Academic literature on the topic 'Tonga language (Tonga Islands)'

Abstract The kingdom of Tonga known as the Friendly Islands is a bilingual country where the official languages are Tongan (lea faka-Tonga) and English (lea faka-Pilitānia). In a bilingual environment like Tonga, the ability to translate effectively between the two languages is a fundamental skill to communicate well and to achieve academic success. The main focus of this article is to approach translation through a sociocultural lens, and more specifically, through a Tongan-inspired tāvāist perspective: 'Okusitino's Māhina's Tā‐Vā ('Time‐Space') Theory of Reality. This theory has influenced a range of practices from many disciplines and social activities, such as translation. Theorizing translation in and across Tā ('time') and Vā ('space') informs the relationships between languages, cultures and educational backgrounds in the transmission of 'ilo ('knowledge') and poto ('skills') among all members of the society. In exploring the theory this article will consider two translation case studies of English to Tongan literature: Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (1865) and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince (1943).

Tongan (lea fakatonga, ISO 639-3 code ton) is a Polynesian language spoken mainly in Tonga, where it is one of two official languages (with English). There are about 104,000 speakers of the language in Tonga, with nearly 80,000 additional speakers elsewhere (Simons & Fennig 2017). It is most closely related to Niuean, and more distantly related to West Polynesian languages (such as Tokelauan and Samoan) and East Polynesian languages (such as Hawaiian, Māori, and Tahitian). Previous work on the phonetics and phonology of Tongan includes a general grammar (Churchward 1953), a dissertation with a grammatical overview (Taumoefolau 1998), a phonological sketch of the language (Feldman 1978), two dictionaries (Churchward 1959, Tu‘inukuafe 1992), journal and working papers on stress (Taumoefolau 2002, Garellek & White 2015), intonation (Kuo & Vicenik 2012), as well as the ‘definitive accent’ (discussed below) and the phonological status of identical vowel sequences (Poser 1985; Condax 1989; Schütz 2001; Anderson & Otsuka 2003, 2006; Garellek & White 2010; Ahn 2016; Zuraw 2018). This illustration is meant to provide an overview of the phonetic structures of the language, and includes novel acoustic data on its three-way word-initial laryngeal contrasts, which are cross-linguistically rare. The recordings accompanying this illustration come from Veiongo Hehepoto, a native speaker of Tongan currently living in Melbourne, Australia. Ms. Veiongo was born in 1950 on the island of Vava‘u (northern Tonga), but grew up and was educated in the capital city Nuku‘alofa on Tongatapu (see Figure 1). She moved to Vanuatu when she was 16 years old, and when she was 21 moved to Australia where she trained as a nurse. She continues to speak Tongan every day with family members (including children, who were born in Australia) and friends.

"The largest number of Tongans outside of Tonga lives in the United States. It is estimated to be more than 70,000; most live in the San Francisco Bay Area. On several occasions during two visits to the US by my wife and I during 2004, we met workers who operate the only daily Tongan language radio programmes in San Francisco. Our organisation supplies the daily news broadcast for their programmes. Our newspapers— in the Tongan and Samoan languages— also sell in the area. The question of what are the fundamental roles of the media came up in one of our discussions..."

AbstractReconstructing routes of ancient long-distance voyaging, long a topic of speculation, has become possible thanks to advances in the geochemical sourcing of archaeological artifacts. Of particular interest are islands classified as Polynesian Outliers, where people speak Polynesian languages and have distinctly Polynesian cultural traits, but are located within the Melanesian or Micronesian cultural areas. While the classification of these groups as Polynesian is not in dispute, the material evidence for the movement between Polynesia and the Polynesian Outliers is exceedingly rare, unconfirmed, and in most cases, nonexistent. We report on the first comprehensive sourcing (using a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer) of obsidian and volcanic glass artifacts recovered from excavations on the Polynesian Outlier island of Tikopia. We find evidence for: (1) initial settlement followed by continued voyages between Tikopia and an island Melanesian homeland; (2) long-distance voyaging becoming much less frequent and continuing to decline; and (3) later voyaging from Polynesia marked by imports of volcanic glass from Tonga beginning at 765 cal yr BP (±54 yr). Later long-distance voyages from Polynesia were surprisingly rare, given the strong cultural and linguistic influences of Polynesia, and we suggest, may indicate that Tikopia was targeted by Tongans for political expansion.

