| Vaeakau-Taumako | |
|---|---|
| Pileni | |
| Spoken in | Reef Islands and Taumako, Solomon Islands |
| Native speakers | 1,140 (1999) |
| Language family |
Austronesian
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | piv |
Vaeakau-Taumako (formerly known as Pileni) is a Polynesian language spoken in some of the Reef Islands as well as in the Taumako Islands (also known as the Duff Islands) in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands.
The language is spoken throughout the Taumako Islands, while in the Reef Islands, it is spoken on Aua, Matema, Nifiloli, Nupani, Nukapu, and Pileni. Speakers are thought to be descendants of people from Tuvalu.
The language has traditionally been considered one of the Futunic group of Polynesian languages, but a 2008 study exclusively based on lexical evidence concluded that this membership is weakly supported.[1]