants but Marshallese: o at the ends of words.

Compare old Marshallese: iakwe vs. new Marshallese: io̧kwe pronounced as /[i̯ɒɡʷɛ]/, 'hello; good bye; love'.

Compare old Marshallese: mo vs. new Marshallese: mo̧ pronounced as /[mʲɒ]/, 'taboo'.

• The new orthography tries to consistently write long vowels and geminated consonants with double letters. The old orthography habitually wrote these as single letters.

Compare old Marshallese: ekatak vs. new Marshallese: ekkatak pronounced as /[ɛkːɑdˠɑk]/, 'study'.

Compare old Marshallese: jab vs. new Marshallese: jaab pronounced as /[tʲɑːpˠ]/, 'no'.

• The word Marshallese: io̧kwe pronounced as /[i̯ɒɡʷɛ]/ ('hello; goodbye; love') and the phrase Marshallese: io̧kwe eok pronounced as /[i̯ɒɡʷɛe̯okʷ]/ ('hello [to you]') are a special case. The new orthography's rules use Marshallese: io̧kwe eok, while the old orthography's rules used Marshallese: iakwe iuk. However, Marshallese: yokwe yuk has been historically more entrenched in both orthographies, but the letter Marshallese: y does not exist in the normal spelling rules of either orthography. That spelling has multilingual significance as well; Marshallese: yokwe (yuk) pronounced as //ˈjɒkweɪ (ˈjʊk)// is also the established spelling for the greeting when used in Marshallese-influenced English and by anglophones in the Marshall Islands.

Bender's orthography

In his 1968 publication Marshallese Phonology, linguist Byron W. Bender designed a purely morphophonemic orthography, containing only non-IPA symbols corresponding to consonant phonemes, vowel phonemes and regular reflexes between the dialects, intended for use in dictionaries and language teaching. Besides also appearing in his 1969 tutorial Spoken Marshallese, it appeared in a modified form alongside the "new" orthography in the 1976 Marshallese-English Dictionary (MED) to which he contributed. Bender later collaborated with Stephen Trussel when the MED was adapted to website format as the Marshallese-English Online Dictionary (MOD), with Bender's orthography appearing in an again-modified form.

Phoneme	pronounced as //pʲ//	pronounced as //pˠ//	pronounced as //tʲ//	pronounced as //tˠ//	pronounced as //k//	pronounced as //kʷ//	pronounced as //mʲ//	pronounced as //mˠ//	pronounced as //nʲ//	pronounced as //nˠ//	pronounced as //nʷ//	pronounced as //ŋ//	pronounced as //ŋʷ//	pronounced as //rʲ//	pronounced as //rˠ//	pronounced as //rʷ//	pronounced as //lʲ//	pronounced as //lˠ//	pronounced as //lʷ//	pronounced as //j//	pronounced as //ɰ//	pronounced as //w//	pronounced as //æ//	pronounced as //ɛ//	pronounced as //e//	pronounced as //i//
Bender (1968)	Marshallese: p	Marshallese: b	Marshallese: j	Marshallese: t	Marshallese: k	Marshallese: q	Marshallese: m	Marshallese: ṁ	Marshallese: n	Marshallese: ṅ	Marshallese: n̈	Marshallese: g	Marshallese: g̈	Marshallese: d	Marshallese: r	Marshallese: r̈	Marshallese: l	Marshallese: ł	Marshallese: l̈	Marshallese: y	Marshallese: h	Marshallese: w	Marshallese: a	Marshallese: e	Marshallese: &	Marshallese: i
MED (1976)	Marshallese: p	Marshallese: b	Marshallese: j	Marshallese: t	Marshallese: k	Marshallese: q	Marshallese: m	Marshallese: m̧	Marshallese: n	Marshallese: n‌̧	Marshallese: n‌̧°	Marshallese: g	Marshallese: g°	Marshallese: d	Marshallese: r	Marshallese: r°	Marshallese: l	Marshallese: l‌̧	Marshallese: l‌̧°	Marshallese: y	Marshallese: h	Marshallese: w	Marshallese: a	Marshallese: e	Marshallese: ȩ	Marshallese: i
MOD	Marshallese: p	Marshallese: b	Marshallese: j	Marshallese: t	Marshallese: k	Marshallese: kʷ	Marshallese: m	Marshallese: ṃ	Marshallese: n	Marshallese: ṇ	Marshallese: ṇʷ	Marshallese: g	Marshallese: gʷ	Marshallese: d	Marshallese: r	Marshallese: rʷ	Marshallese: l	Marshallese: ḷ	Marshallese: ḷʷ	Marshallese: y	Marshallese: h	Marshallese: w	Marshallese: a	Marshallese: e	Marshallese: ẹ	Marshallese: i