It is to my belief that such a move to form a new media association of the nature of the Pacific Islands Media Association (PIMA) is spear-headed by a group of people who have a common interest and common understanding, and a vision for the future role of media in the region.

When the author visited ’Eua in the Tonga islands to study the red shining parrot, he took the opportunity to collect information on some other aspects of Tonga's wildlife. During his 18-month survey he also visited several other islands in the group. Here he discusses six rare and threatened animals—four birds and two reptiles.

Review of Tahiti Pacifique, Tahiti Beach Press, The National, Post-Courier, Samoa Observer, Tonga Chronicle, Matangi Tonga, Uni Tavur, Papua Niugina Nius, Online Journalist's 'Tonga Page', CocoNet Wireless, Pacific Islands Internet services, Cafe Pacific, Rabi Online. From virtually no news website of real substance in the South Pacific in 1995, there are now three daily newspapers with regular Web links, two monthly news magazines, two weekly newspapers, one fortnightly paper, a biannual media journal and a daily news service with websites.

The mite family Laelapidae has been little studied in the Pacific Islands. This paper presents a new species and a new record of the genus Cosmolaelaps Berlese, 1903 from Fiji and Tonga. Cosmolaelaps dioscorea sp. nov. was collected from yam (Plantae: Dioscoreaceae: Dioscorea sp.) in Fiji and Cosmolaelaps paulista Freire & Moraes, 2007 from taro (Plantae: Araceae: Colocasia Schott) in Fiji and Tonga. The new species is described.

