Nuclear Polynesian refers to those languages comprising the Samoic and the Eastern Polynesian branches of the Polynesian group of Austronesian languages. The Eastern Polynesian group comprises two major subgroups:

Rapa Nui Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearly ...

, spoken on

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its nearl ...

, and Central-Eastern, which is itself composed of Rapan, and the Marquesic and Tahitic languages. Nuclear Polynesian is differentiated, among Polynesian languages, by its distinguishing characteristics from the Tongic languages spoken in most of

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 ...

and in

Niue Niue (, ; niu, Niuē) is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Zealand. Niue's land area is about and its population, predominantly Polynesian, was about 1,600 in 2016. Niue is located in a triangle between Tong ...

Languages

* Samoic ** East Uvean–Niuafo'ou languages ** Ellicean languages ** Futunic languages **

Pukapuka Pukapuka, formerly Danger Island, is a coral atoll in the northern group of the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It is one of most remote islands of the Cook Islands, situated about northwest of Rarotonga. On this small island, an ancient ...

** Samoan ** Tokelauan * Eastern Polynesian **

** Central Eastern Polynesian *** Rapa *** Marquesic languages **** Hawaiian **** Marquesan ***** Northern ***** Southern **** Mangerevan *** Tahitic languages **** Austral **** Māori **** Tuamotuan **** Penrhyn **** Rarotongan **** Rakahanga-Manihiki **** Tahitian

Alternative classification

* Futunic languages *

* Ellicean languages ** Samoic *** Samoan *** Tokelauan **Ellicean–Outlier *** Tuvaluan ***

Nukuoro Nukuoro is an atoll in the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a municipality of the state of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. It is the secondmost southern atoll of the country, after Kapingamarangi. They both are Polynesian outlier ...

***

Kapingamarangi Kapingamarangi is an atoll and a municipality in the state of Pohnpei of the Federated States of Micronesia. It is by far the most southerly atoll or island of the country and of the Caroline Islands, south of the next southerly atoll, Nukuoro ...

*** Nukuria *** Takuu ***

Nukumanu The Nukumanu Islands, formerly the Tasman Islands, is an atoll of Papua New Guinea, located in the south-western Pacific Ocean, 4 degrees south of the Equator. Description Comprising a ring of more than twenty islets on a reef surrounding a l ...

***

Ontong Java Ontong Java Atoll or Luangiua, (formerly ''Lord Howe Atoll'', not to be confused with Lord Howe Island) is one of the largest atolls on earth. Geographically it belongs to a scattered group of three atolls which includes nearby Nukumanu Atol ...

***

Sikaiana Sikaiana (formerly called the Stewart Islands) is a small atoll NE of Malaita in Solomon Islands in the south Pacific Ocean. It is almost in length and its lagoon, known as Te Moana, is totally enclosed by the coral reef. Its total land ...

***

Pileni file:Map of the Reef Islands.png, 300px, Map of the Reef Islands Pileni is a culturally important island in the Reef Islands, in the northern part of the Solomon Islands province of Temotu Province, Temotu. Despite its location in Melanesia, the ...

** Eastern Polynesian

References

{{Polynesian languages