Mangarevan Doublets: Preliminary Evidence for Proto-Southeastern Polynesian

The Mangarevan language of the Gambier Islands, situated between Tahiti and Easter Island, displays one of the largest collections of doublets among the fortyodd Polynesian languages. These doublets indicate a pre-Proto-Central Eastern settlement of the island from the Marquesas via the Eastern Tuamotus. They also witness a later Proto-Central Eastern intrusion on the island of similar provenience. The cumulative weight of evidence suggests that Proto-Southeastern Polynesian, a hitherto unrecognized language that seemingly comprised Proto-Eastern Polynesian's first differentiation, was spoken by the first settlers of the Eastern Tuamotus, Mangareva, Pitcairn, Henderson, and Rapanui.