The southwest Pacific is one of the most tectonically dynamic regions on Earth. This research focused on crustal motion studies in three regions of active Pacific-Australia plate convergence in the southwest Pacific: Tonga, the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and the Solomons Islands. In Tonga, new and refined velocity estimates based on more than a decade of Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements and advanced analysis techniques are much more accurate than previously reported values. Convergence rates of 80 to 165 mm/yr at the Tonga trench represent the fastest plate motions observed on Earth. For the first time, rotation of the Fiji platform relative to the Australian plate is observed, and anomalous deformation of the Tonga ridge was also detected. In the New Hebrides, a combined GPS dataset with a total time series of more than ten years led to new and refined velocity estimates throughout the island arc. Impingement of large bathymetric features has led to arc fragmentation, and four distinct tectonic segments are identified. The central New Hebrides arc segment is being shoved eastward relative to the rest of the arc as convergence is partitioned between the forearc (Australian plate) and the backarc (North Fiji Basin) boundaries due to impingement of the d'Entrecasteaux Ridge and associated Bougainville seamount. The southern New Hebrides arc converges with the Australian plate more rapidly than predicted due to backarc extension. The first measurements of convergence in the northern and southernmost arc segments were also made. In the Solomon Islands, a four-year GPS time series was used to generate the first geodetic estimates of crustal velocity in the New Georgia Group, with 57-84 mm/yr of Australia-Solomon motion and 19-39 mm/yr of Pacific-Solomon motion being observed. These velocities are 20-40% lower than predicted Australia-Pacific velocities. Two-dimensional dislocation models suggest that most of this discrepancy can be attributed to locking of the San Cristobal trench and elastic strain accumulation in the forearc. Anomalous motion at Simbo island is also observed.
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From 1998 to 2003 Solomon Islands experienced a low intensity civil war that disrupted the state, resulting in a breakdown in law and order and the virtual collapse of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF). On the 16th of November 2006 a riot engulfed the capital of Tonga, Nuku’alofa, and for several hours Tongans engaged in looting and property destruction that the Tonga Police Force (TPF) was unable to prevent. In response to both of these crises, police-led interventions were deployed: the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), and Operation Tokoni and the Tonga Police Development Program (TPDP), respectively. These operations varied in their size, scope and responsibilities, yet they had a common aim of supporting the restoration of law and order, development and reform of the local police organisations. Understanding how to generate legitimacy for state institutions that have been reformed with external assistance remains one of the key challenges for state building and security sector reform (SSR). This thesis, through case analyses that drew on secondary and grey literature to highlight key contextual features of policing in Solomon Islands and Tonga, interviews conducted with community leaders at the two case study sites, and secondary focus group as well as survey data, examined perceptions of the legitimacy of local and external police and the factors that influenced participants’ views. It sought to investigate the application of three conceptual perspectives, defined in relation to ‘procedural justice’, ‘service delivery’ and ‘authority’, on the creation of police legitimacy in the contexts of regulatory pluralist post-conflict states that have hosted foreign police-led interventions. This thesis aimed to bring the voices of the research participants into the discussion of, and is the first to explore, police legitimacy in these settings. Findings indicate that individuals’ judgements of police legitimacy are complex and informed by their direct and vicarious experiences of policing across time. A range of considerations impacted participants’ legitimacy assessments, including perceptions of: agency-level and officer-level procedural justice, the capacity and willingness of police to provide service delivery, and authority and its associated relationship to the use of coercion. The influence of these factors on police legitimacy was affected by respondents’ expectations of policing, which were in turn informed by their accumulated experiences. These experiences occurred within, and were shaped by, the broader socio-political and policing environment. Significant shifts in environmental conditions exerted influence over what antecedents of police legitimacy were most impactful at different points in time. The crises experienced in each of the case study sites limited the impact procedural justice policing had on perceptions of local police, with the lack of service delivery and police authority undermining legitimacy at that time. In contrast, the deployment of external police missions was seen to restore service delivery and police authority, but the differing forms of regulatory pluralism in Solomon Islands and Tonga resulted in divergent perceptions of how local and external police were expected to act, particularly in relation to the use of coercion, respecting local culture, and local engagement in service delivery. The varied impacts of these key environmental changes illustrated the importance of both context and time in shaping individuals’ judgements of police legitimacy. Based on these findings this thesis proposed a new model that aims to provide a holistic representation of the occurrence of police legitimacy. It advances knowledge of legitimacy by integrating procedural justice, a conceptual revision of service delivery, and police authority together as antecedents to legitimacy, while accounting for the influences of individuals’ accumulated experiences of policing, and associated expectations. Further, it integrates context in a new way by focusing on broader socio-political and policing conditions. This enables recognition of the influence that environmental shifts, such as conflict, external policing interventions, or regulatory pluralism can have on individuals’ experiences and expectations of policing. Overall, the model broadens the antecedents of police legitimacy, and situates its incidence in context. Five considerations for future police building practice are highlighted, focused on mission design and officer conduct. First, where operationally feasible, external police should be deployed to positions within, or in support of, local police organisations to help boost their legitimacy through positive association. Second, mission planners should aim to recruit officers that have experience of policing in diverse communities or are from similar cultural backgrounds to avoid the possibility of cultural misunderstandings with the local population. Finally, to aid in the cultivation of legitimacy, this thesis suggests that local and external police take three actions: adopt a procedurally just approach to policing, build strong relationships with local communities to aid the delivery of services in line with local expectations, and engage in activities that positively reinforce police authority. The aim of these suggestions is to promote the design and deployment of police building missions that supports the development of locally legitimate and responsive policing institutions.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Crim & Crim Justice
Arts, Education and Law
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This study aimed at determining factors which might have impact on the learning of English as a second language macroskills (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) by Tongan secondary learners. The study was correlational in design and it worked from a synthetic perspective in that it looked at the way in which many aspects of language are interrelated to make the whole language system. The study looked at learning English language macroskills from a multiple interdisciplinary perspective taking into consideration linguistic, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic factors and classroom and bilingual education perspectives. The framework for language use required the learner to know the grammar (linguistic competence) of English and also to have the knowledge of how to use it appropriately in a variety of contexts. The subjects of the study were 100 Form 5 ESL Secondary students and 24 Form 5 ESL Secondary teachers. The three main instruments used were a test and a questionnaire for the students and a questionnaire for the teachers. Students' performance in the four English language macroskills were correlated with their perception of factors hypothesised to be associated with their learning of those English language macroskills at school (bivariate correlations). Standard multiple regressions were also performed (with only a few of the investigated factors selected as independent variables) to determine how much of the variance in the students' performance can be accounted for by the selected variables. Seven factors were shown to have significant correlations with the students' learning of English macroskills at secondary school. They were: the age of the students; their perceived ability in English; frequency of use of English with non-Tongan speakers; use of English to read for enjoyment; use of English for communication at home; integrative motivation; and career aspirations. The multiple regressions showed that 40% to 50% of the variances in reading, writing and listening could be accounted for by the same seven factors. All for speaking, 48.5% of the variance could be accounted for by five of these factors: age; perceived ability in English; frequency of use of English with non-Tongan speakers; use of English to read for enjoyment; and career aspirations. The findings of the study were accounted for in the light of appropriate and relevant linguistic theories.

