Where does “au” come from?

au (Maori) comes from Proto-Eastern Polynesian au, from Proto-Nuclear Polynesian au, from Proto-Polynesian au, from Proto-Oceanic (i-)au, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (i-)aku, from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (i-)aku, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (i-)aku, from Proto-Austronesian (i-)aku — I; me; my.

au (Maori): I; me; current

Definitions

  1. I; me; current

Ancestry of “au”, step by step

au traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Proto-Eastern Polynesian au

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Eastern Polynesianau—
2Proto-Nuclear Polynesianau—
3Proto-PolynesianauI, me, my
4Proto-Oceanic(i-)auI
5Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian(i-)akuI
6Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian(i-)akuI; me; my
7Proto-Malayo-Polynesian(i-)akuI; me; my
8Proto-Austronesian(i-)akuI; me; my

via Proto-Polynesian *(q)au

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Proto-Polynesian*(q)au—

Words derived from “au”

Every word from Proto-Austronesian (i-)aku →Every word from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (i-)aku →Every word from Proto-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (i-)aku →