Change of the Tongan Honorific Lexicon

In Consequences of Contact, Chapter 9, Susan Philips talks about how the use of honorifics in Tongan language has changed over the past 200 years due to Western contact with Tonga. According to Philips, Tongans have changed the use of honorifics from sacred to secular. In other words, Tongans used to use honorifics in practicing their religion and now use it towards non-religious practices. She argues that “the move from sacred to secular is a result of collaboration between British Protestant missionaries and traditional and governmental Tongan leaders, who have mapped a British concept of constitutional monarchy onto the concept of a traditional Tongan polity to give the Tongan government the authority of both” (p.189). Basically, the British Protestant missionaries and Tongan leaders worked together to decide the mixture of Tongan tradition and British monarchy.

For example, Tongans use the word “nofo”, which means stay, towards chiefs and other people who have high positions in parliament. The word stay can be brought up more towards a kingly level. The word “afio” is used in that context for royal family members and God. As you can see, the two words are used in different ways but come from British and traditional Tongan ideas.

The chapter also talks about variation of honorifics across different languages. In Korea for example, honorifics have changed from being used depending on who you are and the person you’re addressing to how close (relationship) you are to that person. These honorifics have changed because of Western contact after World War II, where Koreans opened its doors to America, and Japan’s annexation of Korea.

Tongan Ethnologue: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ton

More info on Korean honorifics: http://en.allexperts.com/e/k/ko/korean_honorifics.htm