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Proto-Polynesian language

Ancestor of the Polynesian languages From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Proto-Polynesian (abbreviated PPn) is the reconstructed proto-language from which all modern Polynesian languages descend. It is a descendant of the Proto-Oceanic language (the language associated with the Lapita civilization), itself a descendant of Proto-Austronesian. The homeland of Proto-Polynesian speakers is believed to have been Tonga, Samoa, and nearby islands.[1]

Quick Facts Reconstruction of, Region ...
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Phonology

Proto-Polynesian has a small phonological inventory, with 13 consonants and 5 vowels.[2]

Consonants

More information Bilabial, Alveolar ...

Vowels

Proto-Polynesian had five 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.[3]

Sound correspondences

More information *p, *t ...
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Vocabulary

The following is a table of some sample vocabulary as it is represented orthographically in various languages.[4] All instances of ʻ represent a glottal stop, IPA /ʔ/. All instances of ng and Samoan g represent the single phoneme /ŋ/. The letter r in all cases represents voiced alveolar tap /ɾ/, not /r/.

More information Tongan, Niuean ...
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See also

Notes

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