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Home , Polynesian languages

What indigenous languages are there in the Pacific?

1.Austronesian (over 600) 2.Papuan or non-Austronesian (700 or so). 3.Australian languages (200 or so – many have become extinct)

Austronesian – Includes Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Phillipines, Taiwan and the Pacific Island Groups of Melanesia, and ().

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Austronesia’s four branches:

1. Western (Non-Oceanic) (about 388 languages, including Malagasy (Madagascar), most of the languages of Indonesia and Malaysia, all Phillipines, the of Vietnam, Palauan (spoken in the western Carolines) and Chamorro (spoken in the Mariana Islands) in Western Micronesia. About 178 million speakers. 2. & 3. Also two smaller branches in Eastern Indonesia and the aboriginal languages of Taiwan. Place of Polynesia

4. Oceanic or Eastern Branch - Includes Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. 2.1 million speakers, 382 languages. Divided into 20+ local groups. Central Pacific Group consists of Polynesian, Fijian, Rotuman. Remaining groups include the languages of , , the Solomons, many languages of coastal New Guinea and its offshore islands, and most of Micronesia. Brief history of the

• Round about 6,000 years ago, the ancestors of the - a people we now call Austronesians - moved from South-East Asia, through Melanesia - , Solomons, Vanuatu (New Hebrides), to Fiji. • We don't know what these ancestors looked like at that time - probably like Asians with straight black hair, fair skin and oriental eyes. Western Polynesia

Once in Fiji, about 3,500 years ago, these people stepped off to the first Polynesian islands - , , , and surrounding islands like `Uvea, Futuna, , and . These are the islands collectively known as Western Polynesia. Proto-Polynesian

It is thought that the original Polynesian language was spoken in Tonga and Samoa about 3,500 years ago (1,500 B.C.). This language is what linguists call Proto- Polynesian (PPN). Proto-Tongic & Proto-Nuclear Polynesian

Then about 2,000 years ago (the year of the birth of Christ), PPN separated into Proto- Tongic (PTO) and Proto-Nuclear Polynesian (PNP). Proto-Samoic Outlier

Time went by and Proto Nuclear Polynesian began to split up into 2 different languages probably because a group of people left Samoa to settle in other island groups. Proto Nuclear Polynesian separated into Proto Samoic Outlier and Proto Eastern Polynesian. These two languages later separated into the various modern Polynesian languages. Division of Languages

So usually the division of a language is the result of a group of people moving to a different location and becoming isolated from the other group. Languages tend to change naturally over time. The creation of the various Polynesian languages was the result of groups of people leaving their original homes to settle in new homes. Western and Eastern Polynesia

It seems likely that between 2,000 and 3,500 years ago, Western Polynesia was settled. Then between 1,000 and 2,000 years ago, Eastern Polynesia was settled. In Eastern Polynesia, I think it is likely that the Cooks were settled first, then the Societies, then the and other places. Archaeologists think the Marquesas were settled first. correspondences

But how did these relationships between languages come to be known? Linguists establish these languages by studying their sound systems (pronunciation of words). Linguists notice that languages change regularly. A consonant changes not in just one word but in all words. Reconstructions of cognates

• Note the consonant t • *PPN mate `die', mata `eye', talo `', ta‘e `waste matter', ‘ate `liver' • HAW make, maka, kalo, kae, ake • Between the time of PPN and modern Haw, the t of PPN changed to k in Haw.

• Note the consonant k • *PPN ika `fish', kai `eat', koe `you', maka `stone', kafa `sennit' • Samoan i‘a, ‘ai, ‘oe, ma‘a, ‘afa • Between the time of PPN and modern Samoan, the k of PPN changed to ` in SAM.

• Note the consonant f • *PPN fale `house', faa `four', fai `to do, have intercourse', fonu `turtle' • CIM ‘are, ‘aa, ‘ai, ‘onu • Between the time of PPN and modern CIM, the f of PPN changed to ` in CIM • Note the consonant r • *PPN rua `two', `ura `crayfish', ` `chief', `ara `wake up', rongo `listen' • TON ua, ‘uo, ‘eiki, ‘aa, ongo • Between the time of PPN and modern TON, the r of PPN changed to zero in TON.

• Note the consonant ‘ () • *PPN ta‘e `waste matter', ‘ate `liver', ‘uha `rain' • CIM tuutae, ate, ua • TOK tae, ate, ua • HAW kae, ake, ua • TON ta‘e, ‘ate, ‘uha • All these languages except Tongan have changed ‘ to zero. Related languages

So what is the significance of these regular correspondences of ? They show that these languages are "related". They are descended from common ancestors. The ancestors of the speakers of the languages must once have lived in the same homelands. People had spread to other places taking the original languages with them but isolation and irregular communication caused the languages to grow apart and separate. Subgroups

• But don't think that we have regular correspondences for every word. Sometimes languages have lost a word and used a different word altogether. e.g. HAW has a different word for telinga or talinga in other languages - we would have expected *"kalina" but the word for ear in HAW is pepeiao. • We also use regular correspondences to work out how similar two languages can be and then work out a pattern for subgrouping. Languages which are more similar than others are thought to be in the same subgroup. THE END