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k in the Southern Marquesas, and a secondary link in Tahiti, which may be explai
ned by voyaging between the Hawaiian and Society Islands."[20]
Methods of proving Hawaiian's family relationships[edit]
The genetic history of the Hawaiian language is demonstrated primarily through t
he application of lexicostatistics, which involves quantitative comparison of le
xical cognates, and the comparative method.[21][22]
Lexicostatistics is a way of quantifying the degree to which any given languages
are genetically related to one another.[23][24] It is mainly based on determini
ng the number of cognates (genetically shared words) that the languages have in
a fixed set of vocabulary items which are nearly universal among all languages.[
23] The so-called "basic vocabulary" (or Swadesh list) amounts to about 200 word
s,[25] having meanings such as "eye", "hair", "blood", "water", and "and."[26] T
he measurement of a genetic relationship is expressed as a percentage.[23][27] F
or example, Hawaiian and English have 0 cognates in the 200-word list, so they a
re 0% genetically related. By contrast, Hawaiian and Tahitian have about 152 cog
nates in the list, so they are estimated as being 76% genetically related.[28]
The comparative method is a technique developed by linguists to determine if two
or more languages are genetically related, and if they are, the historical natu
re of the relationships.[21][29] For a given meaning, the words of the languages
are compared.[30] Linguists observe:[31]
identical sounds,
similar sounds, and
dissimilar sounds, in corresponding positions in the words
In this method, the definition of "identical" is reasonably clear, but those of
"similar" and "dissimilar" are based on phonological criteria which may require
professional training to fully understand and which can vary in the contexts of
different languages. Basically, a sound's manner and place of articulation, and
its phonological features, are the main factors considered in investigating its
status as "similar" or "dissimilar" to other sounds in a particular context. For
example, /b/ and /m/ are both voiced labial sounds, but one is a stop and the o
ther a nasal. When linguists find in compared languages that compared words of t
he same or similar meaning contain sounds which correspond to one another, and f
ind that these same sound correspondences recur regularly in most, or in many, o
f the comparable words of the languages, then the usual conclusion is that the l
anguages are genetically related.[32][33]
The following table provides a limited data set for ten numbers.[34] The asteris
k (*) is used to show that these are hypothetical, reconstructed forms. In the t
able, the year date of the modern forms is rounded off to CE 2000 to emphasize t
he 6000-year time lapse since the PAN era.
Numbers in Austronesian languages
Language
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
PAN, c.?4000 BC *isa
*DuSa *telu *Sepat *lima *enem *pitu *walu
*Siwa *puluq
Amis
cecay tusa
tulu
sepat lima
enem
pitu
falu
siwa
pulu'
Tagalog is
dalaw tatl pat
lim
nim
pit
wal
siym
sampu
Ilocano mays dua
tall uppt lim
innm pit
wal
siam
sangaplo
Cebuano us
duh
tul
upat
lim
unom
pit
wal
siym
napulu
Chamorro
maisa/hcha
hugua tulu
fatfat lima
gunum fiti
gulu sigua mnot/fulu
Malagasy
isa
roa
telo
efatra dimy
enina fito
valo
sivy
folo
Malay satu
dua
tiga
empat lima
enam
tujuh lapan sembilan
sepuluh
Javanese
siji
loro
telu
papat limo
nem
pitu
wolu
songo sepuluh
Fijian dua
rua
tolu
va
lima
ono
vitu
walu
ciwa
tini
Kiribati
teuana uoua
teniua aua
nimaua onoua itiua waniua
ruaiua tebuina
Tongan taha
ua
tolu
fa
nima
ono
fitu
valu
hiva
-fulu
Samoan tasi
lua
tolu
fa
lima
ono
fitu
valu
iva
sefulu
Maori tahi
rua
toru
wha
rima
ono
whitu waru
iwa
tekau (archaic: ngahuru)
Tahitian
ho'e
piti
toru
maha
pae
ono
hitu
va'u
iva
'ahuru
Marquesan
e tahi e 'ua e to'u e fa
e 'ima e ono e fitu e va'u
e iva 'onohu'u
Hawaiian
kahi
lua
kolu
ha
lima
ono
hiku
walu
iwa
-'umi
Note: For the number "10", the Tongan form in the table is part of the word /ho?
o-fulu/ ('ten'). The Hawaiian cognate is part of the word /ana-hulu/ ('ten days'
), however the more common word for "10" used in counting and quantifying is /?u
mi/, a different root.
