114-677: Roi-Namur ( / ˌ r ɔɪ n ə ˈ m ʊər / roy nə- MOOR ) is an island in the north part of the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands . Today it is a major part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site , hosting several radar systems used for tracking and characterizing missile reentry vehicles (RV) and their penetration aids (penaids). A flooding event by wave overtopping made national news in
228-512: A y , which does not otherwise exist in the Marshallese alphabet. One source of orthographic variation is in the representation of vowels. Pure monophthongs are written consistently based on vowel quality. However, short diphthongs may often be written with one of the two vowel sounds that they contain. (Alternate phonetic realizations for the same phonemic sequences are provided purely for illustrative purposes.) Modern orthography has
342-934: A League of Nations Mandate , whereupon it was referred to as Kwezerin-kanshō ( クェゼリン環礁 ) in Japan, part of the Nan'yō gunto . The islands of the Kwajalein Atoll, especially the main island, served as a rural copra -trading outpost administered by Japanese civilians until the beginning of World War II in the Pacific in December 1941. Before the Pacific War , Japanese settlement in Kwajalein Atoll consisted mostly of traders and their families who worked at local branches of shops headquartered at nearby Jaluit Atoll. There were also local administrative staff at Kwajalein. With
456-629: A Micronesian language , is a member of the Eastern Oceanic subgroup of the Austronesian languages . The closest linguistic relatives of Marshallese are the other Micronesian languages, including Gilbertese , Nauruan , Pohnpeian , Mokilese , Chuukese , Refaluwash , and Kosraean . Marshallese shows 50% lexical similarity with Gilbertese , Mokilese , and Pohnpeian . Within the Micronesian archipelago, Marshallese—along with
570-438: A voiced fricative articulation as [ zʲ ] (or [ ʑ ] or [ ʝ ] ) but not when geminated . /tʲ/ is used to adapt foreign sibilants into Marshallese. In phonetic transcription, this article uses [ tʲ ] and [ zʲ ] as voiceless and voiced allophones of the same phoneme. Marshallese has no distinct /tʷ/ phoneme. The dorsal consonants /k ŋ kʷ ŋʷ/ are usually velar but with
684-491: A ] rather than cardinal [ ɑ ] for the open back unrounded vowel . Naan (2014) is the only reference providing a vowel trapezium for its own vowels, and differs especially from the other vowel models in splitting the front allophones of /i/ into two realizations ( [ ɪ ] before consonants and [ i ] in open syllables), merging the front allophones of /ɛ/ and /e/ as [ ɛ ] before consonants and [ e ] in open syllables, merging
798-401: A base for SpaceX for their Falcon 1 rocket. Kwajalein is the 14th largest coral atoll as measured by area of enclosed water. Comprising 97 islands and islets, it has a land area of 16.4 km (6.3 sq mi) and surrounds one of the largest lagoons in the world, with an area of 2,174 km (839 sq mi). The average height above sea level for all the islands
912-445: A bias in certain spelling choices in which both possibilities are equally clear between two non-approximant consonants. In a syllable whose first consonant is rounded and whose second consonant is palatalized, it is common to see the vowel between them written as one of a ō ū , usually associated with a neighboring velarized consonant: The exception is long vowels and long diphthongs made up of two mora units, which are written with
1026-524: A chain of inhabited islands about 10 km (6.2 mi) long. Connected islands include Loi, Shell, and Gugeegue. Ebadon ( Epatōn , [ɛbʲɑdˠʌnʲ] ) is located at the westernmost tip of the atoll. It was the second-largest island in the atoll before the formation of Roi-Namur. Like Ebeye, it falls fully under the jurisdiction of the Republic of the Marshall Islands and is not part of
1140-402: A common test for phonemicity. For example, [mʲæ] ( mā , 'breadfruit'), [mʲɑ] ( ma , 'but'), and [mʲɒ] ( mo̧ , 'taboo') are separate Marshallese words. However, the uneven distribution of glide phonemes suggests that they underlyingly end with the glides (thus /mʲæj/ , /mʲæɰ/ , /mʲæw/ ). When glides are taken into account, it emerges that there are only 4 vowel phonemes. When
1254-551: A different process, assuming the same height of whichever vowel is on the opposite side of that glide, forming a long vowel with it across the otherwise silent glide. Epenthetic vowels do not affect the rhythm of the spoken language, and can never be a stressed syllable. Phonetic transcription may indicate epenthetic vowels between two non-glides as non-syllabic, using IPA notation similar to that of semi-vowels . Certain Westernized Marshallese placenames spell out
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#17327933241001368-449: A front unrounded vowel [æ ɛ e i] , then a vowel allophone associated with the back unrounded vowels (notated in this article as [ɑ ʌ ɤ ɯ] ) may also occur in the vowel nucleus. Because the cumulative visual complexity of notating so many diphthongs in phonetic transcriptions can make them more difficult to read, it is not uncommon to phonetically transcribe Marshallese vowel allophones only as one predominant monophthongal allophone, so that
1482-1220: A large consonant inventory, and each consonant has some type of secondary articulation ( palatalization , velarization , or rounding ). The palatalized consonants are regarded as "light", and the velarized and rounded consonants are regarded as "heavy", with the rounded consonants being both velarized and labialized . (This contrast is similar to that between "slender" and "broad" consonants in Goidelic languages , or between "soft" and "hard" consonants in Slavic languages .) The "light" consonants are considered more relaxed articulations. Although Marshallese has no voicing contrast in consonants, stops may be allophonically partially voiced ( [p → b] , [t → d] , [k → ɡ] ), when they are between vowels and not geminated . (Technically, partially voiced stops would be [p̬~b̥] , [t̬~d̥] , [k̬~ɡ̊] , but this article uses voiced transcriptions [ b ] , [ d ] , [ ɡ ] for simplicity.) Final consonants are often unreleased . Glides /j ɰ w/ vanish in many environments, with surrounding vowels assimilating their backness and roundedness . That
