Oceanic Languages

FATHER ALOIS KAYSER AND THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE
NAURUAN LANGUAGE
Nauruan has the reputation of being a
to learn.
To
rather difficult language
acquire a reasonable competence in the language, one
has to spend years on Nauru and live in close contact with native
speakers. Professional linguists have
made
produce a comprehensive description of
its
several attempts to
phonology, morphology
and syntax, but the results must be considered fragmentary and

incompleted Geoff Nathan,
West Center sponsored
who worked on Nauruan under an
Pacific
Language Development
wrote in 1973: "Phonetically, Nauruan

languages
have ever encountered.
It
is
East-
Project,
one of the most
difficult
has a number of phones they
don't teach one about in phonetics class, one of which has escaped
my
analysis to this day. I think
neither describe nor produce

satisfaction.^"
And, as
dictionaries that
it
can place
to
my, or
far as the lexicon
it
my
is
phonemically, but
can
informant's,
concerned, no bilingual
would document the richness and semantic
of the language have been published to date.
subtleties
The
genealogical classification of Nauruan
conjecture.
It is
is still
a matter of
normally referred to as a Micronesian language but,
according to Bender^, no close
affinities
with languages inside and
outside Micronesia have so far been established. In his

lexicostatistical study
groups
it
by
itself as
of the Austronesian language family, Dyen'*
an independent coordinate branch within the
Austronesian Linkage.
A number of morphological
and syntactic
Hambruch, Paul
1914 Die Sprache von Nauru. Hamburg: L. Friederichsen & Co.
b) Hough, David A.
1974 Summary of Nauruan Phonology. Unpublished manuscript.
Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii, Manoa Campus.
a)
^ Nathan, Geoff
1973 "Nauruan
,
Bender, Byron B.
in the Austronesian
Pacific Collection,
Language Family." Oceanic Linguistics 12:479-501.
1971 "Micronesian Languages". In Current Trends in Linguistics edited by

Sebeok. The Hague-Paris: Mouton, p. 426-465.
Thomas A.
Dyen, Isidore
1965 "A lexicostatistical classification of the Austronesian languages. " International
Journal of American Linguistics, Memoir 19, vol. 31, no. 1. Baltimore: Waverley Press.
"
II
structures are typically Austronesian, e.g. the distinction of inclusive
and exclusive
first
person plural forms, the position of the genitive
head noun, the verb
after the
object
word
order, the obligatory
possessive marker for inalienable possessions, while other features
more characteristic for non- Austronesian languages, e.g. the very

high number of 39 noun-classes which require concord in pronouns,
are
adjectives and numerals.^
What
is
known about the structure of Nauruan^ is

grammar, the work of the Reverend Father Alois
reliably
contained in this
Kayser, a missionary of the Order of the Sacred Heart,

almost 40 years on the island. In 1936
R.A.N.
(Rtd), the administrator of
grammar.
It
was retyped on
A limited number of copies

are
now
stencil
who
Commander R.C.
spent
Garsia
Nauru, obtained a copy of the

and duplicated on a roneo copier.
found their
way
to the outside
world and
kept in the rare books collections of the Australian National
Library, Canberra, the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and the School of

Oriental and Asian Studies, University of London. This publication
a reprint of the copy that the Rev. Father Bernhard
made
Catholic Church, Nauru kindly
Embassy
in
Canberra.
No
alterations
is
Lahn of the
available to the
German
have been made
to the original
text.
Compared
to other
languages in the area, Nauruan was
reduced to writing relatively
late, less
than 100 years ago, and like
elsewhere in the Pacific, Christian missionaries completed the task.

In
Nauru
it
was
the language.
the Rev. Phillip
Adam
Delaporte
who
alphabetised
Delaporte and his wife were sent to Nauru in
November 1899 by
the Central
Union Church of Honolulu under the
sponsorship of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign

Missions.
a)
The Delaportes were of German
descent; both had
Dempwolff, Otto
1914/15 "Review of Hambruch, Paul. Die Sprache von Nauru."
Zeitschrift fUr
Kolonialsprachen. 5:155-158.
b) Capell, Arthur
1962 A linguistic survey of the south-western Pacific, Noumea: South Pacific Commission
^
Capell (1962, p. .251) "Some years ago, the Rev. Fr. Kaysser (sic), who knew the language better
than any other European, drew up a granmiar... It provides the only authoritative account of the
language that exists.... It is worth publishing, although it is large - taking 325 pages of single-spaced
foolscap - but it is not too large for the complication of the language.
Ill
migrated to the United States

replacing
a Gilbertese
age of sixteen. They were
at the
pastor, the
Reverend Tabuia of Tarawa, who
had been on Nauru since 1887. His efforts
remained unsuccessful mainly because of
He
language.
to convert the
Nauruans
his failure to learn the
used to preach in Gilbertese which was only
understood by a handful of people on the island.
By
1901, Delaporte had opened a mission school at Orro and,
with the help of his wife and Nauruan assistants, basic literacy and
numeracy
skills
were taught
Protestant schools
in the native language. Later, additional
were established
in the districts
of Anebare
Mr and Mrs Quabin), Meneng (under Mr and Mrs Auwobo)

