Polynesian languages

The Polynesian languages are a group of related languages spoken in the region known as Polynesia. They are generally considered to be a part of the Austronesian language group, belonging to the Eastern Malayo-Polynesian branch of that family. There are approximately forty Polynesian languages. The most prominent of these languages would probably be ones such as Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, Maori, and Hawaiian, but many others exist as well. Polynesian languages are generally quite similar to one another. This is primarily due to fact that many Polynesian territories were settled relatively recently, and there has not yet been sufficient time for the languages to diverge. Examples of words remaining similar across different languages include the word for "sky" (Maori and Rapanui: rangi; Samoan and Tongan: langi; Hawaiian: lani) and the word for "house" (Maori: whare; Tahitian: fare, Samoan: fale). Certain transformations can be noted between different Polynesian languages. For example, the Maori sounds T and Ng are both equivalent to a K in Hawaiian - as such, the Maori word tangata ("people") is kanaka in Hawaiian. Some Polynesian languages have been seriously harmed by European colonization. Both Maori and Hawaiian, for example, have lost much ground to English, and have only recently been able to make progress towards restoration. Category:Polynesian languages