Proto-Polynesian

PPn
Reconstruction of| Polynesian languages
Region| Tonga, Samoa, and nearby islands

Reconstructed
ancestors

Proto-Austronesian

* Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
* Proto-Oceanic

Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. It is a daughter language of the Proto-Austronesian language. Historical linguists have reconstructed the language using the comparative method, in much the same manner as with Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Uralic. This same method has also been used to support the archaeological and ethnographic evidence which indicates that the ancestral homeland of the people who spoke Proto-Polynesian was in the vicinity of Tonga, Samoa, and nearby islands.[1]

## Contents

* 1 Phonology
* 1.1 Consonants
* 1.2 Vowels
* 1.3 Sound correspondences
* 2 Vocabulary
* 3 See also
* 4 Notes
* 5 External links

## Phonology

The phonology of Proto-Polynesian is very simple, with 13 consonants and 5 vowels.[2] Note that *q in Proto-Polynesian most probably was a glottal stop [ʔ].

### Consonants

| Bilabial  | Alveolar  | Velar  | Glottal

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Voiceless stop  | *p | *t | *k | *q
Nasal  | *m | *n | *ŋ |
Fricative  | *f | *s |  | *h
Trill  |  | *r |  |
Lateral  |  | *l |  |
Glide  | *w |  |  |

### Vowels

Proto-Polynesian had five simple vowels, /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/, with no length distinction. In a number of daughter languages, successive sequences of vowels came together to produce long vowels and diphthongs, and in some languages these sounds later became phonemic.[3]

### Sound correspondences

Proto-Polynesian  | *p | *t | *k | *q | *m | *n | *ŋ | *w | *f | *s | *h | *l | *r

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Tongan | p | t | k | ʔ | m | n | ŋ | v | f | h | l | l/Ø
Niuean | Ø
Niuafoʻou??  | ʔ/Ø | h | h/Ø
Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian  | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ | *m | *n | *ŋ | *w | *f | *s | *Ø | *l
| Sāmoan | p | t~k | ʔ | Ø | m | n | ŋ | v | f | s | Ø | l
East Futunan  | t | k | ʔ/Ø
Tikopian  | Ø | ɾ
Nukuoroan  | h | l
Proto-Eastern-Polynesian  | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ/Ø | *m | *n | *ŋ | *w | *f | *h | *Ø | *l
| Rapa Nui | p | t | k | ʔ/Ø | m | n | ŋ | v | v/h | h | Ø | ɾ
MVA, Cook Islands Māori  | Ø | ʔ/v | ʔ
Tuamotuan  | f/h/v | h
Te Reo Māori  | w | ɸ/h
Tahitian | ʔ | ʔ | v | f/v/h
N. Marquesan  | k | k | h | ʔ
S. Marquesan  | ʔ | n | f/h
Hawaiian | k | w | h/w | l

## Vocabulary

The following is a table of some sample vocabulary as it is represented orthographically in various languages.[4] All instances of ⟨ʻ⟩ represent a glottal stop, IPA /ʔ/. All instances of ⟨ng⟩ and Samoan ⟨g⟩ represent the single phoneme /ŋ/. The letter ⟨r⟩ in all cases represents voiced alveolar tap /ɾ/, not /r/.

Polynesian vocabulary  Proto-Polynesian  | Tongan | Niuean | Sāmoan | Rapa Nui | Tahitian | Te Reo Māori  | Cook Islands Māori  | S. Marquesan  | Hawaiian | English

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*taŋata | tangata  | tangata  | tagata  | tangata  | ta'ata  | tangata  | tangata  | ʻenata  | kanaka  | man
*sina | hina  | hina  | sina  | hina  | hinahina  | hina  | ʻina  |  | hina  | grey-haired
*kanahe | kanahe  | kanahe  | ʻanae  |  | 'anae  | kanae  | kanae  |  | ʻanae  | mullet
*tiale | siale  | tiale  | tiale  | tiare  | tiare  | tīare  | tiare  |  | kiele  | flower
*waka | vaka  | vaka  | vaʻa  | vaka  | va'a  | waka  | vaka  | vaka  | waʻa  | canoe
*fafine | fafine  | fifine  | fafine  | vi'e/vahine  | vahine  | wahine  | vaʻine  | vehine  | wahine  | woman
*matuqa | mātu'a  | motua  | matua  | matuʻa  | metua  | matua  | metua, matua  | motua  | makua  | parent
*rua | ua  | ua  | lua  | rua  | rua[5] | rua  | rua  | ʻua  | lua  | two
*tolu | tolu  | tolu  | tolu  | toru  | toru  | toru  | toru  | toʻu  | kolu  | three

## See also

* Proto-Oceanic language
* Proto-Austronesian language
* Proto-Malayo-Polynesian language
* Proto-Philippine language

## Notes

1. ↑ Kirch, Patrick Vinton; Roger Green (2001). Hawaiki, Ancestral Polynesia: An Essay in Historical Anthropology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 99–119. ISBN 978-0-521-78309-5. https://archive.org/details/hawaikiancestral00kirc.
2. ↑ Marck, Jeff (2000). Topics in Polynesian languages and culture history. Pacific Linguistics 504. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/144462/2/b20278883_Marck_J.pdf.
3. ↑ Rolle, Nicholas (2009). "The Phonetic Nature of Niuean Vowel Length". Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics (TWPL): 31.
4. ↑ Hockett, C.K. (May 1976), "The Reconstruction of Proto Central Pacific", Anthropological Linguistics 18 (5): 187–235
5. ↑ Archaic: the modern Tahitian word for two is piti, due to the practice of pi'i among Tahitians, a form of linguistic taboo. However, the cognate remains in the second-person dual pronounʻōrua, roughly translated you two.

## External links

* v
* t
* e

Central Pacific languages

Polynesian|

| East|

| Marquesic|

* Hawaiian
* Mangerevan
* Marquesan

|

Tahitic|

* Austral
* Māori
* Moriori
* Penrhyn
* Rakahanga-Manihiki
* Rarotongan
* Tahitian
* Tuamotuan

Other|

* Rapa
* Rapa Nui

West|

| Samoic|

* Niuatoputapu
* Pukapuka
* Samoan
* Tokelauan

|

Ellicean|

* Kapingamarangi
* Nukumanu
* Nukuoro
* Nukuria
* Ontong Java
* Sikaiana
* Takuu
* Tuvaluan
* Vaeakau-Taumako

Futunic|

* Anuta
* Emae
* Futunan
* Futuna-Aniwan
* Mele-Fila
* Pukapukan
* Rennellese
* Tikopia
* Wallisian
* West Uvean

Tongic|

* Niuafoʻou
* Niuean
* Tongan

Fijian|

| East|

* iTaukei
* Gone Dau
* Lauan
* Lomaiviti

|

West|

* Namosi-Naitasiri-Serua
* Rotuman
* Wayan

Other|

* Maritime Polynesian Pidgin
* Pidgin Hawaiian

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