Nuclear Polynesian refers to those languages comprising the Samoic and the Eastern Polynesian branches of the Polynesian group of Austronesian languages. The Eastern Polynesian group comprises two major subgroups:

Rapa Nui Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly ...

, spoken on

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...

, and Central-Eastern, which is itself composed of Rapan, and the Marquesic and

Tahitic languages The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austro ...

. Nuclear Polynesian is differentiated, among Polynesian languages, by its distinguishing characteristics from the

Tongic languages The Tongic languages are a small group of the Polynesian languages. It consists of at least two languages, Tongan and Niuean, and possibly a third, Niuafoʻouan. See also * Tonga * Niue * Niuafo'ou References Polynesian language ...

spoken in most of

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

and in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

Languages

* Samoic ** East Uvean–Niuafo'ou languages **

Ellicean languages The Polynesian languages form a genealogical group of languages, itself part of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. There are 38 Polynesian languages, representing 7 percent of the 522 Oceanic languages, and 3 percent of the Austron ...

** Futunic languages **

Pukapuka Pukapuka, formerly Danger Island, is a coral atoll in the northern group of the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of most remote islands of the Cook Islands, situated about northwest of Rarotonga. On this small island, an ancient ...

** Samoan **

Tokelauan Tokelauan is a Polynesian language spoken in Tokelau and on Swains Island (or Olohega) in American Samoa. It is closely related to Tuvaluan and is related to Samoan and other Polynesian languages. Tokelauan has a co-official status with Engli ...

* Eastern Polynesian **

** Central Eastern Polynesian *** Rapa *** Marquesic languages **** Hawaiian ****

Marquesan The Marquesas Islands (; french: Îles Marquises or ' or '; Marquesan: ' ( North Marquesan) and ' ( South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcanic islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in ...

***** Northern ***** Southern **** Mangerevan ***

**** Austral ****

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

**** Tuamotuan ****

Penrhyn Penryn is a Cornish word meaning 'headland' that may refer to: *Penryn, Cornwall, United Kingdom, a town of about 7,000 on the Penryn River **Penryn railway station, a station on the Maritime Line between Truro and Falmouth Docks, and serves the t ...

**** Rarotongan **** Rakahanga-Manihiki **** Tahitian

Alternative classification

* Futunic languages *

** Samoic *** Samoan ***

**Ellicean–Outlier *** Tuvaluan ***

Nukuoro Nukuoro is an atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a municipality of the state of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. It is the secondmost southern atoll of the country, after Kapingamarangi. They both are Polynesian outliers ...

***

Kapingamarangi Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of the Caroline Islands, south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro, ...

*** Nukuria *** Takuu *** Nukumanu *** Ontong Java ***

Sikaiana Sikaiana (formerly called the Stewart Islands) is a small atoll NE of Malaita in Solomon Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. It is almost in length and its lagoon, known as Te Moana, is totally enclosed by the coral reef. Its total land s ...

***

Pileni 300px, Map of the Reef Islands Pileni is a culturally important island in the Reef Islands The Reef Islands are a loose collection of 16 islands in the northwestern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu. These islands have histori ...

** Eastern Polynesian

References

{{Polynesian languages