To help myself learn Tongan, and also to help readers of zerogetsamgow pronounce and read the Tongan words in posts, I have decided to publish my notes from the language classes provided as part of the in-country orientation program.
These classes were taught by Poli Faleafa and I would like to acknowledge her tuition, however any errors should be treated as my own.
I will add several entries for easy reference, starting with ...
the alphabet
Tongan is a phonetic language with an alphabet of 16 letter consisting of five vowels and eleven consonants. This makes learning how to read and pronounce Tongan very easy if you know the alphabet.
The 11 consonants are:
These classes were taught by Poli Faleafa and I would like to acknowledge her tuition, however any errors should be treated as my own.
I will add several entries for easy reference, starting with ...
the alphabet
Tongan is a phonetic language with an alphabet of 16 letter consisting of five vowels and eleven consonants. This makes learning how to read and pronounce Tongan very easy if you know the alphabet.
The 11 consonants are:
f h k l m n ng p s t v
The familiar letters (i.e., not ng) are pronounced much as in English. However, k is pronounced more like a g, as ga, p is proceeded by a softer b sound, so bpa, and t is closer to a d sound, da.
The ng "letter" is pronounced like na, but done so whilst keeping your tongue on the bottom of your mouth.
The consonants are quite easy to read and pronounce. The vowels cause people trouble as they try to read and pronounce them as they would in English.
The five vowels are:
a e i o u
Each vowel is pronounced in one, and only one, way. These are:
ah eh ee orh oo
For example, "a" is ah only and never ay, "e" is eh only and never ee, and "i" is ee only and never aye.
All words in Tongan end in a vowel. Also, a word may contain two consecutive vowels, but never two consecutive consonants. When vowels occur consecutively, each is pronounced.
For example, "ae" is pronounced ah-eh and "oi" is pronounced "orh-ee"
Tongan also uses two other characters of accents. The ' character, called the fakau'a, acts as a pause in words or shortens vowels. The toloi, a bar over vowels, lengthens the sound.
Poli taught us a song to help us remember the alphabet. You might like to try it yourself.
(To the tune of Freres Jacques, vowels use Tongan pronounciation.)
Ah E Fa Ha
Ah E Fa Ha
I Ka La
I Ka La
Ma Na Ng O Pa Sa
Ma Na Ng O Pa Sa
Ta U Va
Ta U Va
Fakau'a
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