Under traditional International relations theory, diplomacy relates to relations between sovereign nations. There have been two broad schools of thought on the dynamics behind these relations: the ‘realist’ school, which tends to consider power and conflict as the major lens through which such should be viewed, and the ‘idealist’ school which tended to focus on cooperation rather than conflict. Between these two extreme views, a third school, the English School of International Relations, also known as the British Institutionalists, provides somewhat of a compromise view, acknowledging the merit of both realism and idealism, by accepting that power remains an important element but also advocating that acceptance of common norms and institutions plays a significant role in determining relations, or the International Society between states. In 1977 Hedley Bull offered the following definition of International Society when he stated that International Society … exists when a group of states, conscious of certain common interests and common values, form a society in the sense that they conceive themselves to be bound by a common set of rules in their relations with one another, and share in the working of common institutions. This thesis is not specifically related to International Relations theory, which deals with inter-state relations. Whilst inter-state conflict and international relations remain important drivers of foreign and military policy, there is a growing recognition that it is intra-state conflict avoidance and post-conflict reconstruction which increasingly mitigate the risk to the safety, security, peace and prosperity of nations and regions. Much of this disquiet has its roots in maladministration, poor governance and a lack of justice. These are areas in which traditional approaches to foreign intervention via trade, aid and military force have limited effect, and in which effective consent-based policing and justice can play a significant part in building sustainable and peaceful outcomes. This thesis discusses the role played by a non-traditional actor in the international arena, the police, specifically the Australian Federal Police (AFP), in addressing some of these intra-state justice and governance issues in a constantly changing, unstable and unpredictable global and regional environment. The thesis is intended to outline the diversity and versatility of AFP activities and to contextualise them in terms of non-traditional New Diplomacy. The aspects of diplomacy of most significance relate to diplomatic qualities or traits of the individual police officer, diplomatic behaviours of these members, and diplomatic outcomes of their activities. As such the thesis does not relate directly to International Relations theory or to International Society, as espoused by Hedley Bull. There are, however, some interesting intersections which are worthy of note. There are some critics of the English School who argue that it is Eurocentric. Today’s International Relations originated in the 19th century when a number of European nations formed a club of ‘civilised’ states bound by international law, which expanded around the globe to involve all nations. This concept has been used to explain the lack of imperative for a supra-state or world government to maintain orderly inter-state relations, as the force which binds them is consent to agree to common interest and values within a global rules-based order. In terms of policing on an international scale, global government is simply too unwieldy. There are a number of global, consent-based institutions such as the United Nations and INTERPOL, which fulfil this requirement to a certain extent. The AFP has had long involvement with both of these global institutions, as well as several regional policing institutions. In terms of conflict-oriented ‘realism’ and cooperative ‘idealism’, policing walks both sides of the street. As this thesis will discuss, the whole posture of liberal-democratic policing is conflict prevention, and the means by which such police carry out their daily duties is by cooperation. This is the context in which replication or expansion of International Society should be considered in relation to the activities of the AFP internationally and regionally. This thesis is by definition Eurocentric, or more specifically Anglo-centric, due to the historical fact that the AFP draws all of its principles from Australia’s British antecedents and adheres to a largely ‘western’ or European notion of human rights values. This thesis explores the role of the AFP as an international actor. The thesis asserts that effective international policing has never been more important in linking the international with the domestic. The way the AFP operates in a landscape where traditional policing paradigms are rapidly changing, due to ever-changing, political, diplomatic, and transnational issues, is examined in the context of the ‘globalisation paradox’, of both needing and fearing, global governance simultaneously, as raised by Anne-Marie Slaughter in her book, A New World Order. The way the organisation has evolved from its origins, based on Western liberal-democratic policing values, approaches and skills, to an organisation involved in international policing and diplomacy at the highest levels, while still retaining its liberal-democratic credentials is explained. It is argued that in the contemporary international and Australian context, the AFP is an effective and experienced agency. It is further argued that this is a distinctive form of new diplomacy, appropriate to an increasingly globalised world. The AFP has established an extensive international network in more than 30 countries, has been a consistent contributor to national security, has participated in numerous international deployments over half a century, and continues to play a meaningful role in Australian foreign policy efforts. The thesis provides evidence to show how AFP officers exhibit diplomatic qualities similar to those listed by Daryl Copeland in his book Guerrilla Diplomacy , as well as those mentioned by Christopher Meyer in his book Getting Our Way. In all of its international endeavours, AFP members have demonstrated, in varying degrees, the three enduring elements of diplomacy as outlined by Jonsson and Hall in their book The Essence of Diplomacy. They have communicated and negotiated in some very challenging circumstances and they are representatives of the Australian Government and its humanitarian values. The AFP, as part of broader efforts with institutions such as the UN, have not so much sought a replication of international society, as mentioned by Jonsson and Hall, but have provided a supplement to international society, by effective networking, thereby addressing in large part, Slaughter’s ‘globalisation paradox’. It is not so much universal police homogeneity which is sought by such endeavours, as a balance between it, and the heterogeneity which is inevitably associated with cultures transitioning from custom and tradition, to 21st century expectations of nationhood. The way the AFP’s transnational operations, activities, and deployments, not only serve perceived national interests, but result in more effective regional governance, is identified as ‘diplomacy by default’, because formal Track I diplomacy is not their primary objective. It will be demonstrated how international diplomacy, while generally conducted with perceived national interests as its primary goal, has a secondary benefit, good international citizenship, and that the AFP has a credible history of serving both. It is argued that the AFP is well positioned within government, law and intelligence and security circles, in the Australian and international contexts, through an extensive liaison officer network in South-East Asia, the South-West Pacific as well as more broadly. It will be demonstrated how the AFP has shown itself as capable and ready to respond effectively to extant and emerging challenges, and as such, has earned a place in foreign policy discussions and considerations at the highest diplomatic levels, including the UN. The AFP provides a distinctive and direct link between the global, the regional, and the domestic, which matches the rapidly globalised community it represents. The thesis confirms that international policing acts as a distinctive aspect of Australian ‘firm’ diplomacy, and supplements the more traditional elements of international engagement, between the ‘soft’ or traditional diplomacy, and the ‘hard’ form of military intervention. The evidence provided shows how it is by this form of whole-of-government activity, inclusive of policing, that stability and security are enhanced, and peace and prosperity are encouraged. Overall, the thesis affirms the AFP as a transnational agency, which is well placed to link the international with the domestic, the contextual with the aspirational, and the theoretical with the practical, in a period of strategic uncertainty in international affairs at the dawn of the Third Millennium.

