The phonology of Proto-Polynesian is very simple, with 13 consonants and 5 vowels. Note that *q in Proto-Polynesian most probably was a glottal stop [ʔ].
Consonants[]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless stop | p | t | k | ʔ |
| Voiced stop | b | d | g | |
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |
| Fricative | ɸ | s | x | h |
| Trill | ʙ | r | ||
| Lateral | l | ʟ | ||
| Glide | w | ɹ | ɰ |
Vowels[]
Proto-Polynesian had five simple vowels, /a/ /e/ /i/ /o/ /u/, with no length distinction. In a number of daughter languages, successive sequences of vowels came together to produce long vowels and diphthongs, and in some languages these sounds later became phonemic.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Close-mid | ɪ | ʊ | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | æ | a | ɑ |
Sound correspondences[]
| Proto-Polynesian | *p | *t | *k | *q | *m | *n | *ŋ | *w | *ɸ | *s | *h | *l | *r | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tongan | p | t | k | ʔ | m | n | ŋ | v | f | h | l | Ø | |||
| Niuean | Ø | ||||||||||||||
| Niuafoʻou?? | ʔ/Ø | h | h/Ø | l/Ø | |||||||||||
| Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ | *m | *n | *ŋ | *w | *f | *s | *Ø | *l | |||
| Sāmoan | p | t~k | ʔ | Ø | m | n | ŋ | v | f | s | Ø | l | |||
| East Futunan | t | k | ʔ/Ø | ||||||||||||
| Tikopian | Ø | ɾ | |||||||||||||
| Nukuoroan | h | l | |||||||||||||
| Proto-Eastern-Polynesian | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ/Ø | *m | *n | *ŋ | *w | *f | *h | *Ø | *l | |||
| Rapa Nui | p | t | k | ʔ/Ø | m | n | ŋ | v | v/h | h | Ø | ɾ | |||
| MVA, Rarotongan | Ø | ʔ/v | ʔ | ||||||||||||
| Tuamotuan | f/h/v | h | |||||||||||||
| Māori | w | ɸ/h | |||||||||||||
| Tahitian | ʔ | ʔ | v | f/v/h | |||||||||||
| N. Marquesan | k | k | h | ʔ | |||||||||||
| S. Marquesan | ʔ | n | f/h | ||||||||||||
| Hawaiian | k | w | h/w | l | |||||||||||