The MOD's version of Bender's orthography uses under-dot diacritics instead of the cedillas used both by the "new" orthography and by the 1976 MED's version of Bender's orthography, for reasons specific to the MOD's display issues.

In addition to plain sequences of phonemes, Bender's orthography recognizes a few special sequences, many of which relate to regular differences between the Rālik and Ratak dialects of Marshallese.

• Marshallese: &#123;yi'y&#125; is for a "passing over lightly" version of the vowel allophone Marshallese: i that occurs at the beginning of certain words, phonetically pronounced pronounced as /link/ and existing on the phonemic level as pronounced as //ji̯j//. For example, Marshallese: &#123;yi'yakʷey&#125; is equivalent to Marshallese: io̧kwe pronounced as /[i̯ɒɡʷɛ] /ji̯jækʷɛj// "hello; goodbye; love".
• Marshallese: &#123;'yiy&#125; is for a "dwelling upon" version of Marshallese: i that occurs at the beginning of certain words, now generally written Marshallese: ii in the "new" orthography, phonetically pronounced pronounced as /link/ and existing on the phonemic level as pronounced as //jijj//, effectively making it identical to Marshallese: &#123;yiyy&#125;. An example is Marshallese: &#123;'yiyayiyȩw&#125;, which is equivalent to Marshallese: iiāio pronounced as /[iːæio] /jijjæjijew// "reunion".
• Marshallese: &#123;yiy&#125; at the beginning of a word, without apostrophes, indicates a version of Marshallese: i whose reflex differs between the two dialects. In the Rālik dialect, this assumes the "dwelling upon" pronunciation, equivalent to Marshallese: &#123;'yiy&#125;. In the Ratak dialect, it instead assumes the "passing over lightly" pronunciation, equivalent to Marshallese: &#123;yi'y&#125;. An example is Marshallese: &#123;yiyal‌̧&#125;, equivalent to Marshallese: ial‌̧ "road":
  • In the Rālik dialect, Marshallese: &#123;yiyal‌̧&#125; becomes pronounced as /[iːɑlˠ] /jijjælˠ// and is often instead written as Marshallese: iial‌̧ in the "new" orthography.
  • In the Ratak dialect, Marshallese: &#123;yiyal‌̧&#125; becomes pronounced as /[i̯ɑlˠ] /ji̯jælˠ//.
• Marshallese: &#123;hhV&#125; at the beginning of a word (where "V" can be any vowel) indicates a back unrounded vowel that whose reflex differs between the dialects. In the Rālik dialect, Marshallese: &#123;hhV&#125; becomes Marshallese: &#123;hVhV&#125;, lengthening the vowel. In the Ratak dialect, the second Marshallese: &#123;h&#125; disappears, becoming Marshallese: &#123;hV&#125;, and the vowel remains short. An example is Marshallese: &#123;hhayȩt&#125;, equivalent to Marshallese: aet "yes":
  • In the Rālik dialect, Marshallese: &#123;hhayȩt&#125; becomes pronounced as /[ɑːetˠ] /ɰæɰæjetˠ// and is often instead written as Marshallese: aaet in the "new" orthography.
  • In the Ratak dialect, Marshallese: &#123;hhayȩt&#125; becomes pronounced as /[ɑetˠ] /ɰæjetˠ//.
• Marshallese: &#123;yiwV&#125; at the beginning of a word (where "V" can be any vowel) is usually equivalent to Marshallese: &#123;yiwwV&#125;.
• Marshallese: &#123;wiwV&#125; at the beginning of a word (where "V" can be any vowel) usually becomes Marshallese: &#123;yiwwV&#125; in the Rālik dialect, but usually becomes Marshallese: &#123;wiwwV&#125; in the Ratak dialect.
• When a Bender orthography spelling begins with a doubled consonant other than Marshallese: &#123;hh&#125;, such as Marshallese: &#123;m̧m̧an&#125; "good", its reflex differs between the dialects.
  • In the Rālik dialect, Marshallese: &#123;m̧m̧an&#125; becomes Marshallese: &#123;yem̧m̧an&#125;, sprouting both a prothetic Marshallese: &#123;y&#125; and a vowel. The dialect generally spells this Marshallese: em̧m̧an pronounced as /[ɛmˠːɑnʲ] /jemˠmˠænʲ// "good" in the "new" orthography, making it homophonous with the phrase Marshallese: em̧m̧an which means "it is good" in both dialects.
  • In the Ratak dialect, Marshallese: &#123;m̧m̧an&#125; becomes Marshallese: &#123;m̧em̧an&#125; with only a prothetic vowel, appearing instead between the two consonants. The dialect generally spells this Marshallese: m̧ōm̧an pronounced as /[mˠʌmˠɑnʲ] /mˠɛmˠænʲ// "good" in the "new" orthography.
  • In both dialects, the prothetic vowel is equivalent to the first stem vowel unless it is Marshallese: &#123;a&#125;, in which case the stem vowel is always paired with the prothetic vowel Marshallese: &#123;e&#125;. But when spellings like Marshallese: &#123;m̧m̧an&#125; take prefixes with a vowel, there are no prothetic vowels: Marshallese: &#123;ri-&#125; "person" + Marshallese: &#123;m̧m̧an&#125; "good" becomes Marshallese: &#123;rim̧m̧an&#125; pronounced as //rˠi-mˠmˠænʲ/ [rˠɯmˠːɑnʲ]/, which the "new" orthography spells Marshallese: rūm̧m̧an "good person".

