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]
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The phonology of Proto-Polynesian is very simple, with 13 consonants, 5 vowels, and no phonemes that are cross-linguistically unusual.
Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Voiceless stop | *p | *t | *k | *q |
Nasal | *m | *n | *ŋ | |
Fricative | *f | *s | *h | |
Trill | *r | |||
Lateral | *l | |||
Glide | *w |
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]
Proto-Polynesian | *p | *t | *k | *q (ʔ) | *f | *w | *s | *h | *m | *n | *ŋ | *l | *r |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tongan | p | t | k | ʔ | f | v | h | h | m | n | ŋ | l | Ø |
Niuean | Ø | ||||||||||||
? | ʔ/Ø | h/Ø | l/Ø | ||||||||||
Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian | ʔ | w | s | Ø | l | ||||||||
Sāmoan | ʔ | Ø | v | ||||||||||
East Futunan | k | ʔ/Ø | |||||||||||
Tikopian | Ø | ɾ | |||||||||||
Nukuoroan | Ø | h | l | ||||||||||
Rapa Nui | ʔ/Ø | v/h | h | ɾ | |||||||||
Proto-Eastern-Polynesian | Ø | f | w | h | l | ||||||||
MVA, Rarotongan | ?/v | v | ʔ | ɾ | |||||||||
Tuamotuan | f/h/v | v | h | ɾ | |||||||||
Māori | wh/h | w | ɾ | ||||||||||
Tahitian | ʔ | f/v/h | v | ʔ | ɾ | ||||||||
N. Marquesan | k | h | v | k | ʔ | ||||||||
S. Marquesan | ʔ | f/h | v | n | ʔ | ||||||||
Hawaiian | k | ʔ | h/w | w | n | l |
The following is a table of some sample vocabulary as it is represented orthographically in various languages.[3] All instances of <'> 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[N 1] | motuʻa | motua | matua | matuʻa | metua | matua | metua, matua | motua | makua | parent |
*rua | ua | ua | lua | rua | rua [N 2] | rua | rua | ʻua | lua | two |
*tolu | tolu | tolu | tolu | toru | toru | toru | toru | toʻu | kolu | three |