Etymograph

English

Kanak

Kanak comes from English kanaka ‘Pacific islander’, from Hawaiian kanaka ‘person’, and ultimately from Proto-Oceanic *tamʷata.

  1. Proto-Oceanicprehistoric (reconstructed)*tamʷatareconstructed
  2. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*taŋata‘human being, person’reconstructed
  3. Hawaiianmodernkanaka‘person’
  4. English1500–presentsame form‘Pacific islander’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentcanaque
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2024Kanak

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Oceanicprehistoric (reconstructed)*tamʷatareconstructed
  2. Proto-Polynesianprehistoric (reconstructed)*taŋata‘human being, person’reconstructed
  3. Hawaiianmodernkanaka‘person’
  4. English1500–presentsame form‘Pacific islander’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentcanaque
  6. Englishearliest quotation 2024Kanak

Earliest quotation: 2024, Julien Mazzoni, French representative says”: “In the working-class districts of Nouméa, which have a…”

first attested First attested in 1910, borrowed from French canaque, from English kanaka (“Pacific islander”), from Hawaiian kanaka (“person”) (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1910, borrowed from French canaque, from English kanaka (‘Pacific islander’), from Hawaiian kanaka (‘person’).

Every English word from Proto-Oceanic *tamʷata

Another origin of Kanak

  1. Sanskritc. 1500–500 BCEकनक‘gold’
  2. EnglishtodayKanak

Today it means

noun An indigenous Melanesian inhabitant of New Caledonia.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Oceanic *tamʷata / Kanak

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