1596-563: A leak, was towed out, and sank in the lagoon. The USS Pennsylvania was sunk in the ocean off Kwajalein Atoll after being exposed during atomic bomb testing on 10 February 1948. Marshallese language Marshallese (Marshallese: Kajin M̧ajeļ or Kajin Majōl [kɑzʲinʲ(i)mˠɑːzʲɛlˠ] ), also known as Ebon , is a Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands . The language of
1710-634: A naval base on Kwajalein Island since World War II . It was the final resting place of the German cruiser Prinz Eugen after it survived the Operation Crossroads nuclear test in 1946. In the late 1950s, the US Army took over the base as part of their Nike Zeus anti-ballistic missile efforts, and since then the atoll has been widely used for missile tests of all sorts. Today it is part of
1824-436: A o ō o̧ , or as i before one of either u ū . The approximant is never written before any of ā e i . A stronger raised palatal glide [ i̯ ] , phonemically analyzed as the exotic un-syllabic consonant-vowel-consonant sequence /ji̯j/ rather than plain /j/ , may occur word-initially before any vowel and is written i . For historical reasons, certain words like io̧kwe may be written as yokwe with
1938-418: A small population of migrants and volunteers from other island groups and nations. Ebeye is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Many of its residents live in poverty. A coral reef (visible and able to be traveled at low tide) links them to Kwajalein and the rest of the outside world. A causeway at the northern end of the island provides a roadway that connects to several other islands, forming
2052-475: A small residential community of unaccompanied US personnel who deal with missions support and radar tracking. It also has a number of Japanese bunkers and buildings from World War II which are preserved in good condition. Roi-Namur used to be four islands: Roi, Namur, Enedrikdrik (Ane-dikdik), and Kottepina. Roi and Namur were joined by a causeway built by forced laborers working under the Japanese military; it
2166-464: A unique convergence of protected channels and small islands. The Nell area is unique and a popular destination for locals and Americans sailing through the area with proper permissions from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (All non-leased islands are strictly off-limits to American base residents and personnel without applying for official permission.) Enmat ( Enm̧aat , [ɛnʲ(ʌ)mˠɑːtˠ] )
2280-527: A vowel phoneme appears between consonants with different secondary articulations, the vowel often surfaces as a smooth transition from one vowel allophone to the other. For example, jok 'shy', phonemically /tʲɛkʷ/ , is often realized phonetically as [tʲɛ͡ɔkʷ] . It follows that there are 24 possible short diphthongs in Marshallese: These diphthongs are the typical realizations of short vowels between two non-glide consonants, but in reality
2394-551: A vowel to separate the consonants, while Ralik adds a vowel before the consonants (and pronounced an unwritten consonant phoneme /j/ before the vowel). For example, the stem kkure 'play' becomes ikkure in Rālik Marshallese and kukure in Ratak Marshallese. Marshallese is the official language of the Marshall Islands and enjoys vigorous use. As of 1979, the language was spoken by 43,900 people in
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#17327933241002508-423: A word like /nʲæɰætʲ/ , the vowel transitions from [ æ ] to [ ɑ ] and then back to [ æ ] , as [nʲæ͡ɑɑ͡ætʲ] . In condensed phonetic transcription, the same word can be expressed as [nʲɑɑtʲ] or [nʲɑːtʲ] . Syllables in Marshallese follow CV, CVC, and VC patterns. Marshallese words always underlyingly begin and end with consonants. Initial, final, and long vowels may be explained as
2622-539: A word like [tʲɛ͡ɔkʷ] can be more simply transcribed as [tʲɔkʷ] , in a condensed fashion. Before Bender's (1968) discovery that Marshallese utilized a vertical vowel system, it was conventional to transcribe the language in this manner with a presumed inventory of 12 vowel monophthong phonemes, and it remains in occasional use as a more condensed phonetic transcription. This article uses phonemic or diphthongal phonetic transcriptions for illustrative purposes, but for most examples it uses condensed phonetic transcription with
2736-593: Is mo̧ or taboo, birthplace of the irooj (chiefly families) and off-limits to anyone without the blessing of the Iroijlaplap (paramount chief). The remains of a small Marshallese village and burial sites are still intact. This island is in the Mid-Atoll Corridor, and no one can reside there or on surrounding islands due to missile tests. Because of the Battle of Kwajalein of World War II ,
2850-435: Is 3,400 km (2,100 mi) from Honolulu , 3,200 km (2,000 mi) from Australia , and 3,400 km (2,100 mi) from Japan . Kwajalein Island is about 800 km (500 mi) north of the equator. Islands often have alternate names: The first is the Marshallese name, the second was assigned somewhat arbitrarily by the U.S. Navy prior to their attack on the atoll during World War II. The original name
2964-489: Is 4.0 km (2.5 mi) long and averages about 730 m (800 yd) wide. To enlarge the island, the Americans placed fill at both the northwestern part of the island above the pier (within the atoll, by 1953), the northern part extending towards Ebeye, and the southwestern parts of the island (by 1970). The northern extension was used for housing, the remainder for industrial purposes. Kwajalein Island's population
3078-413: Is about 1,000, mostly made of Americans with a small number of Marshall Islanders and other nationalities, all of whom require express permission from the U.S. Army to live there. Some 13,500 Marshallese citizens live on the atoll, most of them on Ebeye Island . Other islands in the atoll: Ebeye is about 7.2 km (4.5 mi) north of eastern end of Kwajalein Island. It is not part of
3192-452: Is about 1.8 m (6 ft). The atoll was formed when volcanoes on the seabed from 165 to 76 mya built up enough lava that the land rose from beneath the sea. It cannot be determined how far above sea level the original land rose. Then coral started growing around the land/volcano, about 56 mya. Then the land subsided leaving the coral ring of the atoll. The water temperature averages 27 °C (81 °F) degrees. Underwater visibility
