Ternate - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

TERNATE 141
THE TERNATESE LANGUAGE
[p. 197]
Vowels
a e i o u
II
Synopsis of the Grammar
The a, e, and i are long or short; the i has an “ee” sound (as in “deep”) in both open
and closed syllables. Combined, the vowels occur as ae, ei, ai, oi, au, and ou, but these are
not real diphthongs.
Consonants
h
k g ng
c j y ny
t d s r l n
p b f w m
Consonants which occur in words of foreign origin have not been included; the local
pronunciation is sufficiently clear from the glossary.
Nouns
Each noun is given in the singular form. The plural is formed by adding dofu
(many) or numerals, and often must be understood from the context of the sentence.
The gender is indicated, when necessary, by the addition of nonau (masculine) or
fofoheka (feminine).
Of the cases, only the genitive need be mentioned, in which the words are connected
by the particle ma, e.g. jou ma-falah, “the house of the man.”
Changing verbs into nouns is often done by repeating the first letter and
simultaneously changing the vowel, e.g., lolahi, “request,” derived from lahi, “to request;”
[p. 198] momote, “follower,” from mote, “to follow;” ngongaje, “story,” from ngaje-ngaje, “to
tell.”
Adjectives
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