Rakahanga-Manihiki language
Encyclopedia
Rakahanga-Manihiki is a Cook Islands Maori
dialectal variant belonging to the Polynesian languages
family, spoken by about 2500 people on Rakahanga
and Manihiki
Islands (part of the Cook Islands
) and another 2500 in other countries, mostly New Zealand
and Australia
. Wurm and Hattori consider Rakahanga-Manihiki as a distinct language with "limited intelligibility with Rarotongan" (i.e. the Cook Islands Maori dialectal variant of Rarotonga
). According to the New Zealand Maori anthropologist Te Rangi Hīroa who spent few days on Rakahanga in the years 1920, "the language is a pleasing dialect and has closer affinities with [New Zealand] Maori than with the dialects of Tongareva, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands"
Cook Islands Maori
The Cook Islands Māori language, also called Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the official language of the Cook Islands. Most Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland"....
dialectal variant belonging to the Polynesian languages
Polynesian languages
The Polynesian languages are a language family spoken in the region known as Polynesia. They are classified as part of the Austronesian family, belonging to the Oceanic branch of that family. They fall into two branches: Tongic and Nuclear Polynesian. Polynesians share many cultural traits...
family, spoken by about 2500 people on Rakahanga
Rakahanga
Rakahanga, part of the Cook Islands in the central-southern Pacific Ocean, is one of the most unspoiled places on earth. The atoll is 1,248 kilometres from the Cook Islands capital, Rarotonga and lies 1,111 kilometres from the equator...
and Manihiki
Manihiki
Manihiki is an island in the Cook Islands known as the Island of Pearls. It is a triangular atoll north of Rarotonga.- History :Polynesians are believed to have lived on Manihiki since at least 900 or 1000 AD. Kupe was the first to explore Aotea Roa. Kupe came from Manihiki, also known as...
Islands (part of the Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
) and another 2500 in other countries, mostly New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Wurm and Hattori consider Rakahanga-Manihiki as a distinct language with "limited intelligibility with Rarotongan" (i.e. the Cook Islands Maori dialectal variant of Rarotonga
Rarotonga
Rarotonga is the most populous island of the Cook Islands, with a population of 14,153 , out of the country's total population of 19,569.The Cook Islands' Parliament buildings and international airport are on Rarotonga...
). According to the New Zealand Maori anthropologist Te Rangi Hīroa who spent few days on Rakahanga in the years 1920, "the language is a pleasing dialect and has closer affinities with [New Zealand] Maori than with the dialects of Tongareva, Tahiti, and the Cook Islands"
Indicative bibliography
- Manihikian Traditional Narratives: In English and Manihikian: Stories of the Cook Islands (Na fakahiti o Manihiki). Papatoetoe, New Zealand: Te Ropu Kahurangi.1988
- E au tuatua ta'ito no Manihiki, Kauraka KaurakaKauraka KaurakaKauraka Kauraka was a Cook Islands writer. He was born in Rarotonga, the main island of the Cooks. Kauraka studied in New Zealand, Fiji and other countries. He published six collections of poems in the English and Rarotongan languages...
, IPS, USP, Suva. 1987. - "No te kapuaanga o te enua nei ko Manihiki (the origin of the island of Manihiki)", in JPS, 24 (1915), p. 140-144.