Re:Landlocked Islanders
by dalke on Sunday November 22, 2015 @06:00AM
(#10609735)
When and how did it become that way? If it happened in the late 1800s, then that's still many generations ago. If it happened before 1857, as an imported loan word through other Polynesian speakers, then it even fits in with the context.
What did they call the place before the English came? The Wikipedia entry says "The islands were historically known by the inhabitants as “jolet jen Anij” (Gifts from God)", though the citation is to http://www.pacificrisa.org/places/republic-of-the-marshall-i... which says "The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is historically referred to in folklore as “jolet jen Anij” (gifts from God)." But names from folklore can be different than actual names (eg, "The Promised Land"/"Land of Israel"), and what little evidence I found suggests that is the case here.
> The Marshallese had no perception of the atolls of the Marshall Islands as a geographical entity differentiated from other entities. They called them Aelon Kein Ad, "our atolls" and called themselves accordingly: Armij Aelon Kein, "people of these islands". [3]
Where [3] is "Senfft 1903", which appears to be 'Die Marshall-Insulaner' by Arno Senfft.
I'm willing to say that 115 years counts as "for generations".
I'm also curious how they picked up that pidgin use of English given they were a German Protectorate at this time, and before that were assigned Spanish sovereignty? Can you explain this process?
What did they call the place before the English came? The Wikipedia entry says "The islands were historically known by the inhabitants as “jolet jen Anij” (Gifts from God)", though the citation is to http://www.pacificrisa.org/places/republic-of-the-marshall-i... which says "The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is historically referred to in folklore as “jolet jen Anij” (gifts from God)." But names from folklore can be different than actual names (eg, "The Promised Land"/"Land of Israel"), and what little evidence I found suggests that is the case here.
For what it's worth, the embassy of the Marshall Islands in DC at http://www.rmiembassyus.org/History.htm says:
> 500 BC - 2000 BC (approx.) - The first Micronesian navigators arrive in the Marshalls, calling the atolls Aelon Kein Ad (Our Islands).
though without a written language it's surely hard to know the words used 2500 years ago.
And in 'The Sea - The Marshallese World' by Dirk H.R. Spennemann at http://marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/culture/SeaNavigat... :
> The Marshallese had no perception of the atolls of the Marshall Islands as a geographical entity differentiated from other entities. They called them Aelon Kein Ad, "our atolls" and called themselves accordingly: Armij Aelon Kein, "people of these islands". [3]
Where [3] is "Senfft 1903", which appears to be 'Die Marshall-Insulaner' by Arno Senfft.
I'm willing to say that 115 years counts as "for generations".
I'm also curious how they picked up that pidgin use of English given they were a German Protectorate at this time, and before that were assigned Spanish sovereignty? Can you explain this process?