Grammar

Morphology

Nouns are not marked as nouns, and do not inflect for number, gender, or case. Nouns are often verbalized and verbs nominalized without any overt morphological marker:

Marshallese has determiners and demonstratives which follow the noun they modify. These are marked for number, and in the plural also encode a human/nonhuman distinction. For example, in the singular Marshallese: pinjel‌̧ eo 'the pencil' and Marshallese: l‌̧addik eo 'the boy' take the same determiner, but in the plural Marshallese: pinjel‌̧ ko 'the pencils' and Marshallese: l‌̧addik ro have different determiners. Indefinites are an exception; in the singular they are expressed with the word Marshallese: juon 'one' before the noun (e.g. Marshallese: juon al 'a song'), and there is no plural indefinite determiner.

The Marshallese demonstrative system has five levels:

1. near the speaker (sg. Marshallese: e / pl. human Marshallese: rā / pl. nonhuman Marshallese: kā)
2. near the speaker and listener (Marshallese: in / rein / kein)
3. near the listener (Marshallese: n‌̧e / ran‌̧e / kan‌̧e)
4. away from both speaker and listener (Marshallese: en‌̧ / ran‌̧ / kan‌̧)
5. distant but visible (Marshallese: uweo / roro / koko).

Person! absolutive /
emphatic !! objective

s	1		Marshallese: n̄a	Marshallese: eō
	2		Marshallese: kwe	Marshallese: eok
	3		Marshallese: e
pl	1	inc	Marshallese: kōj
	1	exc	Marshallese: kōm
	2		Marshallese: kom̧ (Ralik) Marshallese: kom̧i (Ratak)
	3		Marshallese: er

Marshallese possesses two sets of 1st and 2nd person singular pronouns, known as "absolutive" or "emphatic" pronouns and as "objective" pronouns. Marshallese 1st person plurals mark for clusivity. Third person objective pronouns may only be used for humans; nonhumans instead take a null pronoun:

The emphatic pronouns serve as subjects of equational sentences, as complements of prepositions, in order to emphasize objects, in coordination structures, and with topicalized or focused subjects. It is common in Oceanic languages for a special type of pronoun to be used in equational sentences and for topicalization or focus.