This thesis addresses the question of the transformation of the Lapita Culture established on Tongatapu over the period 1000 BC to AD 500 into the highly stratified society described by European observers of the late 18th century and reflected in a rich body of oral traditions and a conspicuous grouping of beachrock slab-faced monuments at a capital centre on the lagoon at Mu’a. It does so in the light of discussions of the nature and origins of chiefdoms in Polynesia, particularly the proposition that they arose in the context of increases in populations in circumscribed environments subject to fluctuations in horticultural production, where horticultural surplus could be appropriated, accumulated, stored and judiciously redistributed. The evidence, old and new, for Lapita society is assessed to identify more precisely the nature of the developments to be examined. Three research objectives are defined to which field research by survey and excavation was directed. These are the course and chronology of the settlement of the inland areas and the concomitant growth of an essentially horticulturally-based economy; the nature of the settlement and habitation pattern represented by earthen house- and burial mounds of post-Lapita, aceramic times; and the origins and development of slab-built structures as a mark of high status. The settlement of the inland was accomplished in Late Lapita times, by the 5th century AD, already in a non-nucleated pattern reminiscent of that described by the early Europeans, and the economy was horticulturally based. Mound-building, at least for habitation, proved to be equally old, while comparisons of mound numbers (based on sample surveys) against population estimates (using a variety of sources) suggest that not everyone could be accommodated on them, implying some level of social differentiation in their use. Excavations at house mounds adjacent to one of the quarries where the slabs for high-status structures were obtained indicate that this activity also goes back to the 5th century AD. The further development of these early signs of social differentiation cannot be traced, until the sudden and spectacular appearance of the monument group at Heketa, an early traditional political centre. This is interpreted as representing the establishment of a supreme chieftainship (symbolised in the Tongan term Tu' z) out of a number of earlier competing chieftainships. Analysis of various parameters of slab-faced monuments gives insight into the nature and development of the ruling dynasty and associated lineages. There is the appearance of a significant overseas involvement (the so-called Tongan Maritime Empire), symbolised by the shift of capital centre to Mu'a on the lagoon and its equipping with harbour and wharf facilities. There is also evidence of internal tension between the leading lineages, archaeologically best reflected in the large isolated slab-faced monument at Kanokupolu in the far west of Tongatapu, which by the time of European arrival had become a political centre apart from and competitive with Mu'a. The results of the research point to the possibility of bridging the gap between the first indications of social differentiation in the 5th century AD on the archaeological evidence and the appearance of supreme chieftainship at Heketa in the 12th century by genealogical reckoning through investigations in the Toloa area of southeastern Tongatapu, where the traditions locate the first, shadowy political centre.

