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39-690: The Saudeleur dynasty ( Pohnpeian : Mwehin Sau Deleur , "Period of the Lord of Deleur"; also spelled Chau-te-leur ) was the first organized government uniting the people of Pohnpei island, ruling from c.  1100 -1200 CE to c.  1628 CE . The era was preceded by the Mwehin Kawa (Period of Building) or Mwehin Aramas (Period of Peopling), and followed by Mwehin Nahnmwarki . The name Deleur

78-587: A " high language ", referred to as Meing or Mahsen en Meing including specialized vocabulary used when speaking to, or about people of high rank. Pohnpeian is most closely related to the Chuukic languages of Chuuk (formerly Truk). Ngatikese , Pingelapese and Mwokilese of the Pohnpeic languages are closely related languages to Pohnpeian. Pohnpeian shares 81% lexical similarity with Pingelapese, 75% with Mokilese, and 36% with Chuukese . Pohnpeian employs

117-632: A barren human of his own Dipwenpahnmei (Under-the- breadfruit -tree) clan by feeding her a lime . This incestuous union produced the semi-divine Isokelekel , who in the womb knew his destiny of vengeance. As an adult, Isokelekel set sail with 333 men, women, and children with the secret intention of conquering Pohnpei. The embarkment consecrated by human sacrifice , a ritual widespread in Polynesian culture , but altogether rare in Pohnpeian history. On his way to Nan Madol, Isokelekel received breadfruit kernels from

156-401: A fight. In another version, Isokelekel had his lieutenant provoke a local warrior at a prearranged encounter. Other accounts hold that Isokelekel staged an insurrection after winning the trust of his hosts, and with help from the oppressed locals. Another version says that upon seeing the fortifications at Nan Madol, Isokelekel decided to withdraw, but was aided by a scorned and outcast woman from

195-430: A great deal of loanwords from colonial languages such as English , Japanese , Spanish , and German . However, these loanwords are neither spelled nor pronounced exactly the same as the source language. Examples of these loanwords include: The modern Pohnpeian orthography uses twenty letters — sixteen single letters and four digraphs — collated in a unique order: As German missionaries designed an early form of

234-425: A large canoe seeking a place to build an altar so that they could worship Nahnisohn Sahpw, the god of agriculture. After several false starts, the two brothers successfully built an altar at megalithic Nan Madol , where they performed their rituals. In legend, these brothers levitated the huge stones with the aid of a flying dragon. When Olisihpa died of old age, Olosohpa became the first Saudeleur. Olosohpa married

273-551: A local woman and sired twelve generations, producing sixteen other Saudeleur rulers of the Dipwilap ("Great") clan. The founders of the dynasty ruled kindly, though their successors placed ever increasing demands on their subjects. Rule was maintained by one man, the Saudeleur, at Nan Madol . The land, its contents, and its inhabitants were owned by the Saudeleur ruler, who leased the land to landlord classes overseeing commoners harvesting

312-576: A reputation for offending Pohnpeian deities, sowed resentment among Pohnpeians. The Saudeleur Dynasty ended with the invasion of Isokelekel , another semi-mythical foreigner, who replaced the Saudeleur rule with the more decentralized nahnmwarki system in existence today. The earliest settlers on the island were probably Lapita culture people from the Southeast Solomon Islands or the Vanuatu archipelago . According to Pohnpeian legend,

351-537: Is more generally (1) noun phrase, (2) verb phrase (3) other noun phrases, where the contents of the leading noun phrase may vary according to the speaker's focus. If the leading noun phrase is not the subject, it is followed by the focus particle me . Normally, the object phrase is last among predicates: Lahpo that-guy pahn will inauriki lash kisin pwehlet sennit-this wahro canoe-that Lahpo pahn inauriki {kisin pwehlet} wahro that-guy will lash sennit-this canoe-that That guy will lash

390-582: Is reduplicated to sensel ("tired"). The second variety of nasal substitution, limited to bilabial and velar consonants , occurs across word and morpheme boundaries: This second variety of the nasal substitution process is phonemically more productive than the first: it includes all results possible in the first variety, as well as additional cluster combinations, indicated in green below. Some alveolar pairs produce an intervening vowel, represented as V below. Not all clusters are possible, and not all are assimilative, however. By following

