Begin or continue your Pacific language learning journey!
Written by Tui Tuia Facilitator, Dr. Angela Bland
Malo le soifua, Malo e lelei, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Ni sa bula vinaka, Fakatalofa atu, Mālo ni, Noaˈia ˈe mḁuri, Kam na mauri, Kia Ora! The Centre for Pacific Languages provides an opportunity to learn for free a Pacific language. There are seven Pacific languages to choose from. Enrolment for Term Three has opened with classes starting on the 19th of September. The Centre has classes from beginners to advanced. All courses are online and are free to NZ citizens and residency permit holders.
Additionally, while CPL is a tertiary provider, and their courses are designed for adults aged 16 and above, they can also accept students between 13 - 15 years old, if they attend with their parent or caregiver. From my personal experience, in beginning classes of Gagana Sāmoa and Vosa vakaViti, the classes are inclusive, fun, and there is a feeling of achievement at the end of the course with everyone being able to share a short presentation.
A Pacific language snapshot – Paicî
Written by Tui Tuia Facilitator, Dr. Angela Bland
Paicî, a Central-Eastern Oceanic language of the South Pacific, is a member of the Central subgroup of Northern Mainland languages of New Caledonia. It is a tone language, which is unusual for Oceania, but not necessarily for mainland New Caledonia. It is spoken by approximately 6,000 people. In particular, it is spoken in Poindimié, Ponérihouen, Koné and Poya in the Paici-Camuki customary Areas. Paicî belongs to the Austronesian language family. It is one of two languages in New Caledonia with the largest number of speakers, the other language being Drehu (Lynch, 1998).
General surveys of New Caledonian languages were conducted between the 1940s and early 1970s, and this included early documentation of some aspects of Paicî. The French linguist J.C Rivierre produced a dictionary in 1983 and examined Paicî’s tones in 1974. Other research was followed by F. Lionnet (2019, 2022). Substantial collections of Paicî texts have been published by Rivierre and others since the 1970s. However, a detailed examination of its morphosyntax has not yet been undertaken.
Paicî is one of the few Austronesian languages which have developed contrastive tone; involving three registers: high, mid, low. There are vowels with no inherent tone, whose tone is determined by their environment. Words commonly have the same tone on all vowels, so tone may belong to the word rather than the syllable.
Paicî has a rather simple inventory of consonants, compared to other languages of New Caledonia, but it has an unusually large number of nasal vowels. Paicî syllables are restricted to a sequence of consonant /vowel (CV). The following table shows the consonants in Paicî.
Gordon & Maddieson (2004)
In education contexts up to 1984, the Kanak languages were “officially excluded from the educational system” (Moyse-Faurie et al. 2012, p. 122 as cited in Leblic, 2024 ). The Deixonne law entered into force in New Caledonia (decrees of 20 October 1992) at the end of the 1990s (May to August 1998). This sanctioned some teaching in local languages—and some are now even taught in high school, this includes Paicî. Article 1.3.4 of the Nouméa Accord signed on 5 May 1998, states in law that Kanak culture must be valued, and Deliberation No. 106 of 15 January 2016, on the future of the Caledonian school system specifies in Article 10.1 that “teaching of the fundamental elements of Kanak culture must be compulsory for each student” and thus prescribes the school system to include them in the curriculum. Since 1992, Paicî along with Drehu, Nengone, Ajië, can be chosen as electives for the Baccalaureate (the French high school diploma). In 1997, Paicî as one of six vernacular languages prescribed to be taught in middle school and high school: Since 1999, they have also been taught at the University of New Caledonia, as part of the Bachelor’s degree in Oceanic lan-guages and cultures (Leblic, 2024).
References Flaws, I. & Pourouda, J., (2023) “Paicî (Central mainland, New Caledonia) – Language Snapshot”, Language Documentation and Description 23(1): 1. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd.319
Lynch, J. (1998). Pacific languages: An introduction. University of Hawai'i Press.
"Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga – Tongan Language Week"
written by Tui Tuia Facilitator, Dr. Angela Bland
Mālō e lelei! The 2024 theme for Tonga Language Week is 'E tu'uloa 'a e lea faka-Tongá 'o ka lea'aki 'i 'api, siasí (lotú), mo e nofo-'a-kāingá - The Tongan Language will be sustainable when used at home, church and in the wider community. Lea Faka Tonga has been celebrated across the country in our schools. Here are some to enjoy! St Kevin’s College Māngere East Primary School Bruce McLaren Intermediate
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2024 - Pasifika - Term 3 Newsletter Articles
Begin or continue your Pacific language learning journey!