Marshallese has four verb tenses: present, past, near future, and future. The tenses are formed by adding a tense suffix to the personal pronoun in the sentence. If the subject is not a personal pronoun, a third-person pronoun is added with the appropriate tense suffix. The present tense is formed by attaching the suffix -j to the personal pronoun (-ij for kōm and kom̧). The suffix for the past tense is either -ar or -kar depending on the dialect. -naaj is the suffix used for the regular future tense and -itōn is used for the near future.

Syntax

Marshallese, like many Micronesian languages, divides sentences into two types: predicational sentences and equational sentences. Predicational sentences have SVO word order and a main verb:

In equational sentences, both the subject and predicate are noun phrases:

Vocabulary

(Rālik) Marshallese: aaet; (Ratak) Marshallese: aet

	Yes
Marshallese: aelōn̄		Atoll, or island; the word for land in general
Marshallese: ej et am̧ mour		How are you? (Literally, "How is your life doing?") Notice that the Marshallese: m̧ assimilates before the Marshallese: m.
Marshallese: em̧m̧an		(It) is good.
Marshallese: enana		(It) is bad.
Marshallese: io̧kwe Marshallese: yokwe		Hello, goodbye and love, similar to the Hawaiian aloha; also an expression of sympathy. Its literal, archaic meaning is "You are a rainbow".^[25]
Marshallese: irwōj Marshallese: irooj		Iroij, the various paramount chieftains of Marshallese culture
Marshallese: jaab		No.
Marshallese: kom̧m̧ool tata		Thank you very much. Marshallese: Kom̧m̧ool alone means "thank you".
Marshallese: kōn jouj		You're welcome. Literally "for kindness".
Marshallese: Kūrjin		Christian The majority religion of the Marshall Islands

Cardinal numbers

This includes the cardinal numbers one through ten in the Rālik dialect. Where Ratak forms differ, they are listed in parentheses.

1. Marshallese: juon
2. Marshallese: ruo
3. Marshallese: jilu
4. Marshallese: emān
5. Marshallese: l‌̧alem
6. Marshallese: jiljino (the Marshallese: l is silent)
7. Marshallese: jimjuon
8. Marshallese: ralitōk (Marshallese: ejino)
9. Marshallese: ratimjuon (Marshallese: ejilimjuon)
10. Marshallese: jon̄oul

Months

1. Marshallese: Jānwōde, 'January'
2. Marshallese: Pāpode, 'February'
3. Marshallese: M̧aaj, 'March'
4. Marshallese: Eprōl‌̧, 'April'
5. Marshallese: Māe, 'May'
6. Marshallese: Juun, 'June'
7. Marshallese: Jul‌̧ae, 'July'
8. Marshallese: O̧kwōj, 'August'
9. Marshallese: Jeptōm̧ba, also Marshallese: Jebtōm̧ba, 'September'
10. Marshallese: Oktoba, 'October'
11. Marshallese: Nobōm̧ba, also Marshallese: Nopem̧ba, 'November'
12. Marshallese: Tijem̧ba, 'December'

Weekdays

1. Marshallese: Jabōt, 'Sunday; Sabbath'
2. Marshallese: M̧ande, 'Monday'
3. Marshallese: Juje, 'Tuesday'
4. Marshallese: Wōnje, 'Wednesday'
5. Marshallese: Taije, 'Thursday'
6. Marshallese: Bōraide, also Marshallese: Bōl‌̧aide, also Marshallese: Būl‌̧āide, 'Friday'
7. Marshallese: Jādede, 'Saturday'

