~jakip - Polynesian Languages

Moderators:aaakknu, atalarikt

User avatar
~jakip
Posts:860
Joined:2013-11-30, 21:55
Gender:male
Location:Milan, Lombardy
Country:ITItaly (Italia)
~jakip - Polynesian Languages

Postby ~jakip » 2014-04-03, 21:15

Hi guys! I want to learn some grammar of a Polynesian language. I don't know which one but however I can't find anything on Internet. Could someone tell me where I can find it? Thanks in advance :D
Last edited by ~jakip on 2014-12-08, 18:27, edited 1 time in total.
Native: Italiano (it) C1: Lombard (lmo) Español (es) English (en) A2: Deutsch (de)

melski
Posts:1130
Joined:2012-02-17, 1:13
Location:Nantes
Country:FRFrance (France)

Re: ~jakip - Polynesian Languages resources

Postby melski » 2014-04-03, 23:22

Talofa ! Ia Orana ! Malo te ma'uli ! There's a fairly small amount of resources for Polynesian languages online, however if you know where to search you can find some good content. It also depends a lot on the language you want to study.
Here's a list of documents I have on my computer, including some "small" Polynesian languages:

[flag=]ty[/flag] Tahitian
Yves Lemaître, Lexique du tahitien contemporain, 1995 (in French; includes grammar as well)
Gilbert Lazard, Louise Peltzer, Structure de la langue tahitienne, 2000 (in French)
Mirose Paia, Jacques Vernaudon, Tahitien Ia ora na, méthode d'introduction à la langue tahitienne, 1999 (in French - learning method, includes audio as well)
D.T. Tryon, Parler Tahitien en 24 leçons, 1995 (in French)
D.T. Tryon, Conversational Tahitian - An Introduction to the Tahitian Language of French Polynesia, 1970
English-Tahitian/Tahitian-English dictionary, 2002

[flag=]mi[/flag] NZ Maori
Winifred Bauer, Maori Descriptive Grammars, Routledge, 1993
Ray Harlow, Maori, a linguistic Introduction, 2006
Ray Harlow, Māori, 1996 (descriptive grammar book)
Teach Yourself Maori, 1994 (K.T. Harawira, revised by Timoti Kāretu)
K.T. Harawira, Beginner's Maori, 1997

[flag=]rar[/flag] Cook Island Maori
I-E-KO-KO! An Introduction to Cook Islands Màori, 2008
Kai Kōrero, A Cook Islands Maori language coursbook (with audio), 1995, by Tai Tepuatoerā Tuperu Carpentier and Clive Beaumont

[flag=]haw[/flag] Hawaian
Learn Hawaian at home, 1992, by Kahikāhealani Wight
Hawaian Grammar, 1979 by Samuel H. Elbert & Mary Kawena Pukui
(I also have older docs + some Hawaian dictionnaries)

[flag=]sm[/flag] Samoan
Gagana Sāmoa A language coursebook (with audio), 2009
(+ other didactic material aimed at teachers, not really grammar but could be helpful :
Mua Ō! An Introduction to Gagana Sāmoa Guidelines & Teacher's guide, 2009)

[flag=]to[/flag] Tongan
C. Maxwell Churchward, Tongan Grammar, 1953 (may be outdated)
Faufaua, an introduction to Tongan, 2010 (teacher's guide, not so much content)

[flag=]mrq[/flag] Marquesan
Mrg René Ildefonse Dordillon, Grammaire et Dictionnaire Marquisien-Français (1931) (I have no idea of the acurateness of this very old dictionary and grammar!) (in French)
But you can buy/read on google books : Edgar Tetahiotupa, Parlons Marquisien, 2009 (in French)

[flag=]wls[/flag] Wallisian
Karl Rensch, Parler Wallisien, 2001 (with audio) (in French)
Karl Rensch, Dictionnaire wallisien-français, 1984
+ various grammar papers and documents from linguist Claire Moyse-Faurie (in French)
(for more info on Wallisian, you can check my thread there !)

[flag=]fud[/flag] East Futunan
Claire Moyse-Faurie, dictionnaire Futunien français (available online via google books here)
Claire Moyse Faurie, Grammaire du futunien, 1997 (not on my computer and not available online :( )

[flag=]tvl[/flag] Tuvaluan
Niko Besnier - Tuvaluan, A Polynesian Language of the Central Pacific Descriptive Grammars, 2000 (excellent ressource, sadly no dictionary or any other resource for Tuvaluan).

