The Polynesian languages are stemmed together from a common ancestry. All the languages are individual and different but many follow the same basic rules.
Vowels across the Pacific are commonly pronounced the same as Spanish vowels.
A - ah, ball
E - eh, pet
I - ee, feet
O - oh, sole
U - oo, pool
All consonants are the same in English except:
"G", pronounced as Ng as in siNG, riNG, ruNG
"Wh", pronounce as an f sound;
Whetu - fetu
Whati- fati
There are more consonant variants but these are the most common in the islands. If you would like to know how to pronounce certain words, please search up the culture these stories come from for all the island peoples are not completely the same. Together we stand, but we are still individuals.
No words end in a consonant, same as syllables. There is never a syllable that ends in a consonant.
"TUTUILA"
TU - TU - I - LA
too-too-ee-la
it would never be...
TUT - U - IL - A
toot-oo-eel-a
We also have glottal stops. Like the way you'd pronounce "uh oh", that slight pause between 'uh' and 'oh' is a glottal stop. We mark them with " ' " the apostrophe, in English. But each nation has a word for this pause. These glottal stops actually count as consonants as well.
FAI: to do a task
FA'I: a banana
We also have a our share of diphthongs. A running through vowel sounds. When two vowels are next to each other, sometimes you'll just "run" through the sounds instead of pronouncing each vowel. Pronouncing them together rather than individually. For example:
"AI", you'd pronounce this as if saying the word "I" in English versus pronouncing each vowel as in "ah ee". Practicing, say both vowel sounds and slowly increase your speed.
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Polynesian Legends
Short StoryStories, traditionally passed down through word of mouth, are documented and written down in this series. From the islands of Hawai'i to Aotearoa to Rapa Nui, and all in between, our stories are remembered and immortalized in writing. Polynesian Leg...