3306-455: Is about 31 km (19 mi) north of Kwajalein. It is a launch site for anti-ballistic missiles and is probably the most restricted island of all the U.S.-leased sites. It was originally built up as part of the Nike-X program, as the main island of Kwajalein was already filled with equipment from the earlier Nike Zeus program, some of which remained in use during Nike-X testing. A large berm
3420-445: Is actually pronounced [rˠɯmˠɑːzʲɛlˠ] as if it were Rūm̧ajeļ . In the most polished printed text, the letters Ļ ļ M̧ m̧ Ņ ņ O̧ o̧ always appear with unaltered cedillas directly beneath, and the letters Ā ā N̄ n̄ Ō ō Ū ū always appear with unaltered macrons directly above. Regardless, the diacritics are often replaced by ad hoc spellings using more common or more easily displayable characters. In particular,
3534-511: Is along the islet's northern lagoon side. Ennylabegan ( Āneeļļap-kaņ , [ænʲeːllˠɑbʲ(ɛ)ɡɑnˠ] ), or "Carlos" Islet, is the site of a small Marshall Islander community that has decreased in size in recent decades; it was once a bigger village. Until 2012, it was actively used by the Reagan Test Site for telemetry tracking activities during missions and has been one of the only non-restricted Marshallese-populated islands used by
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3648-437: Is motivated by the limited surface distribution of these phonemes as well as other evidence that backness and roundedness are not specified phonemically for Marshallese vowels. In fact, the consonant /ɰ/ never surfaces phonetically but is used to explain the preceding phenomenon. ( /j/ and /w/ may surface phonetically in word-initial and word-final positions and, even then, not consistently. ) Bender (1968) explains that it
3762-408: Is not more specific. The Marshallese-English Dictionary (MED) describes these as heavy dental nasals . Consonants /rʲ/ , /rˠ/ and /rʷ/ are all coronal consonants and full trills . /rˠ/ is similar to Spanish rr with a trill position just behind the alveolar ridge , a postalveolar trill [r̠ˠ] , but /rʲ/ is a palatalized dental trill [r̪ʲ] , articulated further forward behind
3876-413: Is not phonemic as the epenthetic vowel itself is not phonemic, but is still phonetically predictable given the two nearest other vowels and whether one or both of the cluster consonants are glides. Bender (1968) does not specifically explain the vowel heights of epenthetic vowels between two non-glides, but of his various examples containing such vowels, none of the epenthetic vowels has a height lower than
3990-525: Is originally from Marshallese Ruot , while Namur is originally from Marshallese Nim̧ur . Germany annexed the Marshalls in 1885 but did not put government officials on the islands until 1906, leaving island affairs to a group of powerful German trading companies. During WW1, the Japanese seized the Marshall Islands, later under the Treaty of Versailles , Japan formally took over after World War I under
4104-573: Is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island , which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilian personnel) often use the shortened name, Kwaj / k w ɑː dʒ / . The total land area of the atoll amounts to just over 6 square miles (16 km ). It lies in the Ralik Chain , 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii . The US Navy has hosted
4218-506: Is possible to wade across the reef between Kwajalein and Little Bustard. Gugeegue or Gugegwe ( / ˈ ɡ uː dʒ i ɡ uː / GOO -jee-goo ; Marshallese: Kōn̄e-jekāān-eņ , [kɤŋeːzʲɛɡæːnʲɛːnˠ] ) is an islet north of Ebeye and is the northernmost point of the concrete causeway connecting the islets between them. Gugeegue is just south of the Bigej Pass which separates it from Bigej islet. Bigej , just north of
4332-493: Is typically 30 m (100 ft) on the ocean side of the atoll. The atoll has an extended oval shape running roughly WNW - ESE on the western side and then bending to run almost due south on the eastern side. It is framed by its three largest islands, Ebadon, Roi-Namur and Kwajalein, which are located at the extreme western, northern, and southern points, respectively. Roi-Namur is about 70 km (43 mi) east of Ebadon and 80 km (50 mi) NWN of Kwajalein. The atoll
4446-490: Is unrounded. Default outcomes of *l and *n are palatalized; they become velarized or rounded before *a or sometimes *o if there is no high vowel in an adjacent syllable. Then, roundedness is determined by the same rule as above. Marshallese is written in the Latin alphabet . There are two competing orthographies. The "old" orthography was introduced by missionaries. This system is not highly consistent or faithful in representing
4560-826: The Marshallese-English Online Dictionary (but not the print version), or MOD, uses the following characters: As of 2019, there are no dedicated precomposed characters in Unicode for the letters M̧ m̧ N̄ n̄ O̧ o̧ ; they must be displayed as plain Latin letters with combining diacritics , and even many Unicode fonts will not display the combinations properly and neatly. Although Ļ ļ Ņ ņ exist as precomposed characters in Unicode, these letters also do not display properly as Marshallese letters in most Unicode fonts. Unicode defines
4674-557: The Marshallese people of the Ralik chain. In Marshallese cosmology , Kwajalein island is the site of an abundant flowering zebra wood tree , thought to have spiritual powers. Marshallese from other islands came to gather the "fruits" of this tree. This, explain many elders, is a Marshallese metaphor that describes the past century of colonialism and serves to explain why Kwajalein is still so precious to foreign interests. This story
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4788-475: The Marshallese people , it is spoken by nearly all of the country's population of 59,000, making it the principal language. There are also roughly 27,000 Marshallese citizens residing in the United States , nearly all of whom speak Marshallese, as well as residents in other countries such as Nauru and Kiribati . There are two major dialects, the western Rālik and the eastern Ratak . Marshallese,
4902-702: The Ministry of the Navy to immediately expedite the process. A few months later, a naval officer stationed in Kwajalein sent a memorandum to the Naval Ministry denouncing the failure to ready the region for war. Both warnings were ignored by the Naval Ministry. Korean forced laborers were ordered to work throughout the Pacific beginning in the early 1940s. Over 10,000 were sent to the Nan'yō area alone, mostly from
