| Sonsorolese | |
| Nativename: | Ramari Dongosaro |
| States: | Palau |
| Region: | Palau originally Sonsorol state (all three inhabited islands Sonsorol, Pulo Ana and Merir) |
| Pushpin Map: | Southeast Asia |
| Coordinates: | 5.33°N 132.22°W |
| Date: | 2007 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Austronesian |
| Fam2: | Malayo-Polynesian |
| Fam3: | Oceanic |
| Fam4: | Micronesian |
| Fam5: | Micronesian Proper |
| Fam6: | Nuclear Micronesian |
| Fam7: | Chuukic–Pohnpeic |
| Fam8: | Chuukic |
| Nation: |  Palau |
| Script: | Latin script |
| Iso3: | sov |
| Glotto: | sons1242 |
| Glottorefname: | Sonsorol |
| Map: | Lang Status 40-SE.svg |
Sonsorolese is a Micronesian language spoken in Palau, originally on the islands composing the state of Sonsorol, and spreading through migration elsewhere in the country. It is very close to Tobian.
Sonsorolese is mostly spoken in the Palau archipelago, particularly in Sonsorol, Pulo Ana, and the Merir Islands.[1] It is one of two indigenous languages spoken in the area.
There are about 360 speakers spread out across 60 islands. Most speakers of Sonsorol are bilingual, with their second language being English.[2] The language is an official language for the areas where it is spoken. It is usually used for the state's internal communications, like announcements and invitations.[3] Some closely related languages of Sonsorol are Ulithian, Woleaian, and Satawalese. The language is part of the Austronesian language family. Most of the population have migrated from the islands of the Sonsorol state to Palau's main town, Koror and Echang village. The reasons are various, including economic and environmental. Young Sonsorolese speakers use a mixture of Palauan, English and Sonsorolese, what is called Echangese and is different from what the elder generation speaks. There are currently less than 20 speakers over 60 years old.
unknown (immigrant language)
600 speakers
60 speakers+
5 speakers+
In Sonsorolese, there are 19 consonants. These consonants are: 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/, 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/, and pronounced as /link/.
| Labial | Dental-Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Plosive | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Continuant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
Sonsorolese has five vowels: pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/, and pronounced as /link/. There are also diphthongs, including pronounced as //ae//, pronounced as //ai//, pronounced as //ao//, and pronounced as //au//. An example of the diphthong pronounced as //ae// is mae, which means "breadfruit".
Voiceless vowels occur in three contexts: “as finals, after a consonant, after a full, generally long vowel, and before a consonant, when they are acoustically similar to falling diphthongs, after non-final consonants a furtive /i/ or /u/ produces palatalization or velarisation (respectively) of the consonants".
Sonsorolese is primarily a spoken language. Many of the sounds are like those in Tobian and Woleaian. A couple of dialects include the pronunciation of d, which is common at the beginning of words and similar to pronounced as /link/; r is pronounced as in Spanish; also, l is always pronounced with tongue touching the back roof of the mouth and sounds something like a combination of the pronounced as /[ɡ]/ and pronounced as /[l]/ sounds. For that reason, some Sonsorolese prefer to spell their els as . As in Woleaian, voiceless vowels are usually found at the end of Sonsorolese words. For example, in Dongosaro, the native name for Sonsorol island, the final -o is voiceless.
Written documents in Sonsorolese include the Constitution of Sonsorol State and certain parts of the Bible. However, there seems to be a confusion regarding the Bible since there seems not to be a distinction between Tobian and Sonsorolese.
There is full reduplication in the Sonsorol language. E.g. 'orange' = hulu, 'oranges' = huluhulu.
The numeral system of Sonsorolese is base-10. The numeral system can go up to 1,000, which is "da ngaladi".
"what?"
"dangerous"
"cold"
"I don't speak Sonsorolese"
"apple"
"banana"
"betel nut"
"bread"
"chicken"
"coconut"
"egg"
"fish"
"ice"
"taro"
"land crab"
"papaya"
"pork"
"rice"
"come"