1. Vowels

Ko e vauele faka-Tonga’ ‘oku fakakalakalasi ki ha seti ‘e ua. Ko e vauele ‘ikai fakau’a: Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu pea mo e seti vauele fakau’a ‘A‘a ‘E‘e ‘I‘i ‘O‘o ‘U‘u. ‘Oku mahu’inga ke fakatokanga’i foki heni ‘a e ngaahi vauele toloi’ pe vauele lōloa Āā Ēē Īī Ōō Ūū.  Fakatokanga’i foki mo e ngaahi vauele fakau’a pea toe toloi’ pe vauele lōloa ‘oku fakau’a’  ‘Ā’ā, ‘Ē’ē, ‘Ī’ī, ‘Ō’ō, ‘Ū,‘ū. ‘Oku ngāue’aki ‘e he Akoola’ ‘a e lea ko e vauele fakau’a’ ki he vauele angamaheni’ ke fakamamafa’i ‘emau feinga ke pu’aki totonu ‘a e vauele ‘ikai fakau’a’ ‘i he ‘alafapeti’. Kuo laui ta’u hono ako’i hala ‘o e ngaahi vauele ‘ikai fakau’a’ he ngaahi ako’ ke pu’aki ko e vauele ‘oku fakau’a lolotonga ia’ ‘oku ‘ikai ha faka’ilonga pe ongo fakau’a ia ‘ia kinautolu. ‘Oku kehekehe ‘a e vauele fakau’a’ mei he vauele angamaheni’ ‘o ‘ikai ngata pe ‘i hona sipela’ ka ko e ‘uhinga ‘o e lea ‘oku na ‘asi ai’. Fakatātā: ‘Oku ‘uhinga kehe ‘a e a’u mei he fo’i lea natula tatau kae ‘ikai fakau’a ko e au.

Kiliki heni ki he fakiikiiki: Lea faka’ilonga taimi, Veape, ‘Etiveape, Etisekitivi, ‘Ātikolo, Nauna   Peleposisini

There are two sets of five vowels in the Tongan language: Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo, Uu and there are the glottal-stopped vowels – ‘A‘a ‘E‘e ‘I‘i ‘O‘o ‘U‘u. However, for the purpose of the Akoola courses, there are two important sets of Tongan vowels to take note of at this stage. The long vowels  Āā, Ēē, Īī, Ōō, Ū,ū and the long glottal stopped vowels ‘Ā’ā, ‘Ē’ē, ‘Ī’ī, ‘Ō’ō, ‘Ū,‘ū. We used the phrase non glottal-stopped vowels as another term for the normal vowels. It is just to emphasise our endeavour to teach the pronunciation of the normal vowels in the alphabet as vowels without the glottal stop symbol in front of each of them. They have to be pronounced without any glottal stop sound, despite children being incorrectly taught in schools for years to spell these non-glottal-stopped vowels as glottal-stopped vowels.  The difference between the non-glottal-stopped vowels and glottal-stopped vowels is due largely to differences of meaning. Here are some examples: a’u with the glottal-stop symbol before the vowel u means reach. When the glottal-stop symbol is removed from a’u it would become au, without a glottal-stop, and it means me.  Click the links above for more exercises on this topic and some important information about the Akoola courses.