Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Kusaie, Kosrae
CLASSIFICATION		Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Micronesian
ORTHOGRAPHY		Latin
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		kos
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Lelu-Tafunsak Malen-Utwe
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

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Information from: “The Acquisition of Kosraean and English: A Diglossic Community at a Crossroads” (200) . Sou, Jennifer (2022)

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available
7,790
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Native Language of roughly 6,620 people (FSM Census 2010) of the small island state of Kosrae, and an additional 1,170 speakers are counted as part of the diaspora community (Eberhard et al. 2021)

DATE OF INFO: 2010

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Domains of use categorized as "Safe-Vulnerable", and a 0.5 on the LEI scale (p. 116)

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Positive attitudes for both Kosraean and English, bilingualism seen as an additive (p. 46)

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

English

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS

"Currently in Kosrae, what is unofficially prescribed as the language of instruction for kindergarten to second grade is 100% Kosraean, then from grades three to eight it switches to 10% Kosraean and 90% English, and at grade nine they switch to a completely English instructed curriculum" (p. 13)

Scripts (Writing system)

Latin

More on Orthography

High rate of literacy in Kosraean (90.7%) and English (90.1%) as of 2010 census (p. 1)

PLACES: Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
8,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
6,900
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
8,570
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
8,000 in Micronesia (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001). Population total all countries: 8,570.

PLACES: Nauru; Micronesia;

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	6,900		1000-9999						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						5.322,162.9904
	2022	The Acquisition of Kosraean and English: A Diglossic Community at a Crossroads	200		Online			University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa	https://hdl.handle.net/10125/104625	Sou, Jennifer			7,790	2010	1000-9999	Native Language of roughly 6,620 people (FSM Census 2010) of the small island state of Kosrae, and an additional 1,170 speakers are counted as part of the diaspora community (Eberhard et al. 2021)	State government, education	English	Positive attitudes for both Kosraean and English, bilingualism seen as an additive (p. 46)	"Currently in Kosrae, what is unofficially prescribed as the language of instruction for kindergarten to second grade is 100% Kosraean, then from grades three to eight it switches to 10% Kosraean and 90% English, and at grade nine they switch to a completely English instructed curriculum" (p. 13)	Vulnerable (100 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	10	Domains of use categorized as "Safe-Vulnerable", and a 0.5 on the LEI scale (p. 116)	11	10	Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia
		World Oral Literature Project								http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.		8,000		1000-9999						Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
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	8,570		1000-9999	8,000 in Micronesia (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001). Population total all countries: 8,570.					Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Nauru; Micronesia;

Kosraean

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

7,790

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

8,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

6,900

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

8,570

Discussion

Kosraean

Language metadata

Language information by source

Vulnerable

100 percent certain, based on the evidence available

7,790

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

8,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

6,900

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

8,570

Discussion

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Sources of information

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