This study presents an analysis of the interactions observed among the West Polynesia islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, using concepts of regional systems and trade networks. The connections between these island groups in the period between the 1770s and the 1870s are examined in extensive detail. In particular, this analysis takes the theoretical framework of the world-systems approach of Chase-Dunn and Hall and applies a method involving networks of exchange to this region. These networks include the information network, the bulk products network, the political/ military network and the network of prestige valuables. Archival data show the operation and content of these networks and demonstrate that with the influx of European products in the early colonial period, there was an efflorescence of long-distance exchange in this region. This analysis of networks linking the island groups suggest that Fiji, Tonga and Samoa should be viewed as a regional unit instead of three distinct societies for many subjects of investigation.

This thesis analyzes the phonological and morphological nativisation of English loans in the Tonga language. The contact situation between English and Tonga, in Zimbabwe, facilitates transference of lexical items between the two languages. From having been one of the most widely used languages of the world, English has developed into the most influential donor of words to other languages such as Tonga. The infiltration of English words into the Tonga lexical inventory led to the adoption and subsequent nativisation of English words by the native Tonga speakers. The main deposit of English words into Tonga is the direct interaction between English and Tonga speakers. However, it is sometimes via other languages like Shona, Ndebele, Venda and Shangani. In the 21st century, English’s contribution to the vocabulary of Tonga became more widely spread, now covering a large proportion of the Tonga language’s lexical inventory. The fact that English is the medium of instruction, in Zimbabwe, language of technology, education, media, new administration, health, music, new religion and economic transactions means that it is regarded as the high variety language with coercive loaning powers. Words from English are then adopted and nativised in the Tonga language, since Tonga asserts itself an independent language that can handle loans on its own. The main focus of this study therefore, is to try and account for the phonological and morphological behavior and changes that take place in English words that enter into Tonga. Analyzing phonological processes that are employed during nativisation of loan words entails analyzing how Tonga speakers handle aspects of English language such as diphthongs, triphthongs, cluster consonants, CVC syllable structure and sounds in repairing unacceptable sequences in Tonga. The research also accounts for the handling of morphological differences between the two languages. This entails looking at how competence and ordered-rule framework are harmonized by Tonga speakers in repairing conflicting features at morphological level. Since the two languages have different morphological patterns, the research analyzes the repairing strategies to handle singular and plural noun prefixes, tenses and particles, which are morphological components of words. The researcher appreciates that the native Tonga speakers have robust intuitions on the proper way to nativise words.
African Languages
D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

