Editing Polynesian languages (section)

===Internal correspondences===
Partly because Polynesian languages split from one another comparatively recently, many words in these languages remain similar to corresponding words in others. The table below demonstrates this with the words for 'sky', 'north wind', 'woman', 'house' and 'parent' in a representative selection of languages: [[Tongan language|Tongan]]; [[Niuean language|Niuean]]; [[Samoan language|Samoan]]; [[Sikaiana language|Sikaiana]]; [[Takuu]]; [[North Marquesan language|North Marquesan]]; [[South Marquesan language|South Marquesan]]; [[Mangarevan language|Mangarevan]]; [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]]; [[Rapanui language]]; [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]]; [[Māori language|Māori]] and [[Cook Islands Māori]] (Rarotongan).
<div style="overflow:auto;">
{| class="wikitable" |
!
!Tongan
!Niuean
!Samoan
!Sikaiana
!Takuu
!North Marquesan
!South Marquesan
!Mangarevan
!Hawaiian
!Rapanui
!Tahitian
!Māori
!Rarotongan
|-
|''sky''
|{{IPA|/laŋi/}}
|{{IPA|/laŋi/}}
|{{IPA|/laŋi/}}
|{{IPA|/lani/}}
|{{IPA|/ɾani/}}
|{{IPA|/ʔaki/}}
|{{IPA|/ʔani/}}
|{{IPA|/ɾaŋi/}}
|{{IPA|/lani/}}
|{{IPA|/ɾaŋi/}}
|{{IPA|/ɾaʔi/}}
|{{IPA|/ɾaŋi/}}
|{{IPA|/ɾaŋi/}}
|-
|''north wind''
|{{IPA|/tokelau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokelau/}}
|{{IPA|/toʔelau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokelau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokoɾau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokoʔau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokoʔau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokeɾau/}}
|{{IPA|/koʔolau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokeɾau/}}
|{{IPA|/toʔeɾau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokeɾau/}}
|{{IPA|/tokeɾau/}}
|-
|''woman''
|{{IPA|/fefine/}}
|{{IPA|/fifine/}}
|{{IPA|/fafine/}}
|{{IPA|/hahine/}}
|{{IPA|/ffine/}}
|{{IPA|/vehine/}}
|{{IPA|/vehine/}}
|{{IPA|/veine/}}
|{{IPA|/wahine/}}
|
|{{IPA|/vahine/}}
|{{IPA|/wahine/}}
|{{IPA|/vaʔine/}}
|-
|''house''
|{{IPA|/fale/}}
|{{IPA|/fale/}}
|{{IPA|/fale/}}
|{{IPA|/hale/}}
|{{IPA|/faɾe/}}
|{{IPA|/haʔe/}}
|{{IPA|/haʔe/}}
|{{IPA|/faɾe/}}
|{{IPA|/hale/}}
|{{IPA|/haɾe/}}
|{{IPA|/faɾe/}}
|{{IPA|/ɸaɾe/}}
|{{IPA|/ʔaɾe/}}
|-
|''parent''
|{{IPA|/maːtuʔa/}}
|{{IPA|/motua/}}
|{{IPA|/matua/}}
|
|{{IPA|/maatua/}}
|{{IPA|/motua/}}
|{{IPA|/motua/}}
|{{IPA|/matua/}}
|{{IPA|/makua/}}
|{{IPA|/matuʔa/}}
|{{IPA|/metua/}}
|{{IPA|/matua/}}
|{{IPA|/metua/}}
|}</div>

Certain regular correspondences can be noted between different Polynesian languages. For example, the Māori sounds {{IPA|/k/}}, {{IPA|/ɾ/}}, {{IPA|/t/}}, and {{IPA|/ŋ/}} correspond to {{IPA|/ʔ/}}, {{IPA|/l/}}, {{IPA|/k/}}, and {{IPA|/n/}} in Hawaiian. Accordingly, "man" is ''tangata'' in Māori and ''kanaka'' in Hawaiian, and Māori ''roa'' "long" corresponds to Hawaiian ''loa''. The famous Hawaiian greeting ''aloha'' corresponds to Māori ''aroha'', "love, tender emotion". Similarly, the Hawaiian word for [[kava]] is ''{{okina}}awa''.

Similarities in basic vocabulary may allow speakers from different island groups to achieve a significant degree of understanding of each other's speech. When a particular language shows unexpectedly large divergence in vocabulary, this may be the result of a [[Taboo on the dead#The taboo against naming the dead|name-avoidance taboo situation]] – see examples in [[Tahitian language#Taboo names – piꞌi|Tahitian]], where this has happened often.

Many Polynesian languages have been greatly affected by European colonization. Both Māori and Hawaiian, for example, have lost many speakers to [[English language|English]], and only since the 1990s have they resurged in popularity.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/28/google-disney-maori-new-zealand |title='Māori has gone mainstream': the resurgence of New Zealand's te reo language  |work=The Guardian |author=Eleanor Ainge Roy |date=28 July 2018 |access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2019/06/22/452551172/the-hawaiian-language-nearly-died-a-radio-show-sparked-its-revival |title=The Hawaiian Language Nearly Died. A Radio Show Sparked Its Revival |author=Sara Kehaulani Goo |publisher=NPR |date=22 July 2019 |access-date=22 September 2020}}</ref>