Marshallese atolls and islands

• Marshallese: M̧ajel‌̧ or Marshallese: M̧ajōl‌̧, 'Marshall Islands'
  • Marshallese: Ratak, 'Ratak Chain'
    • Marshallese: Aelok, 'Ailuk Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Arn‌̧o, 'Arno Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Aur, 'Aur Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Ādkup, 'Erikub Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Bokaak or Marshallese: Bok-ak, 'Bokak (Taongi) Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Jāmo̧, 'Jemo Island'
    • Marshallese: Likiep, 'Likiep Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Mājeej or Marshallese: Mājej, 'Mejit Island'
    • Marshallese: Mājro, 'Majuro Atoll'
      • Marshallese: Jarōj, 'Djarrit'
      • Marshallese: L‌̧ora, 'Laura'
      • Marshallese: Tel‌̧ap, 'Delap'
      • Marshallese: Wūlka, 'Uliga'
    • Marshallese: Mile, 'Mili Atoll'
    • Marshallese: M̧al‌̧o-el‌̧ap, 'Maloelap Atoll'
    • Marshallese: N‌̧a-dikdik, 'Knox Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Pikaar, 'Bikar Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Tōkā, 'Toke (Taka) Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Utrōk, 'Utirik Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Wōjjā, 'Wotje Atoll'
  • Marshallese: Rālik, 'Ralik Chain'
    • Marshallese: Aelōn̄in-ae, 'Ailinginae Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Aelōn̄l‌̧apl‌̧ap, 'Ailinglaplap Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Āne-wātak, also Marshallese: Ānewetak, 'Enewetak (Eniwetok) Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Ellep, 'Lib Island'
    • Marshallese: Epoon, 'Ebon Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Jālwōj or Marshallese: Jālooj, 'Jaluit Atoll'
      • Marshallese: Jebwad, 'Jabor Island'
    • Marshallese: Jebat, 'Jabat (Jabot, Jabwot) Island'
    • Marshallese: Kōle, 'Kili Island'
    • Marshallese: Kuwajleen, 'Kwajalein Atoll'
      • Marshallese: Epjā, also Marshallese: Ibae, 'Ebeye Island'
    • Marshallese: Lae, 'Lae Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Nam̧dik, 'Namdrik (Namorik) Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Nam̧o, 'Namu Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Pikinni, 'Bikini Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Ron̄dik, 'Rongerik (Rongdrik) Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Ron̄l‌̧ap, 'Rongelap Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Wōtto, 'Wotho Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Wūjae or Marshallese: Ujae, 'Ujae Atoll'
    • Marshallese: Wūjlan̄ or Marshallese: Ujlan̄, 'Ujelang Atoll'
  • Marshallese: Āneen-kio, 'Wake (Enenkio) Atoll' (claimed by the Marshall Islands, administered by the United States)

Other countries and places

• Marshallese: Amedka, 'United States (America)'
  • Marshallese: Awai, 'Hawaii', where a Marshallese diaspora lives
  • Marshallese: Kalboonea, 'California', where a Marshallese diaspora lives
  • Marshallese: O̧kōnjo̧, 'Arkansas', where a large Marshallese diaspora lives
• Marshallese: Aujtōrōlia, 'Australia'
• Marshallese: Eijia, 'Asia'
  • Marshallese: Jaina, also Marshallese: Jāina, also Marshallese: Jeina, 'China'
  • Marshallese: Jepaan, also Marshallese: Nibbon̄, 'Japan (Nippon)', former colonial ruler
  • Marshallese: Kuria, 'Korea'
  • Marshallese: Pilipin, 'Philippines', former colonial administrator under Spanish rule
  • Marshallese: Rojia, 'Russia'
  • Marshallese: Taiwan, 'Taiwan'
• Marshallese: In̄len, 'England'
• Marshallese: Jam̧uwa, 'Samoa'
• Marshallese: Jāmne, 'Germany', former colonial ruler
• Marshallese: Jipein, 'Spain', former colonial ruler
• Marshallese: M̧aikronijia, 'Micronesia'
  • Marshallese: Karol‌̧āin, 'Caroline Islands'
    • Marshallese: Bōl‌̧au, also Marshallese: Bōl‌̧ao, 'Palau'
    • Marshallese: FSM, 'Federated States of Micronesia (F.S.M.)'
      • Marshallese: Boonpe, 'Pohnpei (Ponape)'
      • Marshallese: Iaab, 'Yap'
      • Marshallese: Kujjae, also Marshallese: Kōjae, 'Kosrae (Kusaie)'
      • Marshallese: Ruk, 'Chuuk (Truk)'
  • Marshallese: Kilbōt, 'Kiribati (Gilbert Islands)'
  • Marshallese: M̧adianna, 'Mariana Islands'
    • Marshallese: Jāipaan, 'Saipan'
    • Marshallese: Kuwaam̧, 'Guam'
  • Marshallese: Nawōdo, 'Nauru (Naoero)'
• Marshallese: Mejjiko, 'Mexico', former colonial administrator under Spanish rule
• Marshallese: Nijiil‌̧ōn, 'New Zealand'
• Marshallese: Nukne, also, 'New Guinea', former colonial administrator under German rule
• Marshallese: Piji, 'Fiji'
• Marshallese: Tubal‌̧u, 'Tuvalu'