5016-589: The Reagan Test Site ; it is a Marshallese island-city with shops, restaurants, and an active commercial port. It is the administrative center of the Republic of the Marshall Islands at Kwajalein Atoll and the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government (KALGOV). It has the largest population in the atoll, with approximately 13,000 residents living on 32 ha (80 acres) of land. Inhabitants are mostly Marshall Islanders but include
5130-549: The Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site , with various radars , tracking cameras, missile launchers, and many support systems spread across many islands. One of the five ground stations used in controlling the operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation system is located on Kwajalein. The Marshall Islands are a dependent nation through the Free Compact of Association with
5244-640: The front teeth . The MED and Willson (2003) describe the rhotic consonants as " retroflex ", but are not clear how this relates to their dental or alveolar trill positions. (See retroflex trill .) This article uses [ rʲ ] , [ rˠ ] and [ rʷ ] in phonetic transcription. The heavy lateral consonants /lˠ/ and /lʷ/ are dark l like in English feel , articulated [ ɫ ] and [ ɫʷ ] respectively. This article uses [ lˠ ] and [ lʷ ] in phonetic transcription. The velarized consonants (and, by extension,
5358-477: The "South Seas" ( 南洋 , Nan'yō ) in the 19th century, prior to its imperial expansion into Korea and China . By 1875, ships from the newly established Imperial Japanese Navy began to hold training missions in the area. Shigetaka Shiga , a writer who accompanied a Navy cruise to the region in 1886, published his Current State of Affairs in the South Seas ( 南洋時事 , Nan'yō jiji ) in 1887, marking
5472-641: The 1940s; it was left incomplete at the time of the American invasion in 1944. On February 1, 1942, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) launched a series of raids on the Roi Namur airfield and merchant shipping in Carlos Pass, where they sank several ships. In Kwajalein, forced laborers from across the empire and Marshallese volunteers known as teishintai ( 挺身隊 ) built military facilities throughout
5586-462: The 8–10°N, as reported by the Villalobos expedition chroniclers. However, at some point in the late 18th century, due to some transcription error from the old Spanish maps, they start to appear in the nautical charts shifted northwards to 21°N, thus creating phantom islands of Los Jardines that, even if sought and never found, remained on charts of the Pacific until 1973. The atoll came under
5700-510: The American invasion of Kwajalein. Whether this figure represents Kwajalein islet or the whole atoll is unclear. Since no distinction was made between dead Japanese soldiers and Korean forced laborers in mass graves on Kwajalein, both are enshrined as war hero guardian spirits for the Japanese nation in Yasukuni Shrine . This enshrinement is solely due to the mingling of Korean and Japanese corpses in this one case and has not occurred with
5814-523: The Ebeye chain, is covered with tropical palm trees and jungle. People from Kwajalein have visited it for picnics and camping. It is a site of cultural significance to the indigenous people of Kwajalein atoll, as are most of the small islands throughout the atoll. Some Kwajalein atoll landowners have proposed developing Bigej to look similar to the landscaped beauty of Kwajalein islet, for the exclusive use of Kwajalein atoll landowners and their families. Meck
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#17327933241005928-422: The Japanese occupation, the two islands (Roi to the west ( Marshallese : Ruot , [rʷuɔtˠ] ) and Namur to the east ( Nim̧ur , [nʲimˠurʷ] )) were connected by a narrow neck of land and causeway. After the American occupation, US Navy SeaBees filled the area between the islands by December 1944; the two now joined islands are presently called Roi-Namur with a total area of about one square mile. Roi-Namur
6042-595: The League of Nations mandate. They colonised the Marshalls extensively, developing and fortifying large bases on many of the islands. Eventually using it to aid in their enormous Pacific invasion in December 1941. The Pacific war between the United States eventually reached the Marshall Islands in 1944. Roi-Namur was the target of the U.S. 4th Marine Division in the Battle of Kwajalein , in February 1944. During
6156-472: The Marshall Islands, plotting it on the map and specifying the location of some other islands. At the time, the atoll was known as Kuadelen and Kabajaia to Spain. In early November, 1875, a typhoon resulted in an 8 feet (2.4 m) storm surge , drowning everyone on Kwajalein Island. The German Empire annexed the Marshall Islands, including Kwajalein Atoll, as a protectorate on October 15, 1885. Japan had developed an interest in what it called
6270-634: The Marshall Islands. in 2020 the number was closer to 59,000. Additional groups of speakers in other countries including Nauru and the United States increase the total number of Marshallese speakers, with approximately 27,000 Marshallese-Americans living in the United States Along with Pohnpeian and Chuukese , Marshallese stands out among Micronesian languages in having tens of thousands of speakers; most Micronesian languages have far fewer. A dictionary and at least two Bible translations have been published in Marshallese. Marshallese has
6384-437: The Nan'yō, colonial settlers outnumbered Micronesian natives by as much as ten to one, amounting to the most significant violation of Japan's League of Nations mandate. In the furthest eastern areas, however, immigrants remained in the minority. Contemporary testimony and postwar investigations have attested that Japan honored their agreement under the mandate to administer the islands peacefully. Nevertheless, Kwajalein along with
6498-425: The Reagan Test Site. The village of Ebadon was much more heavily populated before the war, and it was where some of the irooj (chiefs) of Kwajalein Atoll grew up. Like many other key islets in the atoll, it has significant cultural and spiritual significance in Marshallese cosmology. Roi-Namur is the northernmost island in the atoll, located some distance north of Kwajalein. It has several radar installations and