Application of the lexicostatistical method to the data in the table will show t
he four languages to be related to one another, with Tagalog having 100% cognacy
with PAN, while Hawaiian and Tongan have 100% cognacy with each other, but 90%
with Tagalog and PAN. This is because the forms for each number are cognates, ex
cept the Hawaiian and Tongan words for the number "1", which are cognate with ea
ch other, but not with Tagalog and PAN. When the full set of 200 meanings is use
d, the percentages will be much lower. For example, Elbert found Hawaiian and To
ngan to have 49% (98 200) shared cognacy.[35] This points out the importance of
less data, cruder result; more data, better result
data-set size for this method
.
Application of the comparative method will show partly different genetic relatio
nships. It will point out sound changes,[36] such as:
the loss of all PAN word-final consonants in Tongan and Hawaiian;
lowering of PAN *u to Tagalog [o] in word-final syllables;
retention of PAN *t in word-initial and word-medial position in Tagalog and Tong
an, but shift to /k/ in Hawaiian;
retention of PAN *p in Tagalog, but shift to /f/ in Tongan and /h/ in Hawaiian.
This method will recognize sound change #1 as a shared innovation of Hawaiian an
d Tongan. It will also take the Hawaiian and Tongan cognates for "1" as another
shared innovation. Due to these exclusively shared features, Hawaiian and Tongan
are found to be more closely related to one another than either is to Tagalog o
r PAN.
The forms in the table show that the Austronesian vowels tend to be relatively s
table, while the consonants are relatively volatile. It is also apparent that th
e Hawaiian words for "3", "5" and "8" have remained essentially unchanged for 60
00 years.
History[edit]
For Hawaiian language history before 1778, see #Family and origin.
First European contact[edit]
In 1778, British explorer James Cook made the first reported European contact wi
th Hawai?i, beginning a new phase in the development of Hawaiian. During the nex
t forty years, the sounds of Spanish (1789), Russian (1804), French (1816), and
German (1816) arrived in Hawai?i via other explorers and businessmen. Hawaiian b
egan to be written for the first time, largely restricted to isolated names and
words, and word lists collected by explorers and travelers.[37]
The early explorers and merchants who first brought European languages to the Ha
wai?ian islands also took on a few native crew members who brought the Hawaiian
language into new territory.[38] Although there were not enough of these Hawaiia
n-speaking explorers to establish any viable speech communities abroad, they sti
ll had a noticeable presence. One of them, a boy in his teens known as Obookiah
he one called Ka Hoku o Hawaii ceased publication in 1948. The longest run was t
hat of Ka Nupepa Kuokoa: about 66 years, from 1861 to 1927.
1949 to present[edit]
In 1949, the legislature of the Territory of Hawai?i commissioned Mary Pukui and
Samuel Elbert to write a new dictionary of Hawaiian, either revising the Andrew
s-Parker work, or starting from scratch.[51] Pukui and Elbert took a middle cour
se, using what they could from the Andrews dictionary, but making certain improv
ements and additions that were more significant than a minor revision. The dicti
onary they produced, in 1957, introduced an era of gradual increase in attention
to the language (and culture).
Efforts to promote the language have increased in recent decades. Hawaiian-langu
age "immersion" schools are now open to children whose families want to reintrod
uce Hawaiian language for future generations.[52] The ?Aha Punana Leo s Hawaiian l
anguage preschools i