Lmaoo, i was thinking about this post. Just thinking about being the social media manager for Kiribati, waiting for your chance to show the world what you got.
Supposedly the name is the indigenous populations attempt to write down "christmas" which the british named the islands for strange anglo reasons.
Kiribati comes from "Gilberts". The atoll depicted in the tweet is Kiritimati, from "Christmas", which is just one of the many atolls in Kiribati. Please be aware that "ti" is pronounced like "s".
Literally the exact same reason why we spell "nation" with "ti", except that with Gilbertese, "s" or "si" is just thought of as a regular alternate pronunciation of "ti" rather than as its own sound. The magic words here are "assibilation" and "allophony"
https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/kiribati/engagement-in-kiribati
wait do they farm our IPs...?
Of which London have population of 1800 and Paris zero after UK and US nuke tests. Sounds like a prophecy for the namesakes.
You can tell when someone has a right to speak authoritatively about Kiribati based on how they pronounce the country's name.
Also if you want a real downer of a historical dive, check out the history of Banaba and the Bananan people - it's a like a remix of all your favourite historical themes!