6612-456: The Red Cross. The island acquired the nickname "Execution Island" because of the treatment and killing of prisoners at the hands of Japanese military staff. The Japanese military also tested biological warfare agents on prisoners there. After the war, a US Naval War Crimes court located on the atoll tried several Japanese naval officers for war crimes committed elsewhere; at least one officer
6726-479: The United States Army. As such, power and clean drinking water were provided to half of the island similar to the other military-leased islands. This has been phased out as the island ceases to be used for mission support. The power plant, which also performed water treatment, is no longer in use. Legan ( Am̧bo , [ɑmbˠo] ) is uninhabited but it has a few buildings on the southern part. Most of
6840-479: The United States, after their independence established in the 1980s from a U.N. Protectorate. The defense of the Kwajalein, and the Marshall Islands is the responsibility of the United States. The important missile test range has been a mutually agreed task, and many Marshalese work at the military bases. The atoll is also used as a base for orbital rocket launches with the Pegasus-XL rocket, and previously had
6954-425: The United States, with dramatic footage of water bursting through a door. Roi-Namur is a military base of the United States, but is leased land from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. However, Defense of the Marshall Islands is the responsibility of the United States through a Compact of Free Association. The name of the new island is after the formerly separate islands Roi and Namur were joined by landfill. Roi
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#17327933241007068-658: The United States. Roi-Namur is home to an about 120 American and Marshallese employees of the Reagan Test Site . The Roi side is the main housing area, with the retail and recreation facilities there. Activities on Roi-Namur range from a nine-hole golf course , saltwater swimming pool, scuba club, movie theater, volleyball, and basketball court. Roi hosts the Freeflight International Airport (Marshall Islands) with one runway for small planes that commute from Kwajalein bringing additional workers. Additional Marshallese daytime workers come via ferry from
7182-517: The abstract nature of these phonemes differently, with Bender treating the front unrounded surface realizations as their relaxed state that becomes altered by proximity of velarized or rounded consonants, while Choi uses central vowel symbols in a neutral fashion to notate the abstract phonemes and completely different front , back and rounded vowel symbols for surface realizations. Bender (1968, 1969), MED (1976) and Willson (2003) recognize four vowel phonemes, but Choi (1992) observes only three of
7296-512: The added presence (+ATR) or absence (-ATR) of advanced tongue root . Bender (1968) assigns central vowel symbols for the surface realizations that neighbor velarized consonants, but the MED (1976), Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) largely assign back unrounded vowel symbols for these, with the exception that the MED uses [ ə ] rather than cardinal [ ɤ ] for the close-mid back unrounded vowel , and Choi (1992) and Willson (2003) use [
7410-446: The approximants are generally not articulated as glides, and Choi (1992) does not rule out a deeper level of representation. In particular, /V/ short vowels occupy one unit of time, and /VGV/ long vowels (for which /G/ is an approximant phoneme) are three times as long. As a matter of prosody , each /C/ consonant and /V/ vowel phonemic sequence carries one mora in length, with the exception of /C/ in /CV/ sequences where
7524-570: The atoll. The trauma of this experience, together with the influx of these young and underprepared soldiers, surprised the local population. Islanders who survived this period make clear distinctions in their recollections of civilian and military Japanese for this reason. This is the first known instance of forced relocation in Kwajalein Atoll, although similar events took place throughout the Marshall Islands. Archaeological evidence as well as testimony from Japanese and Marshallese sources indicate that this militarization would likely not have begun until
7638-494: The atoll. These construction teams would repair the resulting damage from American bombing raids. A second wave of Japanese naval and ground forces was dispatched to Kwajalein in early 1943 from the Manchurian front. These soldiers were between the ages of 18 and 21, poorly trained, and had no experience in the tropics. The supply ships that were meant to provide them with food rations were sunk by American forces before reaching
7752-431: The atoll; many Japanese succumbed to illnesses like dengue fever and dysentery, as did many of the laborers. As the military situation worsened and the pressures of military ideology increased, soldiers at Kwajalein became harsher and more violent toward Marshall Islanders, whom they often suspected of spying for the Americans. Kwajalein was also the site of a prisoner of war camp, whose detainees were not registered with
7866-600: The control of Spain but was largely ignored by European powers during the 17th and 18th centuries except for some short-lived missionary expeditions, minor trading posts and demarcation treaties between the Iberian kingdoms (Portugal and Spain). In 1828–1829, Russian Navy captain Ludwig von Hagemeister made his final circumnavigation on the ship Krotky. During this journey, he surveyed the Menshikov Atoll (Kwajalein) in
7980-407: The diphthongs themselves are not phonemic, and short vowels between two consonants with different secondary articulations can be articulated as either a smooth diphthong (such as [ɛ͡ʌ] ) or as a monophthong of one of the two vowel allophones (such as [ɛ ~ ʌ] ), all in free variation. Bender (1968) also observes that when the would-be diphthong starts with a back rounded vowel [ɒ ɔ o u] and ends with
8094-442: The eastern Ratak Chain and the western Rālik Chain . These two chains have different dialects, which differ mainly lexically , and are mutually intelligible . The atoll of Ujelang in the west was reported to have "slightly less homogeneous speech", but it has been uninhabited since 1980. The Ratak and Rālik dialects differ phonetically in how they deal with stems that begin with double consonants. Ratak Marshallese inserts
