Niuatoputapu was the indigenous language of

Niuatoputapu Niuatoputapu is a high island in the island nation of Tonga, Pacific Ocean. Its highest point is , and its area is . Its name means ''sacred island''. Older European names for the island are Traitors Island or Keppel Island. Niuatoputapu is ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

. It was more closely related to Samoan than to Tongan. Sometime in the 18th or 19th century, it became extinct and its use was replaced by Tongan. Practically all knowledge of the Niuatoputapu language comes from a word list compiled by

Jacob Le Maire Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without controv ...

in 1616."Niuatoputapu - Languages facts sheet by Niklas Jonsson"
Niklas Jonsson, 16 December 1998

Sample phrases

References

Samoic languages Extinct languages of Oceania Languages of Tonga Languages extinct in the 19th century 19th-century disestablishments in Oceania {{CPacific-lang-stub