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The Tongan language distinguishes three numbers: singular, dual, and plural. They appear as the three major columns in the tables below. The Tongan language distinguishes four persons: First person exclusive, first person inclusive, second person and third person. They appear as the four major rows in the tables below.
Tongan is the official language, [7] along with English. Tongan is a Polynesian language of the Tongic branch so is closely related to other languages of the Tongic branch, those being: Niuean and Niuafoʻouan. Tongan is more distantly related to other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Samoan, Māori, and Tahitian, among others.
The contemporary classification of the Polynesian languages began with certain observations by Andrew Pawley in 1966 based on shared innovations in phonology, vocabulary and grammar showing that the East Polynesian languages were more closely related to Samoan than they were to Tongan, calling Tongan and its nearby relative Niuean "Tongic" and ...
Tongan is the official language, along with English. Tongan is a Polynesian language of the Tongic branch so is closely related to other languages of the Tongic branch, those being: Niuean and Niuafoʻouan. Tongan is more distantly related to other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Samoan, Māori, and Tahitian, among others. [2]
The history of Tonga is recorded since the ninth century BC, when seafarers associated with the Lapita diaspora first settled the islands which now make up the Kingdom of Tonga. [1] Along with Fiji and Samoa, the area served as a gateway into the rest of the Pacific region known as Polynesia . [ 2 ]
The early history of Tonga covers the islands' settlement and the early Lapita culture through to the rise of the Tuʻi Tonga Empire.. What is known about Tonga before European contact comes from myths, stories, songs, poems, (as there was no writing system) as well as from archaeological excavations.
Tonga may refer to five different languages: Tongan language , or Tonga (ISO 639-3: ton ) – a Polynesian language spoken in Tonga in the South Pacific Tonga language (Zambia and Zimbabwe) , or Chitonga (ISO 639-3: toi ) – a Bantu language spoken in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique
The Tongic languages are a small group of Polynesian languages, which consists of at least two languages, Tongan and Niuean, and possibly a third, Niuafoʻouan. See also [ edit ]