[flag=]niu[/flag] Niuean
Haia! An Introduction to Vagahau Niue, 2010 (teacher's guide, not so much content)
Sadly, I don't have a grammar of Niuean... I have however a Niuean-English dictionary (1997)

[flag=]tkl[/flag] Tokelauan
Tokelau Dictionary, 1986
Tau Gagana Tokelau, introductory tokelau language resource, 2009 (coursebook rather than grammar)
Muakiga, an Introduction to Gagana Tokelau (teacher's guide, not so much content)
Gagana Tokelau, The Tokelau Language Guidelines, 2009 (idem, few grammar content)

[flag=]sky[/flag] Sikaiana (Polynesian outlier language)
William W Donner, Sikaiana Dictionary (with detailled grammar), 2012

[flag=]fut[/flag] West-Futuna Aniwa (Polynesian outlier language)
Janet W. D. Dougherty, West Futuna Aniwa - An Introduction to a Polynesian Outlier Language, 1983
................Native: French (fr) French
................Fluent: English (en) English , Italian (it) Italian
.........Intermediate: German (de) German, Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) Portuguese
.........Conversational: Catalan (ca) Catalan, Spanish (es) Spanish
....................Learning: [flag=Wallisian (East Uvean / faka'uvea)]wls[/flag] Wallisian (topic here)

User avatar
~jakip
Posts:860
Joined:2013-11-30, 21:55
Gender:male
Location:Milan, Lombardy
Country:ITItaly (Italia)

Re: ~jakip - Polynesian Languages

Postby ~jakip » 2014-04-04, 4:41

Thank you very much. I'm still not sure on which one I desire to study, but I have a lot of choices ;)
Native: Italiano (it) C1: Lombard (lmo) Español (es) English (en) A2: Deutsch (de)

melski
Posts:1130
Joined:2012-02-17, 1:13
Location:Nantes
Country:FRFrance (France)

Re: ~jakip - Polynesian Languages

Postby melski » 2014-04-04, 10:21

You're welcome! Here is some more info to help you pick one language:

Samoan is the most spoken Polynesian language with 364 000 speakers. Spoken not only in Samoa but also in New Zealand. If you want to discover the fa'a Samoa (Samoan culture), I higly recommend the movie "O le tulafale - the Orator" (2011), entirely in Samoan (with English subs). Most resources are in English, native speakers are almost all bilingual in English. You can find media, samoan newspapers online, etc.

Tongan has 140 000 speakers according to ethnologue, and many resources (in English). Also spoken in NZ (big comunity there). You'll find media channels (on youtube), newspapers, etc.
There's also a course on Unilang.

Niuean, Tokelau, Tuvaluan are much smaller languages. You can find however native speakers on the internet for Niuean (here). New Zealand government has also created websites to teach Niuean, Tokelauan (Polynesian languages of Pacific Islanders comunities in NZ)

And for Tokelauan, you can listen to the great band Te Vaka (they also sing in Samoan and Tuvaluan).

Tahitian is spoken all across French Polynesia (it tends to replace the smaller languages such as Paumotu, Marquesan, Mangarevan, etc) with at least 63 000 native speakers (ethnologue). However, many resources are in French (and native speakers speak French, not English, as a second language).

Wallisian and Futunan have very few resources, all in French, and again native speakers do not speak English. I could help you however with Wallisian if you'd like. Futunan is very close to Samoan and Wallisian is very close to Tongan (80% lexical similarity).

Sadly I don't know much about Maori (both NZ and Cook Islands), you could ask Ariki who knows Polynesian languages very well.

Last but not least, Hawaiian is very endangered and has few native speakers left (1000 speakers in 2000 according to the UNESCO), but has gone through several processes of revitalization and is being taught again. You should easily find materials in Hawaiian or check the other threads on Hawaiian on the forum.

Hope this helps and sorry for the long post!
Hoki toe piga pe i he tahi temi (talk to you soon, in Wallisian) !

(edited on 18/04/2015, corrected some typos + added info on Hawaiian if somebody is ever to see this page... might be helpful)
................Native: French (fr) French
................Fluent: English (en) English , Italian (it) Italian
.........Intermediate: German (de) German, Brazilian Portuguese (pt-br) Portuguese
.........Conversational: Catalan (ca) Catalan, Spanish (es) Spanish
....................Learning: [flag=Wallisian (East Uvean / faka'uvea)]wls[/flag] Wallisian (topic here)


Return to “Australian, Austronesian and Papuan Languages”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests