Proto-Polynesian language

Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the hypothetical proto-language from which all the modern Polynesian languages descend. 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

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

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
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.^[2]

Sound correspondences

Proto-Polynesian				*p	*t	*k	*q	*m	*n	*ŋ	*w	*f	*s	*h	*l	*r
	Tongan			p	t	k	ʔ	m	n	ŋ	v	f	h		l	Ø
	Niuean						Ø
	?						ʔ/Ø						h	h/Ø		l/Ø
	Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian			*p	*t	*k	*ʔ	*m	*n	*ŋ	*w	*f	*s	*Ø	*l
		Sāmoan		p	t	ʔ	Ø	m	n	ŋ	v	f	s	Ø	l
		East Futunan				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, Rarotongan				Ø					?/v	ʔ
			Tuamotuan									f/h/v	h
			Māori								w	wh/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.^[3] All instances of <ʻ> represent a glottal stop, IPA /ʔ/. All instances of 'ng' and Samoan 'g' represent the single phoneme /ŋ/. The letters 'r' in all cases represents voiced alveolar tap /ɾ/, not /r/.

	Polynesian vocabulary
Proto-Polynesian	Tongan	Niuean	Sāmoan	Rapa Nui	Tahitian	Māori	Rarotongan	S. Marquesan	Hawaiian	English
*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 [4]	rua	rua	ʻua	lua	two
*tolu	tolu	tolu	tolu	toru	toru	toru	toru	toʻu	kolu	three

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.
2. Rolle, Nicholas (2009). "The Phonetic Nature of Niuean Vowel Length". Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics (TWPL): 31.
3. Hockett, C.K. (May 1976), "The Reconstruction of Proto Central Pacific", Anthropological Linguistics 18 (5): 187–235
4. 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