Carolinian

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A language of Northern Mariana Islands

ISO 639-3
cal
Alternate Names
“Gupallao” (pej.), Saipan Carolinian, Southern Carolinian
Population

2,420 in Northern Mariana Islands (2000 census). No monolinguals. Population total all countries: 2,610.

Location

Saipan and Agrihan islands. Also in United States.

Language Maps
Language Status

4 (Educational). Statutory language of national identity (1978, Constitution, Article 22(3)), co-official with English [eng] and Chamorro [cha].

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Micronesian, Micronesian Proper, Ponapeic-Trukic, Trukic
Dialects

Lexical similarity: 95% with Carolinian and Satawalese [stw], 88% with Woleaian [woe] and Puluwatese [puw], 81% with Mortlockese [mrl], 78% with Chuukese [chk], and 74% with Ulithian [uli].

Language Use

All domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. All on Saipan also use Chamorro [cha] or English [eng].

Language Development
L1 taught, but English is language of instruction. Taught in primary and secondary schools. Newspapers. Videos. Dictionary.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Carolinian
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

1 of 3 official languages in Northern mariana Islands (with English [eng] and Chamorro [cha]). Ethnic autonym: Refalúwasch, people of our islands. Christian.