429-459: Is said [narrɛk] ("season of plenty"). Complete nasal assimilation also occurs across word boundaries: pahn lingan is said [paːlliŋan] ("will be beautiful"). The third process, nasal substitution, also presents two varieties. Both varieties of nasal substitution affect adjacent consonants of the same type: alveolar (coronal) , bilabial , or velar . The first variety is often triggered by reduplication, resulting in spelling changes: sel

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468-459: Is seen most often in reduplication alongside spelling changes. By this process, liquids /l/ and /r/ are assimilated into the following alveolar (coronal) consonant: nur > nunnur ("contract"). The second process, nasal assimilation , presents two varieties: partial and complete. In partial nasal assimilation, /n/ assimilates with a following stop consonant to produce [mp] , [mʷpʷ] , [mm] , [mʷmʷ] , or [ŋk] . For example,

507-426: Is used to represent / j / , though it is often unwritten; -u is realized as /w/ ; and ⟨h⟩ indicates a long vowel (a spelling convention inherited from German ). Thus, sahu is pronounced [sʲaːw] , never [sʲahu] . Consecutive vowels are glided with [j] or [w] , depending on the relative height and order of the vowels: While the glide [j] is never written other than as ⟨i⟩

546-588: The Micronesian island of Pohnpei . It is located in the central east of the island, to the east of Mount Nahna Laud and south of Mount Kapwuriso . The coast of Madolenihmw includes a large bay which contains the island of Temwen , famous for its Nan Madol ruins. Pohnpei State Department of Education operates public schools: Private school: 6°49′15″N 158°18′10″E  /  6.82083°N 158.30278°E  / 6.82083; 158.30278 This Federated States of Micronesia location article

585-508: The Saudeleur included turtles and dogs , both of which held ritual symbolism. Turtles ( wei ) represented the three major political divisions ( wei ) and held a central place in a myth where two brothers must sacrifice their mother – the Life-Giving Turtle – to be eaten by the Saudeleur after they jokingly said they would sell her for a taste of the Saudeleur's dog meat. The dog held a further important position in Saudeleur society:

624-550: The administration. Religion during the Saudeleur dynasty featured megalithic temples and funerary sites, food offerings, and oracular divinations. The central cult of the Saudeleur Dynasty was at Nan Madol , where offerings were made to the Thunder God Nahn Sapwe , or Daukatau, from whom the Saudeleur derived legitimacy. Nahn Sapwe was venerated natively by Pohnpeians. From Nan Madol, the cult of Nahn Sapwe spread to

663-465: The affair as a pretext to suppress the worship of Nahn Sapwe. Some versions include that the ruler had also incensed other gods of the Pohnpeian pantheon and divested the high priest of Saum who prophesied the Saudeleur downfall. These offenses, as well as the oppressive land ownership and tribute system, drew the ire of gods, humans, and animals alike. Nahn Sapwe, offended by the Saudeleur lord, left Pohnpei for Kosrae (Katau). Having fled, he impregnated

702-402: The canoe with this sennit . Lahpo that-guy me FOC pahn will inauriki lash kisin pwehlet sennit-this wahro. canoe-that Lahpo me pahn inauriki {kisin pwehlet} wahro. that-guy FOC will lash sennit-this canoe-that That guy will lash the canoe with this sennit. Wahro Madolenihmw Madolenihmw is one of the administrative divisions of

741-505: The chief of Ant Atoll . In their culture, breadfruit kernels were the meal of warriors about to battle, and the offering constituted an invitation to do battle with the Saudeleur. While on Ant, Isokelekel entered a romantic relationship with a native woman, demonstrating his intention to cultivate close ties with Pohnpeians and oppose only the Saudeleur. According to many versions, war broke out at Nan Madol after playing between local children and those from Isokelekel 's canoe escalated into

