The Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a two-day event promoting the Asia-Pacific culture in the capital city of Taiwan, Taipei City, on September 28-29th. The participants come from the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, the Marshall Islands, Vietnam, Tuvalu, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Palau, Nauru, Malaysia, Kiribati, Japan, Indonesia, India, Fiji, and Brunei. Apart from performing dances from each country, the participants also displayed a wide variety of handicrafts and artworks as well as authentic cuisine at each country's booth.
I was delighted to have the chance to visit each booth, taste the food, and experience the culture. One of the countries that caught my attention was Nauru (officially named the Republic of Nauru), an island republic in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is home to over 9,000 Nauruan. The country lies on an approximately 21 square km surface. You can go around the island for only about 20 minutes by car or 4 hours by foot.
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| Souvenirs |
Nauruan Language
It has been estimated that there are about 6,000 speakers of the Nauruan language. Most of them also speak English since English is also the official language. Nauruan vocabulary contains a few German loanwords, which is a result of the strong influence of German missionaries. Here are several phrases that I found in the brochure that I got from the Nauruan booth.
- Ekamowir Omo - Greetings/ Hello - 問候/ 你好
- Omo Yoran - Good Morning - 早安
- Omo Yekwo - Good Afternoon - 午安
- Omo Yemero - Good Evening - 晚安 (傍晚)
- Omo Yubum - Good Night - 晚安 (睡前)
- Dango Awe - My Friend - 我的朋友
- Wanga Eawe - My Love - 我的愛
- Yen Egom - What's Your Name - 貴姓大名
- Wo Areit Ed - How Are You - 你好嗎
- Wo Meg I - Where Do You Live - 你住哪
- Anga Dei Taiwan - I'm Taiwanese - 我是台灣人
- Anga Dei Naoero - I'm Nauruan - 我是諾魯人
- Tubwa Kor - Thank You Very Much - 多謝
- Dabug Mem - Pretty/ Handsome - 漂亮/ 帥
- Eko Eado - Never Give Up - 永不放棄
- Eko Dogin - Forever More - 永遠
- Yeyi Ko - Let's Eat - 開動
- Ita - Delicious - 好吃
- Metu Ko - Come In - 進來
- Mangada - Please - 請
- Inga Mark - Where Is The Money - 錢呢
- Eko Woun - No Matter - 不要緊
- Ang Nuwawen - Let's Go - 走吧
- Nga Ebonu - I Love You - 我愛你
- Tarawong - Goodbye - 再見
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| Pleasant Island |
What do you think about the Nauruan language? Do you know other Pacific languages? Thanks for reading. Feel free to share this article if you like. If you have any opinions, please leave a comment. I love reading them.
Photo credit
Wikipedia