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Concept
Ebeye Island
Summary
Ebeye (ˈiːbaɪ ; Marshallese: Epjā, or Ebeje in older orthography, yepjay; locally, Ibae, yibahyey, after the English pronunciation) is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as the center for Marshallese culture in the Ralik Chain of the archipelago. Settled on of land, it has a population of more than 15,000. Over 50% of the population is estimated to be under the age of 18.
When Christian missionaries first arrived in the Marshall Islands, they introduced Latin script writing and orthographized the Marshallese language. Originally, Ebeye was written Ebeje by Europeans (Epjā in modern orthography, pronounced yepjay), which (according to elders of the atoll) means "making something out of nothing." However, the colonial German administration mispronounced the J as if it were German language j, and foreign observers recorded the resulting pronunciation as Ebeye. During the Japanese period, though, the island's pronunciation in katakana, エビゼ ebjize, re-approximated Marshallese. After World War II, the Americans took possession of the regional mandate from Japan and mispronounced the island's name as ˈiːbaɪ from its spelling. Because most of the modern Marshallese residents of Ebeye don't have family roots on the island, the American pronunciation has stuck, and is the usual name for Ebeye among the island's current population. This pronunciation has even been adapted to Marshallese orthography, so that there are now two synonymous Marshallese names for the island - officially and historically Epjā, and locally Ibae.
The Imperial Japanese Navy constructed a seaplane base on Ebeye in the early 1940s. Following the Battle of Kwajalein from 31 January to 3 February 1944, Ebeye was occupied by US forces. On 7 March the 107th Naval Construction Battalion was sent to Ebeye to redevelop the seaplane base. The Seabees repaired the existing pier, adding a ell extension, and also repaired a Japanese H-shaped pier. The Seabees assembled a pontoon wharf and pontoon barges for transporting damaged carrier aircraft to repair units ashore.
Official source
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