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Polynesian Sounds
I. Phones and Phonemes
1. Some basics of phonetics and phonology
Speech sounds are produced by controlling the air stream. There are two directions of the air stream. We
may produce sounds by pushing air out (i.e., egressive) or by sucking air in (i.e., ingressive) like
implosives and clicks. More commonly, speech sounds are classified into two classes: consonants and
vowels.
Consonant:
Vowel:
a sound produced with a blockage or constriction of the vocal tract.
a sound pronounced without any constriction of the airway.
1.1 Consonants
Consonants are distinguished by a) the place of articulation, b) the manner of articulation, and c) the state
of glottis (i.e., voiceless vs. voiced).
1.1.1
Place of articulation
For example, the English consonants are classified into 7 groups according to the place of articulation.
Place of articulation
1.1.2
Labial
Lips
Labiodental
Lips and teeth
Interdental
Teeth and tongue
Alveolar
Tongue tip or blade and alveolar
ridge
Retroflex
Tongue tip and the back of the
alveolar ridge
PalatoAlveolar
Tongue blade and the back of the
alveolar ridge
Palatal
Front of the tongue and hard palate
Velar
Back of the tongue and soft palate
Glottal
Glottis
IPA
[b]
[p]
[m]
[w]
[f]
[v]
[θ]
[ð]
[t]
[d]
[s]
[z]
[n]
[l]
Example
big
pig
monkey
wood
fan
van
thin
this
tip
dip
sip
zip
nip
lip
[]
rip
[]
[t]
[]
[d]
[j]
[k]
[g]
[ŋ]
[h]
shell
church
pleasure
job
you
pick
pig
sing
hat
Manner of articulation
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Consonants are also classified into 7 groups according to the manner of articulation.
Exercise:
Complete the table of English consonants below.
Stop
Total obstruction of the airflow for a brief moment,
then releasing it.
Fricative
The airstream flows freely though a narrow
passage.
Approximant
One articulator is close to another, but without the
vocal tract being narrowed to such an extent that
a turbulent airstream is produced.
Lateral
Obstruction of the airstream at a point along the
center of the oral tract, with incomplete closure
between one or both sides of the tongue and the
roof of the mouth.
Nasal
The air flows through the nasal cavity instead of
the oral cavity.
Affricate
The airflow is initially obstructed but then released
through a narrow opening.
Tap
The tongue makes a single tap against the
alveolar ridge.
[b], [p]
A Phonetic Chart of the English Consonants
bilabial
Labiodental
dental
alveolar
Palatoalveolar
palatal
velar
Nasal
m
n
ŋ
Stop
pb
td
kg
Fricative
Approximant
fv
θð
sz
h

(w)
Lateral
l
Tap

j
Affricates
1.1.3

glottal
w
t d
Voiced vs. voiceless
When the vocal cords are closed, they vibrate and produce voiced sounds. When the vocal cords are open,
voiceless sounds are produced.
Voiceless
Voiced
p
b
t
d
k
g
f
v
s
z
1.2 Vowels
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Vowels are distinguished from each other by a) the height of tongue in the mouth, b) the backness of
tongue in the mouth, and c) the position of lips (rounded or not). Below is a chart of English vowels.
front
i
high
central

mid-high e
back
u

o
heed
hid
hay
head
had
ə
mid-low

 
æ

low
[i]
[]
[e]
[ε]
[æ]
food
good
boat
corn
father
sofa [ə]
bud []
[u]
[]
[o]
[]
[]
1.3 Phonemes
A phoneme is a sound that distinguishes words. For example, the contrastive elements in the following
pairs (i.e., /s/-/z/, /f/-/v/, and /m/-/p/) are phonemes.
sip –zip
fine – vine mat – pat
However, not all sounds that exist in a language are phonemic. For example, compare aspirated and
unaspirated stops in English:
pat [phæt]
tap [thæp]
2. Phonemes in Polynesian languages
2.1 Vowels
Polynesian languages have five vowels: /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/.
There is a phonemic difference between short and long vowels. The vowel length is indicated by the
macron.
Tongan
kaka
kākā
Samoan
‘climb’
‘cheat’
ngaue ‘move’
ngāue ‘work’
namu
nāmu
Tahitian
‘mosquito’ moli
‘smell’
molī
‘orange’
‘lamp’
Nukuoro
matau ‘hook’
maro
mātau ‘to know’ marō
‘belt’
‘dry’
nui ‘coconut’
nūi ‘green’
ahe ‘go back’
ahē ‘when?’
2.2. Consonants
As we have learned from the assignment, it is assumed that the Proto-Polynesian had 13 consonants:
*p
*t
*k
*m
*n
*ŋ
*‘
*f
*s
*h
*w
*l
*r
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2.2.1 Triangle languages
Of the living Polynesian languages, Tongan has the largest inventory of consonant phonemes. It has 12
consonants.
bilabial
labio-dental
alveolar
velar
Nasal
m
n
ŋ
Stop
p
t
k
Fricative
f
v
s
glottal

