Summary
Highlights
The Polynesian languages are a genealogical group within the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing a small percentage of Oceanic and Austronesian languages. Half are spoken in geographical Polynesia, while the other half, known as Polynesian outliers, are found across the Pacific, including Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
The most widely spoken Polynesian languages by number of speakers include Tahitian, Samoan, Tongan, Māori, and Hawaiian.
The ancestors of modern Polynesians were Lapita navigators who settled in Tonga and Samoa about 3,000 years ago. The Lapita culture, a Neolithic Austronesian people, migrated from the northern Philippines, possibly via the Mariana Islands, between 1600 and 500 BCE. This population underwent a 1000-year period of development, giving rise to Proto-Polynesian, the ancestor of all modern Polynesian languages.
After the shared development period, the Proto-Polynesian society split as navigators spread across various Pacific archipelagoes. Some traveled west to already populated areas, while others journeyed east, settling in new territories like the Society Islands, Marquesas, Hawaii, New Zealand, and Rapa Nui.