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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 ...
The best-known Polynesian languages are Samoan, with about 200,000 speakers; Maori, spoken in New Zealand by about 100,000 persons; Tahitian, with an unknown number of native speakers but widely used as a lingua franca in French Polynesia; and Hawaiian, with only a few remaining native speakers but formerly spoken by perhaps 100,000 persons.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Polynesian languages show a considerable degree of similarity. The vowels are generally the same—a, e, i, o, and u, pronounced as in Italian, Spanish, and German—and the consonants are always followed by a vowel. The languages of various island groups show changes in consonants.
The Polynesian languages are a group of languages spoken in Oceania. They all belong in the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages . They are mostly spoken in Polynesia , but some are spoken in nearby Melanesia and Micronesia .
Apr 20, 2020 · Thus Maori speech is a dialect of the language spoken throughout Polynesia and hence conveniently called the Polynesian language. The Polynesian group can be divided into east and west Polynesian sub-groups. New Zealand Maori is an eastern Polynesian language.
- Atarjit Brar
- 2018
All major and official Austronesian languages belong to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup. Malayo-Polynesian languages with more than five million speakers are: Indonesian, Javanese, Sundanese, Tagalog, Malagasy, Malay, Cebuano, Madurese, Ilocano, Hiligaynon, and Minangkabau.
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania known for its many islands and distinct indigenous languages. Here are examples of some Polynesian languages: Futunan: Spoken in Wallis and Futuna. Hawaiian: Spoken in Hawaii. Nuclear Polynesian (subgroup) Maori: Māori holds a significant linguistic and cultural presence.
