Alternate Names: Tonga
Dialects: Reportedly similar to Niue ,. Slight dialect differences north to south. Lexical similarity: 86% with Wallisian ,, 66% with Samoan ,.
Status Notes: De facto national language, considered co-official with English.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 96,300 in Tonga (1998). Population total all countries: 169,120.
Language Use: Ethnic group predominantly monolingual in Tongan (1997 J. Siegel).
Language Development: Newspapers. New media. Radio programs. Dictionary. Bible: 1862–1966.
Typology: VSO.
Spoken In: Tonga
Writing System: Latin
Nation of Origin: Tonga