Is Tongan A Dying Language?

Currently around 2,900 of the world’s 7,000 languages are at risk of dying out. Is Tongan one of them?

This post will cover if Tongan is a dying language and how many people currently speak it.

Table of Contents

Is Tongan A Dying Language?

No, Tongan is not a dying language.

UNESCO regularly publishes a list of endangered languages – Tongan does not feature on the list.

An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use because there is little transmission of the language to younger generations. If a language loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language.

Languages can be considered endangered or dying out for many different reasons. I’ve summarised the main characteristics of a dying language below.

The language is not widely spoken
Other more dominant languages are being spoken instead
Children are not learning the language

Tongan doesn’t fit the above criteria of a dying language.

How Widely Spoken Is Tongan?

There are currently roughly 187,000 speakers of Tongan, most of which live in Tonga. This is actually a very large number compared with other Oceanic languages.

There are also large Tongan speaking minority communities in other countries including Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Tongan is the national language in Tonga and one of Tonga’s 2 official languages (the other being English).

Tongan is used in most aspects of life in Tonga including at home and it is taught in school.

Tongan is very widely spoken and is the most common language spoken in Tonga where it is spoken fluently by the majority of the population.

Are There Any Other Dominant Languages In Tonga?

This is a common reason why languages tend to die out.

Often another language may be spoken within a country and over time people start using it more and more and stop learning their mother tongue e.g. in Hawaii, very few Hawaiians speak Hawaiian, instead they speak English.

Tonga actually has the last remaining monarchy in Polynesia and has never been colonized. Due to this, other languages have never been forced upon the Tongan people.

Whilst English is widely spoken and also serves as a second national language, it isn’t stopping Tongans from speaking their own native Tongan language.

Children are taught in Tongan in primary school. This does switch to English when they reach secondary school but they do still have regular Tongan classes. English is also used in higher level education.

Lots of media including TV and radio is broadcast in English which has led to most Tongans being fluent in English.

Learning English is desired in Tonga and is associated with greater educational and employment opportunities.

Despite the rise in English, Tongan is still being spoken fluently by the majority of the population especially in the home.

Are Children Learning The Language?

Another reason why languages often die out is that children grow up speaking another language and don’t learn their mother tongue. Languages die out when they’re not passed to the next generation.

Children do grow up speaking Tongan, it’s not just the older generation that speak it.

They are taught in Tongan in primary school and grow up speaking Tongan in the home. This means there’s no risk that the language will not be passed on to the next generation.

There is an educational policy in Tonga which ensures that children are fluent in both Tongan and English by the time they complete their education.

As Tongan is currently very widely spoken within Tonga and is being learnt by children, there’s currently no risk of it dying out.

The Future Of Tongan

Although Tongan is not currently at risk of dying out, there are areas of concern.

About half of all native Tongan’s live outside of Tonga – mainly in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Whilst many of the native Tongan’s who live abroad do regularly visit Tonga and speak the language, many of them, especially second-generation immigrants, speak little or no Tongan.

Tongan is not consistently being passed onto the next generation in those who live outside of Tonga meaning it is at risk of dying out in this group.

It has been reported that 40% of Tongans who were born overseas are unable to hold everyday conversations in Tongan.

Within Tonga, there are worries that globalization and Western influence will see English take over. Currently English is used to teach students in secondary schools and higher education.

English is also the predominant language used in TV, radio, movies, books and on the internet. As time goes on, people are becoming increasingly exposed to English in more aspects of life and the use of Tongan falls.

The government is actively working to prevent the loss of the Tongan language.

In 2012, they introduced a language policy that requires children to be taught in Tongan in primary schools and gradually introduces them to English over time. The policy aims for children to be fully fluent in both languages.

How Can I Learn Tongan?

Tongan is not a dead language so it’s worth learning as there’s thousands of people out there to practice with.

By learning Tongan you would be able to communicate with 187,000 people and enjoy their vibrant and interesting culture.

Unfortunately, even popular language learning platforms don’t have a Tongan course. For example, Duolingo doesn’t have a Tongan course.

The Intensive Course In Tongan is a fantastic audio course that will get you speaking from day 1.

This course is perfect for anyone who wants to focus on being able to speak the language (rather than reading and writing).

The course features 130 lessons, comes with a follow along book and can get you fully fluent in as little as 6 months.

It’s a great course and explains the language in clear, easy to understand terms.

You can supplement this course with a Tongan – English dictionary to learn more vocabulary.

How Many People Speak Tongan?

Tongan currently has about 187,000 speakers around the world.

Around 104,000 Tongan speakers live in Tonga.

The rest live in various countries around the world with the largest numbers of Tongan speakers being found in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

There are also smaller numbers of Tongan speakers in other countries including American Samoa, Vanuatu, Canada, Fiji, Niue and Wallis Island.

Thanks for reading this post on if Tongan is a dying language.

If you’re interested in learning Tongan then check out our Tongan posts here.

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