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
31 core words in Wallisian
Water
vai
/vai/
Fire
afi
/aˈfi/
Sun
laʻā
/laˈʔaː/
Moon
māhina
/maːˈhina/
Star
fetuʻu
/fetuʔu/
Mother
faʻē
/faˈʔeː/
Father
tāmai
/taːˈmai/
I
au
/au/
You
koe
/koe/
Name
higoa
/hiŋoa/
Eye
mata
/ˈmata/
Hand
nima
/ˈnima/
Heart
mafu
/ˈmafu/
Love
ʻofa
/ˈʔofa/
Tree
ʻakau
/ʔaˈkau/
House
fale
/ˈfale/
Dog
kulī
/kuˈliː/
Cat
pusi
/ˈpusi/
Eat
kai
/kai/
Drink
inu
/ˈinu/
One
tahi
/ˈtahi/
Two
lua
/lua/
Hello
mālō te maʻuli
/maːloː te maˈʔuli/
Thank you
mālō
/maːˈloː/
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 | East Futunan | Tongan | Pukapukan | Tokelauan | Tuvaluan | Niuean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | wai /wai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ | vai /vai/ |
| Fire | afi /aˈfi/ | afi /ˈafi/ | afi /afi/ | awi /ˈawi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ | afi /afi/ |
| Sun | laʻā /laˈʔaː/ | la'ā /laˈʔaː/ | laʻā /laʔaː/ | la /la/ | la /la/ | laa /laː/ | lā /laː/ |
| Moon | māhina /maːˈhina/ | māsina /maːˈsina/ | māhina /maːhina/ | malama /maˈlama/ | malama /malama/ | masina /masina/ | mahina /mahina/ |
| Star | fetuʻu /fetuʔu/ | fetu'u /feˈtuʔu/ | fetuʻu /fetuʔu/ | wetū /wetuː/ | fetu /fetu/ | fetū /feˈtuː/ | fetū /feˈtuː/ |
| Mother | faʻē /faˈʔeː/ | tinana /tiˈnana/ | faʻē /faʔeː/ | mama /ˈmama/ | mātua /maːtua/ | maatua /maːtua/ | matua fifine /matua fifine/ |
| Father | tāmai /taːˈmai/ | tamana /taˈmana/ | tamai /tamai/ | matua /maˈtua/ | tamana /tamana/ | tamana /tamana/ | matua taane /matua taːne/ |
| I | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ | au /au/ |
| You | koe /koe/ | koe /ˈkoe/ | koe /koe/ | koe /koe/ | koe /koe/ | koe /koe/ | koe /koe/ |
| Name | higoa /hiŋoa/ | igoa /iˈŋoa/ | hingoa /hiŋoa/ | ingoa /iŋoa/ | igoa /iŋoa/ | igoa /iˈŋoa/ | higoa /hiˈŋoa/ |
| Eye | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /ˈmata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ | mata /mata/ |
| Hand | nima /ˈnima/ | lima /ˈlima/ | nima /nima/ | lima /ˈlima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ | lima /lima/ |
| Heart | mafu /ˈmafu/ | mafu /ˈmafu/ | loto /loto/ | loto /ˈloto/ | fatu /fatu/ | fatu /fatu/ | fatu /fatu/ |
| Love | ʻofa /ˈʔofa/ | alofa /aˈlofa/ | ʻofa /ʔofa/ | aloa /aˈloa/ | alofa /alofa/ | alofa /alofa/ | fakaalofa /fakaalofa/ |
| Tree | ʻakau /ʔaˈkau/ | la'akau /laʔaˈkau/ | ʻakau /ʔakau/ | lākau /laːˈkau/ | lakau /lakau/ | laakau /laːkau/ | akau /akau/ |
| House | fale /ˈfale/ | fale /ˈfale/ | fale /fale/ | wale /ˈwale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ | fale /fale/ |
| Dog | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kulī /kuliː/ | kulī /kuˈliː/ | kuli /kuli/ | kuli /kuli/ | kuli /kuli/ |
| Cat | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pūsi /ˈpuːsi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /ˈpusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ | pusi /pusi/ |
| Eat | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ | kai /kai/ |
| Drink | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /ˈinu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ | inu /inu/ |
| One | tahi /ˈtahi/ | tasi /ˈtasi/ | taha /taha/ | tayi /ˈtaji/ | tahi /tahi/ | tasi /tasi/ | taha /taha/ |
| Two | lua /lua/ | lua /ˈlua/ | ua /ua/ | lua /lua/ | lua /lua/ | lua /ˈlua/ | ua /ua/ |
| Hello | mālō te maʻuli /maːloː te maˈʔuli/ | mālō /maːˈloː/ | mālō e lelei /maːloː e lelei/ | kia orana /kia oˈɾana/ | malo ni /malo ni/ | taalofa /taːlofa/ | fakaalofa atu /fakaalofa atu/ |
| Thank you | mālō /maːˈloː/ | mālō /maːˈloː/ | mālō /maːloː/ | meitaki /meiˈtaki/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | fakafetai /fakafetai/ | fakaaue /fakaaue/ |
| Good | lelei /leˈlei/ | mālie /maːˈlie/ | lelei /lelei/ | lelei /leˈlei/ | lelei /lelei/ | lei /lei/ | mitaki /mitaki/ |
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