Proto-Polynesian language explained

Proto-Polynesian
Also Known As:	PPn
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Region:	Tonga, Samoa, and nearby islands
Ancestor:	Proto-Austronesian
Ancestor2:	Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
Ancestor3:	Proto-Oceanic
Ancestor4:	Proto-Central Pacific
Target:	Polynesian languages

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

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

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	pronounced as / p /	pronounced as / t /	pronounced as / k /	pronounced as / ʔ /
Nasal	pronounced as / m /	pronounced as / n /	pronounced as / ŋ /
Fricative	pronounced as / f /	pronounced as / s /		pronounced as / h /
Trill		pronounced as / r /
Lateral		pronounced as / l /
Glide	pronounced as / w /

Vowels

Proto-Polynesian had five vowels, pronounced as //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			width=30	pronounced as / p / !	width=30	pronounced as / t / !	width=30	pronounced as / k / !	width=30	pronounced as / ʔ /	width=30	pronounced as / m / !	width=30	pronounced as / n / !	width=30	pronounced as / ŋ /	width=30	pronounced as / w /	width=30	pronounced as / f / !	width=30	pronounced as / s / !	width=30	pronounced as / h /	width=30	pronounced as / l / !	width=30	pronounced as / r /
Tongan			pronounced as /p/	pronounced as /t/	pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /ʔ/	pronounced as /m/	pronounced as /n/	pronounced as /ŋ/	pronounced as /v/	pronounced as /f/	pronounced as /h/	pronounced as /l/	pronounced as /l/Ø/
Niuean						pronounced as /Ø/
Niuafoʻou						pronounced as /ʔ/Ø/						pronounced as /h/			pronounced as /h/Ø/
Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian			pronounced as / p /	pronounced as / t /	pronounced as / k /	pronounced as / ʔ /	pronounced as / m /	pronounced as / n /	pronounced as / ŋ /	pronounced as / w /	pronounced as / f /	pronounced as / s /	pronounced as / Ø /	pronounced as / l /
	Samoan		pronounced as /p/	pronounced as /t/~pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /ʔ/	pronounced as /Ø/	pronounced as /m/	pronounced as /n/	pronounced as /ŋ/	pronounced as /v/	pronounced as /f/	pronounced as /s/	pronounced as /Ø/	pronounced as /l/
East Futunan		pronounced as /t/		pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /ʔ/Ø/
Tikopian					pronounced as /Ø/	pronounced as /ɾ/
Nukuoroan					pronounced as /Ø/	pronounced as /h/					pronounced as /l/
Proto-Eastern-Polynesian		pronounced as / p /	pronounced as / t /	pronounced as / k /	pronounced as / ʔ/Ø /	pronounced as / m /		pronounced as / n /	pronounced as / ŋ /	pronounced as / w /	pronounced as / f /		pronounced as / h /	pronounced as / Ø /	pronounced as / l /
	Rapa Nui	pronounced as /p/	pronounced as /t/	pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /ʔ/Ø/	pronounced as /m/	pronounced as /n/	pronounced as /ŋ/	pronounced as /v/	pronounced as /v/h/	pronounced as /h/	pronounced as /Ø/	pronounced as /ɾ/
MVA, Cook Islands Māori	pronounced as /Ø/				pronounced as /ʔ/v/					pronounced as /ʔ/
Tuamotuan					pronounced as /f/h/v/					pronounced as /h/
Māori					pronounced as /w/				pronounced as /ɸ/h/
Tahitian				pronounced as /ʔ/	pronounced as /ʔ/			pronounced as /v/	pronounced as /f/v/h/
N. Marquesan				pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /k/				pronounced as /h/		pronounced as /ʔ/
S. Marquesan				pronounced as /ʔ/	pronounced as /n/		pronounced as /f/h/
Hawaiian			pronounced as /k/	pronounced as /ʔ/	pronounced as /v/w/		pronounced as /h/w/	pronounced as /l/

Vocabulary

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

Polynesian vocabulary
Proto-Polynesian	Tongan	Niuean	Samoan	Rapa Nui	Tahitian	Māori	Cook Islands Māori	S. Marquesan	Hawaiian	English
pronounced as / taŋata /	tangata	tangata	tagata	tangata	ta'ata	tangata	tangata	ʻenata	kanaka	person
pronounced as / sina /	hina	hina	sina	hina	hinahina	hina	ʻina		hina	grey-haired
pronounced as / kanahe /	kanahe	kanahe	ʻanae		'anae	kanae	kanae		ʻanae	mullet
pronounced as / tiale /	siale	tiale	tiale	tiare	tiare	tīare	tiare		kiele	flower
pronounced as / waka /	vaka	vaka	vaʻa	vaka	va'a	waka	vaka	vaka	waʻa	canoe
pronounced as / fafine /	fefine	fifine	fafine	vi'e/vahine	vahine	wahine	vaʻine	vehine	wahine	woman
pronounced as / matuʔa /	mātu'a	motua	matua	matuʻa	metua	matua	metua, matua	motua	makua	parent
pronounced as / rua /	ua	ua	lua	rua	rua^[4]	rua	rua	ʻua	lua	two
pronounced as / tolu /	tolu	tolu	tolu	toru	toru	toru	toru	toʻu	kolu	three

Notes and References

Book: Kirch, Patrick Vinton. Hawaiki, Ancestral Polynesia: An Essay in Historical Anthropology. limited. 2001. Cambridge University Press. 978-0-521-78309-5. 99–119. Roger Green .
Book: Marck, Jeff . 2000 . Topics in Polynesian languages and culture history . Pacific Linguistics 504 . Canberra . Pacific Linguistics .
Rolle. Nicholas. The Phonetic Nature of Niuean Vowel Length. Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics (TWPL). 2009. 31. 1718-3510.
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.