8208-414: The epenthetic vowels: Epenthetic vowels in general can be omitted without affecting meaning, such as in song or in enunciated syllable breaks. This article uses non-syllabic notation in phonetic IPA transcription to indicate epenthetic vowels between non-glides. The short vowel phonemes /æ ɛ e i/ and the approximant phonemes /j ɰ w/ all occupy a roughly equal duration of time. Though they occupy time,
8322-482: The establishment of Kwajalein's public school in 1935, schoolteachers were sent to the island from Japan. Most Marshall Islanders who recall those times describe a peaceful time of cooperation and development between Japanese and Marshallese, although the latter were not considered on the same social tier as Japanese. By the 1930s, immigration from the Japanese mainland had increased exponentially. In some regions of
8436-441: The first (unwritten) glide phoneme is dorsal rather than palatal. The spelling of grammatical affixes , such as ri- ( /rˠi-/ ) and -in ( /-inʲ/ ) is less variable despite the fact that their vowels become diphthongs with second member dependent on the preceding/following consonant: the prefix ri- may be pronounced as any of [rˠɯ͜i, rˠɯ, rˠɯ͜u] depending on the stem. The term Ri-M̧ajeļ (" Marshallese people ")
8550-575: The first of several series of nuclear tests (comprising a total of 67 blasts) at the Marshall island atolls of Bikini and Enewetak . Significant portions of the native population were forced to relocate as a result of American weapons testing and military activity in the islands between 1945 and 1965. The German heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen was towed to Kwajalein from Bikini Atoll after the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests. It developed
8664-470: The first time a Japanese civilian published a firsthand account of Micronesia. Three years later, Shiga advocated for annexation of the area by claiming that doing so would "excite an expeditionary spirit in the demoralized Japanese race." Despite the appeal imperialism had for the Japanese public at the time, neither the Meiji government nor the Navy seized any pretexts to fulfill this popular aspiration. It
8778-428: The heavy bombardment. Taking refuge in bunkers resulted in many Marshallese deaths when their shelters were destroyed by hand grenades. Some Marshallese were reportedly induced to fight by Japanese propaganda which, as would occur later in the Battle of Okinawa , stated that the Americans would indiscriminately rape and massacre the civilian population if they successfully took the atoll. On February 6, 1944, Kwajalein
8892-430: The highest of either of their nearest neighboring vowels, and the epenthetic vowel actually becomes /ɛ̯/ if the two nearest vowels are both /æ/ . Naan (2014) does not take the heights of epenthetic vowels between non-glides into consideration, phonetically transcribing all of them as a schwa [ ə ] . But when one of the consonants in a cluster is a glide, the height of the epenthetic vowel between them follows
9006-486: The island is thick and jungle-covered, like most in the Marshall Islands. Unlike most islands, Legan has a very small lake in the middle. Illeginni was used as a remote launch site for Sprint and Spartan missiles during the 1970s, with Meck as the primary control center. Coral soil dredged from the northeastern tip of the island was piled up to build a berm supporting the missile launchers. Several remotely-controlled tracking cameras and other devices were also built on
9120-623: The island of Enniburr . The Namur side is home to the ALCOR, ALTAIR , MMW and TRADEX radar tracking stations. There is a small launch facility on Roi-Namur. Rockets launched here are usually sounding rockets that ascend beyond the atmosphere but have short ranges. There are crumbling remnants of Japanese blockhouses and pillboxes around Roi-Namur. Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll ( / ˈ k w ɑː dʒ ə l ɪ n / ; Marshallese : Kuwajleen [kʷuwɑzʲ(ɛ)lʲɛːnʲ] )
9234-454: The island, adding to the destruction. Of the 8,782 Japanese personnel deployed to the atoll, including forced laborers, 7,870 were killed. U.S. military documents do not differentiate between the Japanese and Korean dead. However, the Korean government's Truth Commission for Forced Labor Under Japanese Imperialism reports an official figure from the Japanese government of 310 Koreans killed in
9348-480: The island, although access is granted for islanders who need to use the air terminal to fly to Kwajalein. Little Bustard ( Orpāp , [worˠ(ɤ)bʲæpʲ] ) and Big Bustard ( Epjā-dik , [ɛbʲ(ɛ)zʲæːrʲik] , 'little Ebeye ') are the first and second islets respectively north of Kwajalein island on the East reef, and are the only islets between Kwajalein and Ebeye . During low tide and with protective boots, it
9462-483: The island, and serviced by boats or helicopters landing on a pad on the western end of the island. Today a single tracking camera remains in use, along with telemetry equipment to support it. Illeginni was used successfully for the first Minuteman III land impact test in 1980. It also hosts one of the two remote receivers for the TRADEX radar, the other being on Gellinam and the main radar on Roi-Namur. Nell has
9576-473: The lagoon contains the wrecks of many ships and aircraft. Most of the ships were merchant vessels. Barracuda Junction is about 1.6 km (1 mi) northeast of the southern tip of Enubuj (Carlson) Island. The atoll has a tropical rainforest climate under the Köppen climate classification . The average temperature varies less than 1.1 °C (2 °F) from month to month. The record low from 1950 to 1969
9690-443: The most relevant short vowel allophones roughly corresponding to Marshallese orthography as informed by the MED. Some syllables appear to contain long vowels: naaj 'future'. They are thought to contain an underlying glide ( /j/ , /ɰ/ or /w/ ), which is not present phonetically. For instance, the underlying form of naaj is /nʲæɰætʲ/ . Although the medial glide is not realized phonetically, it affects vowel quality; in
9804-405: The only complete published Marshallese dictionary. Here is the current alphabet , as promoted by the Republic of the Marshall Islands . It consists of 24 letters. Marshallese spelling is based on pronunciation rather than a phonemic analysis. Therefore, backness is marked in vowels despite being allophonic (it does not change the meaning), and many instances of the glides /j ɰ w/ proposed on
