Proto-Polynesian language

Common ancestor of the Polynesian languages

Proto-Polynesian

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

Reconstructed
ancestors

Proto-Austronesian

* Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
* Proto-Oceanic
* Proto-Central Pacific

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]

## Phonology

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Proto-Polynesian has a small phonological inventory, with 13 consonants and 5 vowels.[2]

### Consonants

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| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal

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Plosive | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ
Nasal | *m | *n | *ŋ |
Fricative | *f | *s |  | *h
Trill |  | *r |  |
Lateral |  | *l |  |
Glide | *w |  |  |

### Vowels

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Proto-Polynesian had five 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

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Proto-Polynesian  | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ | *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
| Samoan | 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
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 | v/w | h/w | l

## Vocabulary

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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 | Samoan | Rapa Nui | Tahitian | Māori | Cook Islands Māori | S. Marquesan | Hawaiian | English

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*taŋata | tangata  | tangata  | tagata  | tangata  | ta'ata  | tangata  | tangata  | ʻenata  | kanaka  | person
*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 | fefine  | fifine  | fafine  | vi'e/vahine  | vahine  | wahine  | vaʻine  | vehine  | wahine  | woman
*matuʔa | 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

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

## Notes

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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.
2. ^ Marck, Jeff (2000). Topics in Polynesian languages and culture history (PDF). Pacific Linguistics 504. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
3. ^ Rolle, Nicholas (2009). "The Phonetic Nature of Niuean Vowel Length". Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics (TWPL). 31. ISSN 1718-3510.
4. ^ Hockett, C.F. (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 pronoun ʻōrua, roughly translated you two.

## External links

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Look up Category:Proto-Polynesian language in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

* v
* t
* e

Central Pacific languages

| West|

* Rotuman
* Namosi-Naitasiri-Serua
* Western Fijian

|

East|

* Fijian
* Gone Dau
* Lauan
* Lomaiviti

Polynesian|

| Nuclear
Polynesian|

* Tuvaluan
* Sikaiana
* Ontong Java
* Nukumanu
* Takuu
* Nuguria
* Kapingamarangi
* Nukuoro
* Pukapukan

Samoic|

* Samoan
* Tokelauan
* Niuatoputapu †

Eastern|

* Hawaiian
* Marquesan
* Mangarevan
* Tahitian
* Austral
* Rapa
* Tuamotuan
* Cook Islands Māori
* Rakahanga-Manihiki
* Tongareva
* Māori
* Moriori †
* Rapa Nui

Futunic|

* Wallisian (East Uvean)
* West Uvean
* Futunan (East Futunan)
* Futuna-Aniwa (West Futunan)
* Pukapukan
* Anuta
* Rennellese
* Tikopia
* Mele-Fila
* Emae

Tongic|

* Tongan
* Niuean
* Niuafo'ou ?

* * indicates proposed status
* ? indicates classification dispute
* † indicates extinct status

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