Written by Tui Tuia Facilitator, Dr. Angela Bland
Malo le soifua, Malo e lelei, Kia orana, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Ni sa bula vinaka, Fakatalofa atu, Mālo ni, Noaˈia ˈe mḁuri, Kam na mauri, Kia Ora! The Centre for Pacific Languages provides an opportunity to learn for free a Pacific language. There are seven Pacific languages to choose from. Enrolment for Term Three has opened with classes starting on the 19th of September. The Centre has classes from beginners to advanced. All courses are online and are free to NZ citizens and residency permit holders.
Additionally, while CPL is a tertiary provider, and their courses are designed for adults aged 16 and above, they can also accept students between 13 - 15 years old, if they attend with their parent or caregiver. From my personal experience, in beginning classes of Gagana Sāmoa and Vosa vakaViti, the classes are inclusive, fun, and there is a feeling of achievement at the end of the course with everyone being able to share a short presentation.
A Pacific language snapshot – Paicî
Written by Tui Tuia Facilitator, Dr. Angela Bland
Paicî, a Central-Eastern Oceanic language of the South Pacific, is a member of the Central subgroup of Northern Mainland languages of New Caledonia. It is a tone language, which is unusual for Oceania, but not necessarily for mainland New Caledonia. It is spoken by approximately 6,000 people. In particular, it is spoken in Poindimié, Ponérihouen, Koné and Poya in the Paici-Camuki customary Areas. Paicî belongs to the Austronesian language family. It is one of two languages in New Caledonia with the largest number of speakers, the other language being Drehu (Lynch, 1998).
General surveys of New Caledonian languages were conducted between the 1940s and early 1970s, and this included early documentation of some aspects of Paicî. The French linguist J.C Rivierre produced a dictionary in 1983 and examined Paicî’s tones in 1974. Other research was followed by F. Lionnet (2019, 2022). Substantial collections of Paicî texts have been published by Rivierre and others since the 1970s. However, a detailed examination of its morphosyntax has not yet been undertaken.
Paicî is one of the few Austronesian languages which have developed contrastive tone; involving three registers: high, mid, low. There are vowels with no inherent tone, whose tone is determined by their environment. Words commonly have the same tone on all vowels, so tone may belong to the word rather than the syllable.
Paicî has a rather simple inventory of consonants, compared to other languages of New Caledonia, but it has an unusually large number of nasal vowels. Paicî syllables are restricted to a sequence of consonant /vowel (CV). The following table shows the consonants in Paicî.
Gordon & Maddieson (2004)
In education contexts up to 1984, the Kanak languages were “officially excluded from the educational system” (Moyse-Faurie et al. 2012, p. 122 as cited in Leblic, 2024 ). The Deixonne law entered into force in New Caledonia (decrees of 20 October 1992) at the end of the 1990s (May to August 1998). This sanctioned some teaching in local languages—and some are now even taught in high school, this includes Paicî. Article 1.3.4 of the Nouméa Accord signed on 5 May 1998, states in law that Kanak culture must be valued, and Deliberation No. 106 of 15 January 2016, on the future of the Caledonian school system specifies in Article 10.1 that “teaching of the fundamental elements of Kanak culture must be compulsory for each student” and thus prescribes the school system to include them in the curriculum. Since 1992, Paicî along with Drehu, Nengone, Ajië, can be chosen as electives for the Baccalaureate (the French high school diploma). In 1997, Paicî as one of six vernacular languages prescribed to be taught in middle school and high school: Since 1999, they have also been taught at the University of New Caledonia, as part of the Bachelor’s degree in Oceanic lan-guages and cultures (Leblic, 2024).
References Flaws, I. & Pourouda, J., (2023) “Paicî (Central mainland, New Caledonia) – Language Snapshot”, Language Documentation and Description 23(1): 1. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd.319
Lynch, J. (1998). Pacific languages: An introduction. University of Hawai'i Press.
"Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e lea faka-Tonga – Tongan Language Week"
written by Tui Tuia Facilitator, Dr. Angela Bland
Mālō e lelei! The 2024 theme for Tonga Language Week is 'E tu'uloa 'a e lea faka-Tongá 'o ka lea'aki 'i 'api, siasí (lotú), mo e nofo-'a-kāingá - The Tongan Language will be sustainable when used at home, church and in the wider community. Lea Faka Tonga has been celebrated across the country in our schools. Here are some to enjoy! St Kevin’s College Māngere East Primary School Bruce McLaren Intermediate
