A Polynesian language indigenous to French Polynesia — co-official with French, and the basis for much of the global vocabulary of Polynesia (such as "tattoo" from tatau).
Where it’s spoken
Tahitian (Reo Tahiti) is spoken in French Polynesia, where French is the sole de jure official language but Tahitian has co-official cultural status. About 68,000 people speak it as a first language, with substantial bilingualism among ethnic Tahitians. Several thousand speakers live in metropolitan France and New Caledonia. Tahitian historically served as a lingua franca across French Polynesia’s many island groups.
What it sounds like
Tahitian has nine consonants (f, h, m, n, p, r, t, v, plus the glottal stop) and five vowels with phonemic length. The glottal stop, marked with ʻeta (a curly apostrophe), is a full consonant. Word stress falls on a heavy syllable in the last three positions. The language is non-tonal.
How it’s written
Tahitian uses a 13-letter Latin alphabet plus the ʻeta and tarava (macron). Missionary translators introduced the script in 1805. The Polynesian Academy (Académie tahitienne / Fare Vānaʻa) has standardized orthography.
History
Tahitian’s influence on European cultures via 18th- and 19th-century Pacific exploration is reflected in adopted words like “tattoo” (tatau), “taboo” (tapu, from cognate Tongan), and “tiki.” Tahitian has lent its name and much vocabulary to other Polynesian languages.
Find more languages by letter
Tahitian starts with T and ends with N. Browse other languages along the same letter.
Languages that contain a letter from "Tahitian":