Civil Affairs Studies: the Languages of the Japanese Mandated Islands (OPNAV 50e-15)

From Habele Institute

Office of the Chief of Naval Operations (1944-06-20). Civil Affairs Studies: the Languages of the Japanese Mandated Islands (OPNAV 50e-15) (Report). Washington, DC: Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Navy Department.

Abstract: The document titled “Civil Affairs Studies: the Languages of the Japanese Mandated Islands (opnav 50e-15)” provides a comprehensive survey of the languages spoken within the Japanese Mandated Islands. It includes both general characteristics and interrelationships of these languages. The document highlights that Japanese has been the official language of government since 1914, and there is a significant emphasis on the teaching of Japanese.

Marshallese is spoken in the Rélik and Radak chains of the Marshall Islands, and in Ujelang. The dialect used in missionary and other writing, and in inter-island communication, is that of Jaluit and of the Ralik group in general. There are slight differences between the dialects of the various atolls...

Kusaien is used only in Kusaie (Kosrae). Though clearly related to Marshallese and Ponapean, it is not mutually comprehensible with either of them....

Ponapean is spoken in Ponape (Pohnpei) and nearby islands: Pingelap, Mokil, Ant, Pakin, Ngatik (now "Sapwuahfik"). The neighboring islands formerly had dialects intermediate between Ponapean and Marshallese; these older dialects have largely been overlaid by Ponapean, spread by the missionaries and native teachers...

Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi (Greenwich Isands.) dialects are of the Polynesian family of languages, and are so closely related to Samoan as to be mutually intelligible with it...

Central and West Caroline Languages.— The most important of these dialects are those of Truk (now "Chuuk") and the Mortlock islands; other important dialects are those of Namoluk, Losap, Flall Islands, Pulap, Lamotrek, and Faraulep. These and lesser dialects, extending from Satawal to Mogemog (Ulithi), are closely related and in general mutually intelligible...

Yap is spoken on the islands of Yap and Ngulu. Basically Melanesian, Yap has certain Indonesian grammatical features, and its vocabulary is sharply differentiated from that of the other Caroline languages...

Palau is spoken on Palau and Angaur: It seems to be fundamentally Indonesian, with certain Melanesian features of grammar (cf. the grammatical notes on Palau) and vocabulary...

Chamorro is spoken in Guam and the other islands of the Marianas. As a result of centuries of Spanish political and cultural domination, the vocabulary of Chamorro is heavily permeated with Spanish words...