h
Approximant

Tap
The smallest is that of Hawaiian, consisting of only 8 consonants.
bilabial
Nasal
m
Stop
p
Fricative
()
Approximant
(w)
labio-dental
alveolar
velar
glottal
k

n
(v)
h
w

Tap
1) Most triangle languages have four stops (/p/, /t/, /k/, //).
Hawaiian lacks /t/.
Samoan lacks /t/ in informal speech.
Tahitian lacks /k/.
Māori, Tuvaluan, Tuamotu, and Penrhyn lack / /.
2) Most have three nasals (/m/, /n/, /ŋ/).
Hawaiian lacks /ŋ/.
Tahitian also lacks /ŋ/.
3) Distinction between PPn *l and *r is lost in all Polynesian languages >
// written as l in Tongan, Niuean, East Futuna, Samoan, Tokelauan, Tuvaluan, Hawaiian
// written as r in Tahitian, Rarotongan, Rapanui, Penrhyn, Maori, Mangarevan
>// in Marquesan
Question:
Describe the characteristics of Polynesian consonant system. How is it different from the
English consonant system?
2.2.2 Polynesian Outlier languages
Outlier languages have more complex consonant systems due to the contact with neighbouring nonPolynesian languages.
1) /l/ and /r/ in Ifira-Mele, Mae, Tikopia, and West Futuna
Tikopia (Firth 1963)
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lango
lau
pala
‘slow’
‘dance’
‘damp’
‘canoe skid, blowfly’
‘leaf, title’
‘rotten’
rango
rau
para
2) Aspirated stops [ph], [th] and [kh] in Kapingamarangi, Pileni, and Takuu.
Kapingamalangi (Liever and Dikepa 1974)
buu
‘seashell’
puu
‘to shoot’
duu
‘to stand’
tuu
‘to cut’
gai
‘to eat’
kai
‘story’
3) Prenasalized stops [mb] and [nd] in Mae.
Mae (Capell 1962)
bala
‘feather’
bito
‘navel’
ido
‘Yes’
‘to protect’
‘butterfly’
‘one’
para
pepe
tasi
4) Voiceless nasals [m], [n], and [ŋ] in West Uvea, and Pileni.
West Uvea (Elbert 1965)
hmihmi
‘mother’s brother’
hnoo
‘to stay’
‘to urinate’
‘to go’
mimi
hano
5) Aspirated nasals [mh], [nh], and [ŋh] (spelt as mm, nn, and nng) in Kapingamalangi
Kapingamarangi (Liever and Dikepa 1974)
mmaa
‘clear’
maa
nnoo
‘tightly bound’
noo
ngala
‘to lose’
nngala
‘it, thing’
‘free to’
‘to lose (pl.)’
6) Labio-velars /pw/ and /mw/ (spelled as mw and pw) in Ifira-Mele.
Ifila-Mele (Biggs 1975)
mwala
‘to throw a casting net’
mwasa
‘natural mark on skin’
mwolina
‘body’
mara
masa
moli
‘sour, bitter’
‘dry’
‘orange’
7) Palato-alveolar in Ifira-Mele [t] (written as j) and []in West Futuna-Aniwa
e.g.,
kaji “to bite”, kinjia “to pinch”, ttuuji “to cut off” (Ifila-Mele)
oi “all”, inana “mother”, fui “banana” (West-Futuna).
8) Long consonants (i.e., geminated consonants) in Pileni, Renellese, Takuu and Nukuoro.
Nukuoro (Carroll and Soulik 1973)
pale
‘help’
ppale
namu
‘mosquito’
nnamu
hakamau
‘to tie up’
hakammau
‘steer’
‘smell’
‘poisonous’
Takuu (Elbert 1965)
taa
‘to bail’
vela
‘burned in one place’
‘bailer’
‘hot’
ttaa
vvela
Note: Long consonants are also found in Tuvaluan.
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Tuvaluan (Besnier 2000)
vae
‘foot’
sui
‘to replace’
llei
‘good’
vvae
ssai
lau
‘to divide’
‘to bind’
‘leaf’
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