The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
SIL code: TOK
ISO 639-2: tkl
| Population | 1,680 in Tokelau (1987), 99% of the population. Population total all countries 4,500. 65% of all speakers are in New Zealand (1981 Wurm and Hattaro). |
| Region | Also spoken in American Samoa, New Zealand, USA. |
| Alternate names | TOKELAU |
| Classification | Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, Samoic-Outlier, Tokelauan. |
| Comments | There are dialect differences among the three atolls. Intelligible with Tuvalu. Closely related to Samoan. Tokelauans read the Samoan Bible and some speak some Samoan. Most who live in Tokelau have very rudimentary knowledge of English as a second language. Tokelauan is used in the schools. Fishermen mainly; agriculturalists: coconut, taro, breadfruit, banana, arrowroot. Christian, traditional religion. |