780-503: The customary First Fruits practice on Pohnpei. Pohnpei was divided into three wei , or states, during the reign of the Saudeleur Mwohnmwei. Kohpwahleng ( Madolenihmw ) was the eastern division, subdivided into seven areas: Wenik Peidi, Wenik Peidak, Enimwahn, Lehdau, Senipehn, Lepinsed, and Deleur. In the west, Malenkopwale ( Kitti ) comprised four areas: Onohnleng, Kepihleng, Lehnpwel, and Ant Atoll . Pwahpwahlik ( Sokehs ) in

819-485: The demands of the Saudeleur left the populace starving and living as slaves, as they had to pay in labor and offer most materials first to the ruler. Public dissatisfaction led to at least two assassinations, but another Saudeleur simply rose in place of the last. Some common methods of recourse against oppression were defiance of orders and theft of property offered to the Saudeleur. A few Saudeleur were benign rulers: Inenen Mwehi established an aristocracy , and Raipwenlang

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858-486: The form of a turtle. The priestly class, headed by the Soukiseleng high priest, was powerful and influential in Pohnpeian society. The annual kampa ritual affirmed Pohnpeians' dedication to the gods and spirits of the land. The sakau ceremony was an elaborate affirmation of Saudeleur dominance, with much ritual surrounding the preparation and presentation of gifts to rulers. Food offerings reserved especially for

897-529: The glide [w] may be written between ⟨u⟩ and a non- high vowel : suwed ("bad"). Words beginning in nasal consonant clusters may be pronounced as written, or with a leading prothetic vowel . The roundedness of the prothetic vowel depends on that of the adjacent consonant cluster and the first written syllable. For example: Pohnpeian orthography renders the consonant clusters [mʷpʷ] and [mʷmʷ] as mpw and mmw , respectively. Further phonological constraints frequently impact

936-652: The indigenous language of the island of Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands . Pohnpeian has approximately 30,000 (estimated) native speakers living in Pohnpei and its outlying atolls and islands with another 10,000-15,000 (estimated) living off island in parts of the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam. It is the second-most widely spoken native language of the Federated States of Micronesia the first being Chuukese . Pohnpeian features

975-409: The land. The commoners were required to present the ruler with frequent tributes of fruit and fish. Tribute consisted mostly of breadfruit during rak , the season of plenty, while it shifted to yams, taro, and fermented breadfruit during isol , the season of scarcity. Seafood was also presented to the Saudeleur at designated times. The tribute system was initially seasonal; however, over time,

1014-516: The main island was created by a party of 17 men and women from a distant land to the south who piled rocks on the surrounding coral reef . The island was inhabited by natives who mixed with the newcomers. Their numbers grew, but their society was in a state of perpetual anarchy . The Saudeleur dynasty began with the arrival of twin sorcerers Olisihpa and Olosohpa from the mythical Western Katau, or Kanamwayso. Olisihpa and Olosohpa were said to be much taller than native Pohnpeians. The brothers arrived in

1053-499: The north was made of Palikir, Sokehs, Tipwen Dongalap, Kahmar, Nan Mair, and Pakin Island . The centralized system incorporated preexisting lower level divisions, and adopted the native chiefly structure. Later, U and Nett became states in the north, making up the present-day five municipalities of Pohnpei. Sokehs was a prestigious region under Saudeleur reign, and Onohnleng remained largely autonomous. Areas of Kitti and Kepihleng in

1092-590: The order of operations, reduplication of the word sel ("tired") progresses thus: * selsel > *sessel (liquid assimilation) > sensel (nasal substitution). In this case, the same result is achieved by nasal substitution alone. Pohnpeian word order is nominally SVO . Depending on the grammatical function, the head may come before or after its dependents. Like many Austronesian languages , Pohnpeian focus marking interacts with transitivity and relative clauses (see Austronesian alignment ). Its range of grammatically acceptable sentence structures

1131-442: The orthography, Pohnpeian spelling uses -h to mark a long vowel, rather like German: dohl 'mountain'. The IPA equivalents of written Pohnpeian are as follows: Pohnpeian phonotactics generally allow syllables consisting of consonants (C) and vowels (V) accordingly: V, VC, CV, CVC. This basic system is complicated by Pohnpeian orthographical conventions and phonological processes . Orthographically, ⟨i⟩

