Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Easter Island, Pascuense, Rapanui, Öster-Insel Sprache
CLASSIFICATION		Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Polynesian
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		rap
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “Linguistic purism in Rapa Nui political discourse” (49-69) . Miki Makihara (2007) , Miki Makihara, Bambi Schieffelin · Oxford: Oxford University Press

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
~2,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Estimate is approximate. Although the ethnic population is around three thousand, Makihara observes that most children and teenagers are not fluent speakers of Rapa Nui. This is the result of the domination of Spanish on the Island.

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

A pure form or Rapa Nui, which does not use Spanish loans, is popular in local political discourse, but the Rapa nui spoken by most speakers has heavy Spanish influence.

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Speaker attitudes have become very positive in the past 20-30 years, with a growing interest in language maintenance.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Spanish

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,500
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,400-2,500
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
2,200 on Easter Island

MORE ON VITALITY

Members of the young generation are losing interest in the language.

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Spanish

More on Orthography

25-50%% literacy

PLACES: Easter Island, Chile

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
3,392
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
3,390
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
3,500
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
3,390 in Chile (2000). 2,200 on Easter Island; 200 to 300 on Chile mainland, Tahiti, and USA. Ethnic population: 3,500.

2,400 in Chile (Wurm 2007). Population total all countries: 2,700 (2013).

DATE OF INFO: 2000

PLACES: Chile; French Polynesia;

PLACES: Isla de Pascua

			1960	Diccionario y gramatica de la lengua de la Isla de Pascua: pascuense-castellano, castellano-pascuense				Editorial Andres Bello	Santiago, Chile		Fuentes, Jordi	Fuentes, Jordi. 1960. "Diccionario Y Gramatica De La Lengua De La Isla De Pascua: Pascuense-castellano, Castellano-pascuense." Editorial Andres Bello.	WALS													Isla de Pascua
0199255911			2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press	New York			2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.															-27.1166666667,-109.366666667
		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub	3,500	3,390	2000	1000-9999	3,390 in Chile (2000). 2,200 on Easter Island; 200 to 300 on Chile mainland, Tahiti, and USA. Ethnic population: 3,500. 2,400 in Chile (Wurm 2007). Population total all countries: 2,700 (2013).				Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				Chile; French Polynesia;
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub		2,500		1000-9999					Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					-27.108,-109.3579
			2007	Linguistic purism in Rapa Nui political discourse	Consequences of contact: language ideologies and sociocultural transformations in pacific societies	49-69	Miki Makihara, Bambi Schieffelin	Oxford: Oxford University Press			Miki Makihara				~2,000		1000-9999	Estimate is approximate. Although the ethnic population is around three thousand, Makihara observes that most children and teenagers are not fluent speakers of Rapa Nui. This is the result of the domination of Spanish on the Island.	Spanish	Speaker attitudes have become very positive in the past 20-30 years, with a growing interest in language maintenance.	The entire community speaks Spanish	Threatened (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	12	A pure form or Rapa Nui, which does not use Spanish loans, is popular in local political discourse, but the Rapa nui spoken by most speakers has heavy Spanish influence.	12
070071197X	3	1	2007	Australia and the Pacific	Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages	424-557		Routledge	Abingdon		Stephen A Wurm	Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australia and the Pacific. In Christopher Moseley, Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages, 1 edn., 424-557. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 070071197X	ll_pub		2,400-2,500		1000-9999	2,200 on Easter Island	Spanish		all	Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Members of the young generation are losing interest in the language.		Easter Island, Chile
				World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			3,392		1000-9999					Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)

Rapa Nui

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,400-2,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,392

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,390

Discussion

Rapa Nui

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

~2,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,400-2,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,392

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,390

Discussion

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