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
31 core words in Pukapukan
Water
wai
/wai/
Fire
awi
/ˈawi/
Sun
la
/la/
Moon
malama
/maˈlama/
Star
wetū
/wetuː/
Mother
mama
/ˈmama/
Father
matua
/maˈtua/
I
au
/au/
You
koe
/koe/
Name
ingoa
/iŋoa/
Eye
mata
/ˈmata/
Hand
lima
/ˈlima/
Heart
loto
/ˈloto/
Love
aloa
/aˈloa/
Tree
lākau
/laːˈkau/
House
wale
/ˈwale/
Dog
kulī
/kuˈliː/
Cat
pusi
/ˈpusi/
Eat
kai
/kai/
Drink
inu
/ˈinu/
One
tayi
/ˈtaji/
Two
lua
/lua/
Hello
kia orana
/kia oˈɾana/
Thank you
meitaki
/meiˈtaki/
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 | East Futunan | Tokelauan | Tuvaluan | Samoan | Tongan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | wai /wai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ |
| Fire | awi /ˈawi/ | afi /aˈfi/ | afi /ˈafi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ |
| Sun | la /la/ | laʻā /laˈʔaː/ | la'ā /laˈʔaː/ | la /la/ | laa /laː/ | lā /laː/ | laʻā /laʔaː/ |
| Moon | malama /maˈlama/ | māhina /maːˈhina/ | māsina /maːˈsina/ | malama /malama/ | masina /masina/ | māsina /maːsina/ | māhina /maːhina/ |
| Star | wetū /wetuː/ | fetuʻu /fetuʔu/ | fetu'u /feˈtuʔu/ | fetu /fetu/ | fetū /feˈtuː/ | fetū /fetuː/ | fetuʻu /fetuʔu/ |
| Mother | mama /ˈmama/ | faʻē /faˈʔeː/ | tinana /tiˈnana/ | mātua /maːtua/ | maatua /maːtua/ | tinā /tinaː/ | faʻē /faʔeː/ |
| Father | matua /maˈtua/ | tāmai /taːˈmai/ | tamana /taˈmana/ | tamana /tamana/ | tamana /tamana/ | tamā /tamaː/ | tamai /tamai/ |
| I | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | a'u /aʔu/ | au /au/ |
| You | koe /koe/ | koe /koe/ | koe /ˈkoe/ | koe /koe/ | koe /koe/ | 'oe /ʔoe/ | koe /koe/ |
| Name | ingoa /iŋoa/ | higoa /hiŋoa/ | igoa /iˈŋoa/ | igoa /iŋoa/ | igoa /iˈŋoa/ | igoa /iŋoa/ | hingoa /hiŋoa/ |
| Eye | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ |
| Hand | lima /ˈlima/ | nima /ˈnima/ | lima /ˈlima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | nima /nima/ |
| Heart | loto /ˈloto/ | mafu /ˈmafu/ | mafu /ˈmafu/ | fatu /fatu/ | fatu /fatu/ | loto /loto/ | loto /loto/ |
| Love | aloa /aˈloa/ | ʻofa /ˈʔofa/ | alofa /aˈlofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | ʻofa /ʔofa/ |
| Tree | lākau /laːˈkau/ | ʻakau /ʔaˈkau/ | la'akau /laʔaˈkau/ | lakau /lakau/ | laakau /laːkau/ | laʻau /laʔau/ | ʻakau /ʔakau/ |
| House | wale /ˈwale/ | fale /ˈfale/ | fale /ˈfale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ |
| Dog | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kuli /kuli/ | kuli /kuli/ | maile /maile/ | kulī /kuliː/ |
| Cat | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pūsi /ˈpuːsi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ |
| Eat | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | ʻai /ʔai/ | kai /kai/ |
| Drink | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ |
| One | tayi /ˈtaji/ | tahi /ˈtahi/ | tasi /ˈtasi/ | tahi /tahi/ | tasi /tasi/ | tasi /tasi/ | taha /taha/ |
| Two | lua /lua/ | lua /lua/ | lua /ˈlua/ | lua /lua/ | lua /ˈlua/ | lua /lua/ | ua /ua/ |
| Hello | kia orana /kia oˈɾana/ | mālō te maʻuli /maːloː te maˈʔuli/ | mālō /maːˈloː/ | malo ni /malo ni/ | taalofa /taːlofa/ | talofa /talofa/ | mālō e lelei /maːloː e lelei/ |
| Thank you | meitaki /meiˈtaki/ | mālō /maːˈloː/ | mālō /maːˈloː/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | faʻafetai /faʔafetai/ | mālō /maːloː/ |
| Good | lelei /leˈlei/ | lelei /leˈlei/ | mālie /maːˈlie/ | lelei /lelei/ | lei /lei/ | lelei /lelei/ | lelei /lelei/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.