1170-435: The other districts of Pohnpei. Other native cults included those surrounding freshwater eels and the deity Ilake . The Saudeleur made an unsuccessful attempt to introduce worship of their own deity, Nahnisohn Sapw , to whom Pohnpeians offered only token homage. The Saudeleur rulers made the ravenous moray eel Nahn Samwohl an intermediary to Nahnisohn Sapw, who indicated the foreign god was contented by devouring tribute in

1209-407: The prefix nan- ("in") produces: Partial assimilation also occurs across word boundaries: kilin pwihk is pronounced [kilimʷ pʷiːk] . The allophone of /n/ is written "n" in these cases. In complete nasal assimilation, /n/ assimilates into adjacent liquid consonants to produce /ll/ or /rr/ : lin + linenek > lillinenek ("oversexed," spelling change from reduplication); nanrek

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1248-563: The pronunciation and spelling of consonant clusters, triggered variously by reduplication and assimilation into neighboring sounds. Sound changes, especially in reduplication, are often reflected by a change in spelling. However, processes triggered by affixes as well as adjacent words are not indicated in spelling. In order to inflect, derive, and pronounce Pohnpeian words properly, the order of operations must generally begin with liquid assimilation, followed by nasal assimilation, and end with nasal substitution. First, liquid assimilation

1287-431: The rules of the Saudeleur were enforced by mythical dogs called Ounmatakai ("watchmen of the land"). At Nan Madol, remnants of turtle and dog status foods have been found. The Saudeleur polity was conquered by Isokelekel , who invaded Pohnpei from Kosrae , or the mythical East Katau. There is great variation among sources for the exact events before and during the invasion on Pohnpei; at least 13 differing accounts of

1326-417: The ruling family. In other versions, Isokelekel's warriors are aided by hidden weapons that suddenly appeared. The tide of war reversed several times, but ended against the Saudeleur, who retreated with his army into the main island of Pohnpei. Legend recounts that the battle ended as Saudeleur lord Saudemwohl retreated ever uphill to a stream, where he transformed into a fish and remains today. Isokelekel took

1365-469: The title of Nahnmwarki and assumed the seat of power in Nan Madol as had the Saudeleur Dynasty before him. The Saudeleur tribute system was reduced, but persisted as a matter of custom in later eras. The modern tradition of tribute and feasting at funerals and celebrations is derived from Saudeleur era tributary practices. Pohnpeian language Pohnpeian is a Micronesian language spoken as

1404-464: The war are published. In most versions of the legend, the Saudeleur rule had become oppressive under its abusive centralized social system, and its lords had offended the Thunder God Nahn Sapwe, sealing the fate of the dynasty. The Thunder God Nahn Sapwe had committed adultery with the wife of the Saudeleur lord. In anger, the Saudeleur lord set out to capture Nahn Sapwe. The ruler also used

1443-491: The west had a reputation for defying the authority of the eastern Saudeleur. At the capital Nan Madol , the Saudeleur rulers developed a stratified title system denoting particular occupations, including chief adviser, food preparer, entrance guards, and dwelling guards. According to legend, the rulers of the Saudeleur Dynasty were never concerned with military affairs, and the era is generally characterized as peaceful, though native Pohnpeians suffered and grew dissatisfied with

1482-455: Was a skilled magician. Others, however, were renowned for their cruelty. Sakon Mwehi taxed Pohnpeians ruthlessly, and according to legend, the Saudeleur known as Raipwenlake, purportedly used magic to locate the fattest Pohnpeians and eat them . Another, Ketiparelong, is remembered for his gluttonous wife who was fed her own father's liver by suffering commoners at a banquet; she committed suicide, followed by Ketiparelong. Saraiden Sapw established

1521-449: Was an ancient name for Pohnpei, today a state containing the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia . Pohnpeian legend recounts that the Saudeleur rulers were of foreign origin, and that their appearance was quite different from native Pohnpeians . The Saudeleur centralized form of absolute rule is characterized in Pohnpeian legend as becoming increasingly oppressive over several generations. Arbitrary and onerous demands, as well as

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