Ewa (under Mr Lajanar and his wife Neibaj from the Marshall
(under
and
Islands). Gradually
In 1911,
instruction.
Pacific
German was
Nauru became
where German was
onwards,
introduced as the language of
in cooperation
German colony in the

school language.^ From 1900
the first
the official
with Nauruan converts, especially Timothy
and High Chief) and Jacob Aroi
Detudamo
(later Pastor
Pastor and
Head Teacher),
(later
the Protestant Mission published in quick
succession primers for schools and texts for religious instruction in
As the titles show, lexical gaps in the Nauru language

by German words: Buck en lesen n kakainm. Nauru 1900;
the vernacular.
were
filled
Buck
in
driannea wanara buck Kristian n
Etoronab inon nana re mek
iat
Testament
Etsimeduw. Nauru 1903; Etoronab
it
tsitan Gott.
Nauru 1902;
Obwe me Testament
Ekelesia,
mu
Urien ada itueb n
Nauru 1903; Wanara buck n kereri ran Protestantischen

Schulen. Nauru 1904; Oat eonin: oa Katechismus n Bibel. Nauru 1905;
Markus, Lukas ma aura Makur Apostel. Nauru 1905.
Protestant.
The
In
first
Nauruan
texts
were produced
in
mimeographed form.
1906 the Mission bought a small printing press
trained seven
only a small
young Nauruans
in its operation.
in
Sydney and
For financial reasons,
number of types had been purchased;
this
meant
that
more than two pages could be set up at a time. The first printed
book known to have been produced on the new press was Toranab in
not
Bibel (Altes Testament), a collection of popular bible stories. 4(X)

7
Hambruch, Introduction.
IV
copies were printed in August 1906. However, the day that
remembered
as a landmark in the history of the
May
the 31st of
1907,
when
Jesu Kristo
became
and Aroi seven years
available.
to
Nauruan language
the translation of the
Neues Testament naran aen wora Temoniba

It
is
New
ma Amen
is
Testament
Katsimor nea
had taken Delaporte, Detudamo
complete the translation and
it
took the
mission press six months to set and print the 625 copies of 537 pages
each. Only the binding had to be done overseas in San Francisco.
The day
it
went on
sale,
hundreds of people gathered around the
mission long before daybreak to get a copy for the equivalent of 75
US
cents.
The
translation of the
New
Testament
into the vernacular
undoubtedly of great importance for the missionary
activities
was
of the
Protestant Church, but the significance of the achievement goes
beyond the intended purpose of spreading the gospel. From a

linguistic perspective,
Reducing the language
it
marks the creation of Nauruan
to writing
literature.
had required the translators
decide on orthographic, grammatical,
stylistic
to
and sociolinguistic
standards for the written language. Furthermore, they had to engage

in
language engineering,
i.e.
expanding the vocabulary by borrowing
words from other languages or creating new terms by derivation or

paraphrase to encode concepts which were previously unknown to
the Nauruans.
some sources, up to 1888 and until the first

became available, the Nauruans spoke a number of
According
written texts
to
different dialects. Although the island is rather small, with a total
land area of 21 sq.
km
and a population which
exceed 1500, people from different
at the
time did not
districts are said to
have
experienced difficulties in wholly understanding each other^. The

codification and elaboration of the language created a
Nauruans and greatly contributed
to the
model for
all
maintenance and survival of
the vernacular under the growing influence of foreign languages,
including Pidgin English,
^ Robson,
in the years to
come.
W.R.
1939 The Pacific Islands Year Book, Sydney: Pacific Publications,
Kayser, Alois. 1993.
Nauru Grammar
p. 47.
[Edited, with an Introduction
by
Karl H. Rensch. Canberra: Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

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FATHER ALOIS KAYSER AND THE RECENT HISTORY OF THE

rather difficult language

acquire a reasonable competence in the language, one

produce a comprehensive description of

and syntax, but the results must be considered fragmentary and

West Center sponsored

who worked on Nauruan under an

wrote in 1973: "Phonetically, Nauruan

have ever encountered.

one of the most

has a number of phones they

analysis to this day. I think

neither describe nor produce

far as the lexicon

would document the richness and semantic

of the language have been published to date.

genealogical classification of Nauruan

normally referred to as a Micronesian language but,

according to Bender^, no close

with languages inside and

outside Micronesia have so far been established. In his

of the Austronesian language family, Dyen'*

an independent coordinate branch within the

Language Family." Oceanic Linguistics 12:479-501.

1971 "Micronesian Languages". In Current Trends in Linguistics edited by

structures are typically Austronesian, e.g. the distinction of inclusive

person plural forms, the position of the genitive

head noun, the verb

order, the obligatory

possessive marker for inalienable possessions, while other features

more characteristic for non- Austronesian languages, e.g. the very

adjectives and numerals.^

known about the structure of Nauruan^ is

Kayser, a missionary of the Order of the Sacred Heart,

(Rtd), the administrator of

A limited number of copies

Nauru, obtained a copy of the

kept in the rare books collections of the Australian National

Library, Canberra, the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and the School of

Catholic Church, Nauru kindly

have been made

languages in the area, Nauruan was

reduced to writing relatively

than 100 years ago, and like

elsewhere in the Pacific, Christian missionaries completed the task.

the Rev. Phillip

Delaporte and his wife were sent to Nauru in

Union Church of Honolulu under the

sponsorship of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign

The Delaportes were of German

descent; both had

migrated to the United States

age of sixteen. They were

Reverend Tabuia of Tarawa, who

had been on Nauru since 1887. His efforts

remained unsuccessful mainly because of

his failure to learn the

used to preach in Gilbertese which was only

understood by a handful of people on the island.