Tahitian (Reo Tahiti in Tahitian) is an indigenous language spoken mainly in the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is closely related to the other indigenous languages spoken in French Polynesia: Marquesan, Tuamotuan, Mangarevan and Austral Islands languages. It is also related to the Rarotongan, New Zealand Māori, and Hawaiian languages. Tahitian was first transcribed from the oral spoken language into writing by Christian missionaries of the London Missionary Society in the early 19th century.