Text examples

Modern orthography

Here is the Hail Mary in standard Marshallese orthography:

Marshallese: Io̧kwe eok Maria, kwo lōn̄ kōn

Marshallese: menin jouj;

Marshallese: Irooj ej pād ippam̧.

Marshallese: Kwo jeram̧m̧an iaan kōrā ran‌̧ im

Marshallese: ejeram̧m̧an ineen lo̧jiōm̧, Jesus.

Marshallese: O Maria kwojarjar, jinen Anij,

Marshallese: kwōn jar kōn kem rijjerawiwi.

Marshallese: Kiiō im ilo iien

Marshallese: amwōj mej. Amen.

Older orthography

Here is the Lord's Prayer from the 1982 Marshallese Bible, which uses the older orthography:

Marshallese: Jememuij iljōn̄:

Marshallese: En kwojarjar im utiej etam;

Marshallese: En itok am Ailin̄;

Marshallese: Kimin kōmōnmōn ankilam ilōl einwōt air kōmmōn ilōn.

Marshallese: Letok n̄ōn kim kijim rainin.

Marshallese: Jolok amuij bwid ibbam,

Marshallese: Einwōt kimij julok bwid ko an ro jet ibbem.

Marshallese: Am melejjon̄e kim en jab ellā jen jon̄an,

Marshallese: Ak kwon kejbarok kim jen Eo Enana.

Marshallese: Bwe am Ailin̄ im kajur im aibuijuij indrio, Amen.

Bibliography

• Book: Abo. Takaji. Bender. Byron. Capelle. Alfred. DeBrum . Tony. Marshallese–English Dictionary. 1976. University Press of Hawai‘i . December 29, 2012.
• Bender. Byron. 1968. Marshallese Phonology. Oceanic Linguistics . 7. 1. 16–35. 10.2307/3622845. 3622845.
• Book: Bender, Byron. 1969. Spoken Marshallese: an intensive language course with grammatical notes and glossary. Honolulu. University of Hawaii Press. 0-87022-070-5 . registration.
• . Bender . Byron W. . Ward H. . Goodenough . Frederick H. . Jackson . Jeffrey C. . Marck . Kenneth L. . Rehg . Ho-min . Sohn . Stephen . Trussel . Judith W. . Wang . Proto-Micronesian Reconstructions: I. Oceanic Linguistics . 2003 . 42 . 1 . 1–110 . 3623449 . 10.2307/3623449.
• Choi. John. 1992. Phonetic Underspecification and Target Interpolation: An Acoustic Study of Marshallese Vowel Allophony. Working Papers in Phonetics. 82. Los Angeles . UCLA. December 30, 2012.
• Book: Miller, Rachel. 2010. Wa kuk wa jimor: Outrigger canoes, social change, and modern life in the Marshall Islands. University of Hawai’i. 10125/21114.
• Book: Rudiak-Gould, Peter. 2004. Practical Marshallese. . December 5, 2012.
  • Book: Willson, Heather. 2003. A Brief Introduction to Marshallese Phonology . December 4, 2012.
• Book: Willson, Heather. 2008. Subject Positions in Marshallese . December 10, 2012. University of California, Los Angeles.

