NCEA L1 Lea Faka-Tonga flashcards

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Fakau'a (glottal stop)

A consonant written as an apostrophe in lea faka-Tonga. It changes meaning, so 'a' (but) contrasts with ʻa (to go). Listeners and writers must mark it.

Vowel length in Tongan

Long vowels are written with a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) and are held longer than short vowels. Length distinguishes words such as taha (one) and tā (to strike).

Past tense particle naʻe

The preverbal particle naʻe marks past events, as in 'Naʻe kai ʻe Sione e ika' (Sione ate the fish). It appears before the verb in predicate-first order.

Present tense particle ʻoku

ʻoku marks present or ongoing states and actions, and also equative sentences, e.g. 'ʻOku ou nofo ʻi Tonga' (I live in Tonga). Negation is ʻoku ʻikai.

Agent marker ʻe

In a predicate-first sentence, ʻe introduces the doer of the action: 'Naʻe ʻave ʻe Mele e tohi' (Mele took the letter). It follows the verb phrase.

Future particle ʻe

Placed before the verb, ʻe marks future or intended action, e.g. 'ʻE ʻalu au ʻapongipongi' (I will go tomorrow). Context and position distinguish it from the agent marker.

Greeting: Mālō e lelei

The standard Tongan greeting, used across formal and informal settings. The reply is also 'Mālō e lelei' or 'Mālō e tau lava'. It opens spoken and written exchanges.

Question word: Ko e hā?

Means 'what?' and asks about a thing or event. It typically opens the sentence, and the answer names the thing with ko plus the noun phrase.

Question word: Fēfē?

Means 'how?' and asks about manner, state, or method. 'Fēfē hake?' is a common greeting meaning 'how are you?'. Answers describe condition or way of doing.

Question word: ʻI fē?

Means 'where?' and asks about location. The answer uses ʻi plus a place, e.g. 'ʻOku ou nofo ʻi he kolo' (I live in the town).

Polite marker kātaki

Kātaki means please or excuse me and softens requests and interruptions. It commonly precedes an imperative, as in 'Kātaki, ʻomai e vai' (please bring the water).

Farewell: ʻAlu ā / Nofo ā

ʻAlu ā is said to the person leaving (go well); Nofo ā is said to the person staying (stay well). Choosing the wrong one reverses who is departing.

Self-introduction formula

'Ko hoku hingoa ko…' gives your name; 'ʻOku ou nofo ʻi…' gives your home; 'ʻOku ou ako ʻi he…' gives your school. These use ko and ʻoku patterns.

Possessive ʻa-class

ʻa-class possessives (ʻeku, ʻau, ʻana, ʻetau) mark acquired or active possession, such as ʻeku tohi (my book) or ʻeku kaumeʻa in some usages.

Possessive ʻo-class

ʻo-class possessives (hoku, ho, hono, hotau) mark inherent or relationship nouns, such as hoku faʻē (my mother) and hono ʻulu (his head).

Dual pronoun kitaua

Kitaua means 'we two' and excludes the listener; kimoua means 'you two'; kinaua means 'they two'. Tongan pronouns distinguish dual from plural number.

Plural pronoun kitautolu

Kitautolu means 'we all' and includes the listener. It contrasts with kimoutolu (you all) and kinautolu (they all) in the plural pronoun set.

Negation ʻikai

ʻikai negates a clause, often with ʻoku: 'ʻOku ʻikai ke u ʻalu' (I am not going). Before a verb it may appear as ʻikai te u or ʻikai ke.

Locative ki and mei

Ki means 'to, towards' and mei means 'from'. Both take a following noun phrase, e.g. 'ʻalu ki he fale' (go to the house) and 'haʻu mei he kolo' (come from town).

Prefix faka-

Faka- forms causative or manner words: fakaʻofoʻofa (to make beautiful, beautifully), fakamālō (to thank). Recognising it helps infer unfamiliar word meanings in reading.

Reduplication in Tongan

Repeating all or part of a word can intensify meaning or mark repeated/plural action, e.g. lele (run) versus lelelele (run about). It is a common reading clue.

Connective pea

Pea means 'and' or 'then' and links clauses in sequence, common in narrative texts: 'Naʻe ʻalu ia pea naʻe kai' (he went and then ate).

Connective ka

Ka means 'but' and marks contrast between clauses. It signals that the next idea opposes or qualifies the previous one, useful for inference questions.

Connective he

He means 'because' and introduces a reason. It links a statement to its explanation, e.g. 'Naʻe nofo ia he naʻe mahaki' (he stayed because he was sick).

Numbers hongofulu and beyond

Hongofulu is ten. Eleven to nineteen are formed as hongofulu mā taha, mā ua and so on; twenty is uofulu. Modern texts also borrow English numerals.

Letter closing ʻOfa atu

ʻOfa atu means 'with love/regards' and closes informal letters and messages. Fakamālō (thanks) is also used. The writer's name follows the closing.

Predicate-first word order

Tongan clauses begin with the verb phrase, then the subject, then the object: 'Naʻe kai ʻe Sione e ika'. The agent is marked by ʻe and the object by ʻa or e.

Purpose particle ke

Ke introduces a purpose clause or subjunctive: 'ke u ʻalu' (so that I go). It precedes the pronoun and verb and often follows a main clause of wanting or intending.

Perfect particle kuo

Kuo marks a completed action with present relevance, e.g. 'Kuo ʻosi ʻeku ngāue' (my work is finished). It contrasts with naʻe for simple past events.

Writing macrons and fakau'a

Accurate writing includes macrons for long vowels and the apostrophe for the glottal stop. Omitting them changes meaning and loses accuracy marks in writing tasks.

Cohesion with ʻosi ia

ʻOsi ia means 'after that' and sequences events in a written recount. It pairs with pea (and/then) and ko ia ai (therefore) to build paragraph coherence.

Tongan punctuation conventions

Tongan uses the same punctuation marks as English: full stop, comma, question mark, exclamation mark and quotation marks. Capital letters begin sentences and proper nouns such as place names.