9918-404: The phonemes as having a stable quality, but theorizes that there may be a historical process of reduction from four to three, and otherwise ignores the fourth phoneme. For phonemic transcription of vowels, this article recognizes four phonemes and uses the front unrounded vowel /æ ɛ e i/ notation of the MED, following the approach of Bender (1969) in treating the front vowel surface realizations as
10032-419: The phonemic level are unwritten, because they do not surface as consonants phonetically. In particular, the glide /ɰ/ , which never surfaces as a consonant phonetically, is always unwritten. The letter w is generally used only in three situations: w is never written out word-finally or before another consonant. The palatal glide phoneme /j/ may also be written out but only as e before one of
10146-718: The phonemic level, and there are no distinct /pʷ mʷ/ phonemes. The pronunciation guide used by Naan (2014) still recognizes [p m] as allophone symbols separate from [pʲ pˠ mʲ mˠ] in these same conditions while recognizing that there are only palatalized and velarized phonemes. This article uses [pʲ pˠ mʲ mˠ] in phonetic transcriptions. The consonant /tʲ/ may be phonetically realized as [ tʲ ] , [t͡sʲ] , [ sʲ ] , [t͡ɕ] , [ ɕ ] , [ c ] , or [ ç ] (or any of their voiced variants [ dʲ ] , [d͡zʲ] , [ zʲ ] , [d͡ʑ] , [ ʑ ] , [ ɟ ] , or [ ʝ ] ), in free variation . Word-internally it usually assumes
10260-568: The remains of other Korean forced laborers elsewhere. Additionally, while many of the native Marshallese successfully fled the island in their canoes just before the battle, an estimated 200 were killed on the atoll during the fighting. Kwajalein was one of the few locations in the Pacific War where indigenous islanders were recorded to have been killed while fighting for the Japanese. Many Marshallese dead were found among those killed in bunkers. The flat island offered no other protection against
10374-414: The representative phonemes. On the phonetic level, Bender (1968), MED (1976), Choi (1992), Willson (2003) and Naan (2014) notate some Marshallese vowel surface realizations differently from one another, and they disagree on how to characterize the vowel heights of the underlying phonemes, with Willson (2003) taking the most divergent approach in treating the four heights as actually two heights each with
10488-803: The rest of the Micronesian language group—is not as closely related to the more ambiguously classified Oceanic language Yapese in Yap State , or to the Polynesian outlier languages Kapingamarangi and Nukuoro in Pohnpei State , and even less closely related to the non-Oceanic languages Palauan in Palau and Chamorro in the Mariana Islands . The Republic of the Marshall Islands contains 34 atolls that are split into two chains,
10602-673: The rest of the territories in the Nan'yō began to be fortified militarily after Japan's departure from the League of Nations in 1933. With the assistance of the Imperial Japanese Navy, local infrastructure was improved between 1934 and 1939. The first combat units, from the Imperial Japanese Navy's 4th Fleet , arrived in February 1941. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor , militarization of the Nan'yō, including Kwajalein, had been considered meagre enough that it alarmed Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue , who in January 1941 strongly urged
10716-598: The results of underlying glides not present on the phonetic level. Initial vowels are sometimes realized with an onglide [ j ] or [ w ] but not consistently: Only homorganic consonant sequences are allowed in Marshallese, including geminate varieties of each consonant, except for glides. Non-homorganic clusters are separated by vowel epenthesis even across word boundaries. Some homorganic clusters are also disallowed: The following assimilations are created, with empty combinations representing epenthesis. The vowel height of an epenthetic vowel
10830-480: The rounded allophones of /ɛ/ and /e/ as [ o ] , and indicating the front allophone of /æ/ as a close-mid central unrounded vowel [ ɘ ] , a realization more raised even than the front allophone of the normally higher /ɛ/ . For phonetic notation of vowel surface realizations, this article largely uses the MED's notation, but uses only cardinal symbols for back unrounded vowels. Superficially, 12 Marshallese vowel allophones appear in minimal pairs ,
10944-463: The rounded consonants) may be velarized or pharyngealized like the emphatic consonants in Arabic or Mizrahi Hebrew . Marshallese has a vertical vowel system of just four vowel phonemes , each with several allophones depending on the surrounding consonants. On the phonemic level, while Bender (1969) and Choi (1992) agree that the vowel phonemes are distinguished by height , they describe
11058-664: The runway. After the Army's main ABM programs shut down in the 1970s, Meck has served as the primary launch site for a variety of follow-on programs, including the Homing Overlay Experiment and THAAD , among many others. Omelek , about 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Meck, is uninhabited and leased by the U.S. military. From 2006 to 2009, it was used by SpaceX to launch five Falcon 1 rockets. Enubuj ( Āne-buoj , [ænʲeːbˠuotʲ] ), or "Carlson" Islet which
11172-485: The sounds of Marshallese, but until recently, it had no competing orthography. It is currently widely used, including in newspapers and signs. The "new" orthography is gaining popularity especially in schools and among young adults and children. The "new" orthography represents the sounds of the Marshallese language more faithfully and is the system used in the Marshallese–English dictionary by Abo et al., currently
11286-417: The southernmost provinces of Chōsen . In some atolls, such as Wotje , those forced laborers were joined by Japanese prisoners from Hokkaido , most of them political dissidents. In order to build the aerial runway on Kwajalein Island, the Japanese public school was demolished and, along with the civil administration, moved to Namu Atoll . Islanders were forcibly moved to live on some of the smaller islets in