Further reading

• Bender, Byron W. (1969). Vowel dissimilation in Marshallese. In Working papers in linguistics (No. 11, pp. 88–96). University of Hawaii.
• Bender . Byron W . 1973 . Parallelisms in the morphophonemics of several Micronesian languages . Oceanic Linguistics . 12 . 1/2. 455–477 . 10.2307/3622863. 3622863 .
• Book: Erdland, August . 1906 . Wörterbuch und Grammatik der Marschall-Sprache . Archiv für das Studium der deutschen Kolonialsprachen IV . de . Berlin . Georg Reimer .
• Hale, Mark. (2007) Chapter 5 of Historical Linguistics: Theory and Method. Blackwell
• Hale . Mark . 2000 . Marshallese phonology, the phonetics-phonology interface and historical linguistics . The Linguistic Review . 17 . 2–4. 241–257 . 10.1515/tlir.2000.17.2-4.241. 143601901 .
• Kroeber . A. L. . 1911 . Phonetics of the Micronesian Language of the Marshall Islands . American Anthropologist . New Series . 13 . 3 . 380–393 . 10.1525/aa.1911.13.3.02a00020 . 659915 . free . 10524/11920 . free .
• Pagotto, L. (1987). Verb subcategorization and verb derivation in Marshallese: a lexicase analysis.

External links

• • Naan, a free Marshallese–English Dictionary for beginner/intermediate learners of both languages
• Marshallese–English Online Dictionary
• Marshallese Phrasebook on the website for the Republic of Marshall Islands lists the Marshallese word for the Marshallese language as Marshallese: kajin Majöl
• Peace Corps Marshall Islands Marshallese Language Training Manual (PDF, 275 KB; instead of macrons uses trema on vowels and tilde on n, and underlines instead of cedillas)
• Marshallese Spelling Reforms article in the blog, "Far Outliers"
• Kaipuleohone has recordings of stories from the 1950s as well as index cards of plant and animal words
• Materials on Marshallese are included in the open access Arthur Capell collections (AC1 and AC2) held by Paradisec

Notes and References

1. Web site: Marshallese . . December 5, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150411065329/http://www.ethnologue.com/language/mah . 2015-04-11 . dead.
2. Web site: Population, total – Marshall Islands . The World Bank .
3. Web site: Susanne Ruststaff . Dec 31, 2019 . They came here after the U.S. irradiated their islands. Now they face an uncertain future . Los Angeles Times .
4. International Legal Materials. 39. 5. 2000. Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal: In the Matter of the People of Enewetak. 1214–1233. 10.1017/S0020782900008640. 232252215.
5. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2K.htm#kukure MED: Marshallese: kukure
6. Web site: free Marshallese-English dictionary . Naan . Aug 1, 2014 . Nik Willson.
7. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocK.htm#Kuwajleen MED: Marshallese: Kuwajleen
8. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2W.htm#wōtōm MED: Marshallese: wōtōm
9. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2L.htm#ḷap MED: Marshallese: l‌̧ap
10. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2D.htm#dik MED: Marshallese: dik
11. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocK.htm#Kuwajleen MED: Marshallese: Epatōn
12. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2K.htm#Kūrijṃōj MED: Marshallese: Kūrijm̧ōj
13. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocK.htm#Kuwajleen MED: Marshallese: Nōl‌̧
14. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2P.htm#pinjeḷ MED: Marshallese: pinjel‌̧
15. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2M.htm#Ṃajeḷ MED: Marshallese: M̧ajel‌̧
16. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/ConcordM.htm#Ṃajōḷ MED: Marshallese: M̧ajōl‌̧
17. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2O.htm#Ọkwōj MED: Marshallese: O̧kwōj
18. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/LocW.htm#Wūjlañ MED: Marshallese: Wūjlan̄
19. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2T.htm#tāākji MED: Marshallese: tāākji
20. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2N.htm#naaj MED: Marshallese: naaj
21. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2B.htm MED: Marshallese: bwe
22. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2A.htm#aelōñ MED: Marshallese: aelōn̄
23. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2R.htm#ri- MED: Marshallese: ri-
24. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2R.htm#Ri-Ṃajeḷ MED: Marshallese: Ri-M̧ajel‌̧
25. http://www.trussel2.com/MOD/MED2I.htm#iọkwe MED: Marshallese: io̧kwe