Te Reo Pukapuka
Pukapukan
Austronesian (Polynesian, Samoic-Outlier)
Pukapukan (Te Reo Pukapuka), spoken by ~2,000 people on the isolated Pukapuka Atoll in the northern Cook Islands and on nearby Nassau, is one of the most genealogically debated Polynesian languages: traditionally classed as a Samoic-Outlier yet showing East Polynesian and possibly Tokelauan substrate features, the result of pre-contact wave migrations across the central Pacific. It has typical Polynesian phonology with phonemic vowel length and glottal stop, but lexically diverges enough from Cook Islands Māori (rar) that the two are not mutually intelligible. The community is small but linguistically vital, with active orthography work since the 1990s.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Pukapukan
Water
wai
/wai/
Fire
yayi
/ˈjaji/
Sun
la
/la/
Moon
malama
/maˈlama/
Mother
mama
/ˈmama/
Father
matua
/maˈtua/
Eat
kai
/kai/
Drink
inu
/ˈinu/
Love
aloha
/aˈloha/
Heart
loto
/ˈloto/
Tree
lākau
/laːˈkau/
House
wale
/ˈwale/
Dog
kulī
/kuˈliː/
Cat
pusi
/ˈpusi/
Hand
lima
/ˈlima/
Eye
mata
/ˈmata/
Hello
kia orana
/kia oˈɾana/
Thank you
meitaki
/meiˈtaki/
One
tayi
/ˈtaji/
Good
lelei
/leˈlei/
Sources
- Salisbury, Mary C. (2002) A Grammar of Pukapukan. PhD thesis, University of Auckland.
- Beaglehole, Ernest & Pearl (1938) Ethnology of Pukapuka. Bernice P. Bishop Museum Bulletin 150.
- Teingoa Kaina et al. (1993) Pukapukan-English Dictionary. Pukapuka Dictionary Project.
- Glottolog: Pukapukan
Words compared
Compared with related Austronesian (Polynesian, Samoic-Outlier) languages
| Meaning | Pukapukan | Wallisian | Tokelauan | Hawaiian | Tuvaluan | Samoan | Tongan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | wai /wai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | wai /wai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ |
| Fire | yayi /ˈjaji/ | afi /aˈfi/ | afi /afi/ | ahi /ahi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ |
| Sun | la /la/ | laʻā /laˈʔaː/ | la /la/ | lā /laː/ | laa /laː/ | lā /laː/ | laʻā /laʔaː/ |
| Moon | malama /maˈlama/ | māhina /maːˈhina/ | malama /malama/ | mahina /mɐˈhina/ | masina /masina/ | māsina /maːsina/ | māhina /maːhina/ |
| Mother | mama /ˈmama/ | faʻē /faˈʔeː/ | matua /matua/ | makuahine /makuˈahine/ | maatua /maːtua/ | tinā /tinaː/ | faʻē /faʔeː/ |
| Father | matua /maˈtua/ | tāmai /taːˈmai/ | tamana /tamana/ | makuakāne /makuaˈkaːne/ | tamana /tamana/ | tamā /tamaː/ | tamai /tamai/ |
| Eat | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | ʻai /ʔai/ | kai /kai/ | ʻai /ʔai/ | kai /kai/ |
| Drink | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ |
| Love | aloha /aˈloha/ | ʻofa /ˈʔofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | aloha /ɐˈloha/ | alofa /alofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | ʻofa /ʔofa/ |
| Heart | loto /ˈloto/ | mafu /ˈmafu/ | fatu /fatu/ | puʻuwai /puʔuˈwai/ | fatu /fatu/ | loto /loto/ | loto /loto/ |
| Tree | lākau /laːˈkau/ | ʻakau /ʔaˈkau/ | lakau /lakau/ | lāʻau /laːˈʔau/ | laakau /laːkau/ | laʻau /laʔau/ | ʻakau /ʔakau/ |
| House | wale /ˈwale/ | fale /ˈfale/ | fale /fale/ | hale /ˈhale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ |
| Dog | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kuli /kuli/ | ʻīlio /ʔiːˈlio/ | kuli /kuli/ | maile /maile/ | kulī /kuliː/ |
| Cat | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pōpoki /ˈpoːpoki/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ |
| Hand | lima /ˈlima/ | nima /ˈnima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /ˈlima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | nima /nima/ |
| Eye | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /mata/ | maka /ˈmaka/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ |
| Hello | kia orana /kia oˈɾana/ | mālō te maʻuli /maːloː te maˈʔuli/ | malo ni /malo ni/ | aloha /ɐˈloha/ | taalofa /taːlofa/ | talofa /talofa/ | mālō e lelei /maːloː e lelei/ |
| Thank you | meitaki /meiˈtaki/ | mālō /maːˈloː/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | mahalo /mɐˈhalo/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | faʻafetai /faʔafetai/ | mālō /maːloː/ |
| One | tayi /ˈtaji/ | tahi /ˈtahi/ | tahi /tahi/ | ʻekahi /ʔeˈkahi/ | tasi /tasi/ | tasi /tasi/ | taha /taha/ |
| Good | lelei /leˈlei/ | lelei /leˈlei/ | lelei /lelei/ | maikaʻi /maiˈkaʔi/ | lei /lei/ | lelei /lelei/ | lelei /lelei/ |
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