The study interrogates the marginalisation of the Tonga language in the school curriculum of Zimbabwe. It explores the causes of marginalisation and what can be done by the Zimbabwean government to promote the Tonga language in the school curriculum at all levels in the education domain in Zimbabwe. In the study, the researcher uses a mixed method approach where qualitative and quantitative research techniques are used to corroborate data from different data gathering sources. The postmodernist theory is used in this research because of its encouragement of pluralism in society so as to enhance social cohesion. This is so because all languages are equal and they share the same functions and characteristics. There is no superior or inferior language in the eyes of the postmodernists. Participants for this study were drawn from district officials, selected primary and secondary school educators, primary and secondary school heads, all from Binga district of Zimbabwe and three university Tonga language lecturers, all purposefully selected. Focus group discussions, interviews, questionnaires, documents analysis and observations were used to collect data for this study. The data collected was then analysed using qualitative and quantitative analysis for triangulation purposes. The research established that the marginalisation of the Tonga language in Zimbabwe is caused by both exogenous and endogenous factors. The major factor is Zimbabwe‘s lack of a clear language policy exacerbated by attitudes of the different stakeholders which has also facilitated and enhanced the peripherisation of the Tonga language in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe has a tendency of declaring policies and not implementing them. Consequently, the government reacts to language problems as they arise. The study also reveals the importance of the Tonga language in the school curriculum in Zimbabwe. It also establishes that, for the Tonga language to be promoted there is need for the expeditious training of educators by the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development. There is need for the government of Zimbabwe to strengthen their language policy so that the status of Tonga is enhanced and uplifted. A strong language policy will compel different stakeholders to stick to their mandate thereby improving the place of the Tonga language in the school curriculum at all levels of the curriculum in Zimbabwe.
African Languages
D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Some years ago, in 1975, I presented a paper and a slide show at an earlier sailing yacht symposium in Annapolis. The subject was a four-year, 28,000 mile cruise I had made in the years 1965 - 1968 most of the way around the world: Hawaii and the South Pacific, New Zealand, Australia's Barrier Reef, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, including the Greek Islands, an Atlantic crossing to Barbados from the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, and home to the Chesapeake. The paper I wrote then was entitled "Extended Cruising: An Overview" and contained sketches and data from my logs. It was same 55 pages long and talked about many facets of cruising from my vantage point, primarily as seen from the decks of Mamari, the 28 foot ketch I had bought in New Zealand. Lest Mamari 's size appear too small, which perhaps would make me seen heroic, recognize that in displacement and accomodations Mamari was the equivalent of a 33 foot boat. To dispel one other misconception, be advised that I normally sailed with a crew of two, sometimes more, and only sailed two legs single-handed, of about 500 miles each, one from Tonga to Fiji in the Pacific, the other in the Gulf of Suez and from Port Said to the Greek Islands. The 1975 paper reflected my background as a naval architect, combined with my experience as a sailor. I told of things I learned from others. I analyzed log data, presented photographs, drawings and tables, and wrote a series of "yarns" such as sailors spin about their travels. The paper is touched with a flavor of the sea, a flavor of talk over run or coffee in a snug anchorage or on a shared night watch. That 1975 paper makes good reading, and much of the information is still valid. It could be reprinted and if there is enough interest l will do so (contact me). This present paper is a brief look at my experiences on a series of sailing trips, but in particular a one year voyage in a 37 foot yawl from Turkey to the Chesapeake via the West Indies in 1980-81. The paper answers the question posed at the 1975 symposium, would I do the trip again? Then, I thought so, but could not be sure, now my reply is, "of course."

On 15 January 2022, the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha'apai volcano eruption was felt across the Pacific Ocean and beyond, releasing energy equivalent to hundreds of Hiroshima nuclear explosions and creating supersonic air pressure waves that were observed from space. In the archipelago Kingdom of Tonga, the ashfall, tsunami and shock waves caused widespread devastation on several islands. The only fibre-optic cable that connects the islands with the rest of the world was severely damaged, leaving the entire country offline for more than three weeks. The case the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano eruption showed that the inability to “be online” becomes a vulnerability in the context of extreme events. This technical background report for the 2021/2022 edition of the Interconnected Disaster Risks report analyses the root causes, drivers, impacts and potential solutions for the Tonga volcano eruption through a forensic analysis of academic literature, media articles and expert interviews.