FAMILY & KINSHIP WORDS
Below is a quick list of family and kinship terms. The mental organisation of families and kinship in Polynesia is quite different to how we do it in the West. An example would be the use of the word tupuna which literally means ancestor, but can be used to apply to your grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. In this case, English has more terms than Tahitian, but, as you will see from this list, there are certain kinship relations where Tahitian has more words than English.
| metua | "parent" | |
| metuatáne | "father" | |
| metuahine | "mother" | |
| metua vahine | "mother" | |
| tama | "child" | |
| tamari'i | "child" | |
| tamahine | "daughter" | |
| tamaiti | "son" | |
| táne | "man, husband" | |
| vahine | "woman, wife" | |
| tupuna | "ancestor; grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent" | |
| tupunatáne | "male ancestor; grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather" | |
| tupunahine | "female ancestor; grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother" | |
| tupuna vahine | "female ancestor; grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother" | |
| motua | "grandchild, great grandchild, descendant" |
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