What language did the Rapa Nui speak?
Rapa Nui or Rapanui (/ˌræpəˈnuːi/), also known as Pascuan (/ˈpæskjuən/) or Pascuense, is an Eastern Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family. It is spoken on the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.
Where did Rapa Nui people originate from?
Easter Island
The Rapa Nui are the indigenous Polynesian people of Easter Island. The easternmost Polynesian culture, the descendants of the original people of Easter Island make up about 60% of the current Easter Island population and have a significant portion of their population residing in mainland Chile.
Where did the Rapa Nui come from and what happened to them?
Rapa Nui – a small, isolated, volcanic (now extinct) island in the middle of the Pacific – was first inhabited by seafaring Polynesian settlers coming from the west in the early A.D. centuries.
When was Rapa Nui discovered?
Early Settlement The first human inhabitants of Rapa Nui (the Polynesian name for Easter Island; its Spanish name is Isla de Pascua) are believed to have arrived in an organized party of emigrants. Archaeology dates their arrival at between 700-800 A.D., while linguists estimate it was around the year 400.
What is Isla de Pascua?
Easter Island, Spanish Isla de Pascua, also called Rapa Nui, Chilean dependency in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is the easternmost outpost of the Polynesian island world. It is famous for its giant stone statues.
Why is Rapa Nui language endangered?
Rapa Nui Many languages are endangered because their populations of speakers are isolated on islands; Rapa Nui is one such language. Considered a threatened language, Rapa Nui is spoken on the famous Easter Island; as of 2000 there were 3390 native speakers.
How old are the heads on Easter Island?
When were they built? This is a question of much debate among scholars in the field, although there is a consensus they were built sometime between 400 and 1500 AD. That means all the statues are least 500 years old, if not much more.
Why did the Rapa Nui disappear?
Around 1200 A.D., their growing numbers and an obsession with building moai led to increased pressure on the environment. By the end of the 17th century, the Rapanui had deforested the island, triggering war, famine and cultural collapse.
What happened to the Rapa Nui civilization?
In this story, made popular by geographer Jared Diamond’s bestselling book Collapse, the Indigenous people of the island, the Rapanui, so destroyed their environment that, by around 1600, their society fell into a downward spiral of warfare, cannibalism, and population decline.
Where is Rapa Nui Island?
How do you say happy birthday in Rapa Nui?
Hōkūleʻa — Hauʻoli Lā Hānau e Hōkūleʻa: Rapa Nui Birthday Celebration – Hōkūleʻa.
What kind of language is the Rapa Nui language?
Rapa Nui language. Rapa Nui or Rapanui ( /ˌræpəˈnuːi/) also known as Pascuan ( /ˈpæskjuən/ ), or Pascuense, is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken on the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. The island is home to a population of just under 6,000 and is a special territory of Chile.
Who was the first person to discover Rapa Nui?
Separated by some 3,200 km from the nearest continent of South America, it was re-discovered in 1722 on Easter Day (hence its name) by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen. At the time, the island was inhabited by a population of Polynesian origin who had arrived on Easter Island many centuries earlier.
Who are the Rapa Nui people of Easter Island?
It is spoken on the island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. The island is home to a population of just under 6,000 and is a special territory of Chile. According to census data, there are about 3,700 people on the island and on the Chilean mainland who identify as ethnically Rapa Nui.
When did Sebastian Englert write the Rapa Nui Dictionary?
Father Sebastian Englert, a German missionary living on Easter Island during 1935–1969, published a partial Rapa Nui–Spanish dictionary in his La Tierra de Hotu Matuꞌa in 1948, trying to save what was left of the old language.