11400-425: The test shots being used by the US Army 's Nike-X program installed on Kwajalein Island and Meck Island further to the south. The island was flooded in December 2008 by a "massive wave" which swamped coastal roads. A similar flood from one or more rogue waves or sneaker wave damaged buildings and swamped runways, on 20 January 2024. The wave flooding event was a popular clip on social media and news sites in
11514-639: The tongue a little farther back [k̠ ɡ̠ ŋ̠ k̠ʷ ɡ̠ʷ ŋ̠ʷ] , making them somewhere between velar and uvular in articulation. All dorsal phonemes are "heavy" (velarized or rounded), and none are "light" (palatalized). As stated before, the palatal consonant articulations [ c ] , [ ɟ ] , [ ç ] and [ ʝ ] are treated as allophones of the palatalized coronal obstruent /tʲ/ , even though palatal consonants are physically dorsal. For simplicity, this article uses unmarked [k ɡ ŋ kʷ ɡʷ ŋʷ] in phonetic transcription. Bender (1969) describes /nˠ/ and /nʷ/ as being 'dark' r -colored, but
11628-437: The vowel carries one mora for both phonemes. All morae are thus measured in /CV/ or shut /C/ sequences: That makes Marshallese a mora-rhythmed language in a fashion similar to Finnish , Gilbertese , Hawaiian , and Japanese . Marshallese consonants show splits conditioned by the surrounding Proto-Micronesian vowels. Proto-Micronesian *k *ŋ *r become rounded next to *o or next to *u except in bisyllables whose other vowel
11742-423: The vowel quality closer to the phonetic nucleus of the long syllable: If the syllable is phonetically open, the vowel written is usually the second vowel in the diphthong: the word bwe [pˠɛ] is usually not written any other way, but exceptions exist such as aelōn̄ ( /ɰajɘlʲɘŋ/ [ɑelʲɤŋ] "land; country; island; atoll" ), which is preferred over * āelōn̄ because the a spelling emphasizes that
11856-414: Was 21 °C (70 °F). The highest temperature was 36 °C (97 °F). While tropical rainforest climates have no true dry season , the atoll's noticeably drier season occurs from January through March. The average annual rainfall was 2,570 millimetres (101.2 in). The average monthly relative humidity is between 78 and 83%. Kwajalein ( Kuwajleen ) Atoll is an important cultural site to
11970-478: Was built on the northern end of the island to support the missile silos, while a Missile Site Radar was built to its south, on the western side. An airstrip, somewhat longer than 300 m (1,000 ft) running north–south at the southeastern end of the island provided STOL service to the base, although the strong prevailing winds from the west made for very tricky landings. Air service was later deemed too dangerous, and replaced by helicopter pads at either end of
12084-436: Was claimed by the United States and was designated, with the rest of the Marshall Islands, as a United Nations Trust Territory under the United States. In the years following, Kwajalein Atoll was converted into a staging area for campaigns in the advance on the Japanese homeland in the Pacific War . After the war ended, the United States used it as a main command center and preparation base in 1946 for Operation Crossroads ,
12198-420: Was condemned to death. On January 31, 1944, the 7th Infantry Division , spearheaded by the 111th Infantry Regiment performed an amphibious assault on Kwajalein. On February 1, 1944, Kwajalein was the target of the most concentrated bombardment of the Pacific War . An estimated 36,000 shells from naval ships and ground artillery on a nearby islet struck Kwajalein. B-24 Liberator bombers aerially bombarded
12312-415: Was considered too difficult for English speakers to properly differentiate among the islands. The latter has often been retained by English speakers. The exception to this is Kwajalein itself, which is close to the native name; the received spelling is from German, however. Kwajalein Island is the southernmost and largest of the islands in the atoll. The area is about 3.1 km (1.2 sq mi). It
12426-432: Was filled with sand that was dredged from the lagoon by both the Japanese and later American administration between 1940 and 1945. After the war, the resulting conjoined islands were renamed Roi-Namur. There is a significant indigenous Marshall Islander workforce that commutes to Roi-Namur from the nearby island of Ennubirr, much like workers commute from Ebeye to Kwajalein. These workers are badged and have limited access to
12540-461: Was its 1944 World War II U.S. operation codename, is situated next to Kwajalein to the northwest, directly west of Little Bustard. It was from this island that U.S. forces launched their amphibious invasion of Kwajalein island. Today, it is the site of a small Marshallese village with a church and small cemetery. The sunken vessel Prinz Eugen , used during the Bikini Atoll atomic weapons tests,
12654-460: Was once believed there were six bilabial consonants because of observed surface realizations, /p pʲ pʷ m mʲ mʷ/ , but he determined that two of these, /p m/ , were actually allophones of /pʲ mʲ/ respectively before front vowels and allophones of /pˠ mˠ/ respectively before back vowels. Before front vowels, the velarized labial consonants /pˠ mˠ/ actually tend to have rounded (labiovelarized) articulations [pʷ mʷ] , but they remain unrounded on
12768-484: Was selected by DARPA as a host site for a series of radar experiments under the Project Defender umbrella, and Project PRESS in particular. These experiments intended to use radar means to distinguish an enemy RV from its penaids though the examination of the size, shape and velocity of the objects, as well as examining the wake they left in the upper atmosphere. By building on Roi-Namur, they were able to use
12882-506: Was the origin of the name Kuwajleen , which apparently derives from Ri-ruk-jan-leen , "the people who harvest the flowers". The first recorded sighting of Kwajalein by Europeans was during the Spanish expedition of Ruy López de Villalobos in January 1543. The atoll was charted as Los Jardines (The Gardens) because of its fresh appearance and trees. Los Jardines remained well located in most 16th and 17th century charts in
12996-544: Was through the commercial operations of fisherman and traders that the Japanese first began to make a wider presence in the region, which continued to grow despite challenges from competing German commercial interests. At the outbreak of World War I in Europe, Japan joined the Triple Entente and seized the Marshall Islands against only token resistance. In 1922 the islands were placed under Japanese administration as
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