The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family.
There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austronesian family. While half of them are spoken in geographical Polynesia (the Polynesian triangle), the other half – known as Polynesian outliers – are spoken in other parts of the Pacific: from Micronesia to atolls scattered in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands or Vanuatu. The most prominent Polynesian languages, by number of speakers, are Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, Māori and Hawaiian.
The ancestors of modern Polynesians were Lapita navigators, who settled in the Tonga and Samoa areas about 3,000 years ago. Linguists and archaeologists estimate that this first population went through common development during about 1000 years, giving rise to Proto-Polynesian, the linguistic ancestor of all modern Polynesian languages. After that period of shared development, the Proto-Polynesian society split into several descendant populations, as Polynesian navigators scattered around various archipelagoes across the Pacific – some travelling westwards to already populated areas, others navigating eastwards and settling in new territories (Society Islands, Marquesas, Hawaii, New Zealand, Rapa Nui, etc.).
Still today, Polynesian languages show strong similarity, particularly cognate words in their vocabulary; this includes culturally important words such as tapu, ariki, motu, fenua, kava, and tapa as well as *sawaiki, the mythical homeland for some of the cultures.
Internal classification
Phylogenetic classification
Polynesian languages fall into two branches, Tongic and Nuclear Polynesian. Tongan and Niuean constitute the Tongic branch; all the rest are part of the Nuclear Polynesian branch.
Nuclear Polynesian
Ellicean
Ellicean–Outlier
Tuvaluan
Nukuoro (Nukuoro in the Federated States of Micronesia) Kapingamarangi (on Kapingamarangi in Federated States of Micronesia) Nukuria (Nuguria in eastern Papua New Guinea) Takuu (Takuu Atoll in eastern Papua New Guinea) Nukumanu (Nukumanu in the east of Papua New Guinea) Ontong Java (or Luangiua; Ontong Java, Solomon Islands) Sikaiana (Sikaiana, Solomon Islands) Pileni (Reef Islands, Solomon Islands) Samoic Samoan Tokelauan Eastern Polynesian Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Central–Eastern Polynesian Marquesic Marquesan–Mangareva Marquesan (Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia) Mangareva (Gambier Islands, French Polynesia) Hawaiian (Hawaii) Tahitic Tahitian (Society Islands, French Polynesia) Austral (Austral Islands, French Polynesia) Rapa (Rapa Iti, French Polynesia) Tuamotuan (Tuamotu Archipelago, French Polynesia) Rarotongan (Cook Islands Māori, Cook Islands) Rakahanga-Manihiki (Rakahanga and Manihiki, Northern Cook Islands) Penrhyn (or Tongarevan; Tongareva, Northern Cook Islands) Māori (New Zealand) Moriori (Chatham Islands, New Zealand) † Futunic (?): Wallisian or East Uvean (fakaʻuvea) (Wallis Island, Wallis and Futuna) Fakafutuna or (East) Futunan (Futuna Island, Wallis and Futuna) West Uvean or Faga Uvea (Ouvéa off New Caledonia) Pukapukan (Pukapuka, northern Cook Islands) Anuta (Anuta Island, Solomon Islands) Rennellese (Rennell and Bellona island, Solomon Islands) Tikopia (Tikopia Island, Solomon Islands) Vaeakau-Taumako (?) (Reef Islands and Taumako island, Solomon Islands) Futuna-Aniwa or West Futunan (Futuna and Aniwa in Vanuatu) Mele-Fila (Mele Island, Vanuatu) Emae (Emae Island, Vanuatu) Tongic Tongan Niuafoʻou (on Niuafoʻou Island, Tonga) Niuean
History of classification
The contemporary classification of the Polynesian languages began with certain observations by Andrew Pawley in 1966 based on shared innovations in phonology, vocabulary and grammar showing that the East Polynesian languages were more closely related to Samoan than they were to Tongan, calling Tongan and its nearby relative Niuean "Tongic" and Samoan and all other Polynesian languages of the study "Nuclear Polynesian".
Previously, there had been lexicostatistical studies that squarely suggested a "West Polynesian" group composed of at least Tongan and Samoan and that an "East Polynesian" group was equally distant from both Tongan and Samoan. Lexicostatistics is a controversial . Since Pawley's 1966 publication, inferring the ancient relationships of the Polynesian languages and the proofs of shared innovations.