Faka'uvea
Wallisian
Austronesian (Polynesian, Tongic)
Wallisian (Faka'uvea), spoken on Wallis Island ('Uvea) in the French collectivity of Wallis & Futuna, is a Polynesian language of the Tongic subgroup most closely related to Niuafo'ou and Tongan, though heavy contact with Samoic neighbours has overlaid much Samoan-style vocabulary. It preserves the typical Polynesian inventory of just 5 vowels and ~12 consonants including a phonemic glottal stop /ʔ/ (written ‘), and uses VSO word order with ergative-absolutive case marking via prepositions. Despite ~10K speakers, it remains the daily language of the island and has co-official status alongside French.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Wallisian
Water
vai
/vai/
Fire
afi
/aˈfi/
Sun
laʻā
/laˈʔaː/
Moon
māhina
/maːˈhina/
Mother
faʻē
/faˈʔeː/
Father
tāmai
/taːˈmai/
Eat
kai
/kai/
Drink
inu
/ˈinu/
Love
ʻofa
/ˈʔofa/
Heart
mafu
/ˈmafu/
Tree
ʻakau
/ʔaˈkau/
House
fale
/ˈfale/
Dog
kulī
/kuˈliː/
Cat
pusi
/ˈpusi/
Hand
nima
/ˈnima/
Eye
mata
/ˈmata/
Hello
mālō te maʻuli
/maːloː te maˈʔuli/
Thank you
mālō
/maːˈloː/
One
tahi
/ˈtahi/
Good
lelei
/leˈlei/
Sources
- Rensch, Karl H. (1990) Tikisionalio Fakauvea-Fakafalani / Dictionnaire wallisien-français. Pacific Linguistics C-86.
- Mayer, Raymond (1976) Les transformations de la tradition narrative à l'île Wallis (Uvea). Publications de la Société des Océanistes 38.
- Moyse-Faurie, Claire (2016) Te lea faka'uvea — Le wallisien. Leuven: Peeters (LCB collection).
- Glottolog: East Uvean (Wallisian)
Words compared
Compared with related Austronesian (Polynesian, Tongic) languages
| Meaning | Wallisian | Tongan | Pukapukan | Tuvaluan | Tokelauan | Niuean | Hawaiian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | wai /wai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | wai /wai/ |
| Fire | afi /aˈfi/ | afi /afi/ | yayi /ˈjaji/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | ahi /ahi/ |
| Sun | laʻā /laˈʔaː/ | laʻā /laʔaː/ | la /la/ | laa /laː/ | la /la/ | lā /laː/ | lā /laː/ |
| Moon | māhina /maːˈhina/ | māhina /maːhina/ | malama /maˈlama/ | masina /masina/ | malama /malama/ | mahina /mahina/ | mahina /mɐˈhina/ |
| Mother | faʻē /faˈʔeː/ | faʻē /faʔeː/ | mama /ˈmama/ | maatua /maːtua/ | matua /matua/ | matua fifine /matua fifine/ | makuahine /makuˈahine/ |
| Father | tāmai /taːˈmai/ | tamai /tamai/ | matua /maˈtua/ | tamana /tamana/ | tamana /tamana/ | matua taane /matua taːne/ | makuakāne /makuaˈkaːne/ |
| Eat | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | ʻai /ʔai/ |
| Drink | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ |
| Love | ʻofa /ˈʔofa/ | ʻofa /ʔofa/ | aloha /aˈloha/ | alofa /alofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | fakaalofa /fakaalofa/ | aloha /ɐˈloha/ |
| Heart | mafu /ˈmafu/ | loto /loto/ | loto /ˈloto/ | fatu /fatu/ | fatu /fatu/ | fatu /fatu/ | puʻuwai /puʔuˈwai/ |
| Tree | ʻakau /ʔaˈkau/ | ʻakau /ʔakau/ | lākau /laːˈkau/ | laakau /laːkau/ | lakau /lakau/ | akau /akau/ | lāʻau /laːˈʔau/ |
| House | fale /ˈfale/ | fale /fale/ | wale /ˈwale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | hale /ˈhale/ |
| Dog | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kulī /kuliː/ | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kuli /kuli/ | kuli /kuli/ | kuli /kuli/ | ʻīlio /ʔiːˈlio/ |
| Cat | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pōpoki /ˈpoːpoki/ |
| Hand | nima /ˈnima/ | nima /nima/ | lima /ˈlima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /ˈlima/ |
| Eye | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | maka /ˈmaka/ |
| Hello | mālō te maʻuli /maːloː te maˈʔuli/ | mālō e lelei /maːloː e lelei/ | kia orana /kia oˈɾana/ | taalofa /taːlofa/ | malo ni /malo ni/ | fakaalofa atu /fakaalofa atu/ | aloha /ɐˈloha/ |
| Thank you | mālō /maːˈloː/ | mālō /maːloː/ | meitaki /meiˈtaki/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | fakaaue /fakaaue/ | mahalo /mɐˈhalo/ |
| One | tahi /ˈtahi/ | taha /taha/ | tayi /ˈtaji/ | tasi /tasi/ | tahi /tahi/ | taha /taha/ | ʻekahi /ʔeˈkahi/ |
| Good | lelei /leˈlei/ | lelei /lelei/ | lelei /leˈlei/ | lei /lei/ | lelei /lelei/ | mitaki /mitaki/ | maikaʻi /maiˈkaʔi/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.