January 16, 2013
Language points to Hawaiiki
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A Hawaiian linguistics professor has used language clues to pinpoint the location of Hawaiiki in remote atolls near the Solomon Islands.
That challenges earlier theories that the colonisation of eastern Polynesia kicked off in Samoa.
In a paper published in December's edition of Oceanic Linguistics, Professor William Wilson argues that the language spoken in what are known as Polynesian outliers like Takuu and Luangiua share lexical and grammatical structures with eastern Polynesian languages that are not found in Samoan or other Western Polynesian languages.
He says the language evidence is bolstered by other clues such as carving styles and the sharing of sophisticated deepwater fishing techniques.
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