Introduction

Love, compassion, and pity to Tonga and the city of Nuku'alofa.

There is disagreement whether Oceanic word: "to be fond of, to feel empathy for" is properly reconstructed as with an *l, making it a likely derivative of Austronesian *qalǝp: "to beckon, to wave", or with an *r, and thus presumably a separate root.

In Polynesian languages it becomes particularly confusing—first, almost complete merger of *r and *l, and second, the common practive in Polynesian languages of using "love, compassion" as a salutation. You could even imagine that the merger of "wave to" and "feel compassion for" drives the development of the salutation.

The resemblance to *qarop: "front, face", is most likely just an accident of the merger of Malayo-Polynesian *d and *r. Though there is some precedent for semantic shift between "face" and various emotions.

Full Text

• Austronesian *qalǝp to beckon, to wave

  • Pazeh m-arep to beckon
  • Malayo-Polynesian *qalo(p) to beckon, to wave forms that preserve the *p are probably all suffixed forms, like the transitive *qalopi

    • Chamorro alof to beckon
    • Philippine

      • Tagalog ayap to call, to summon
    • Oceanic *qalo

      • Fijian yalo(va) to wave, to beckon
      • Wayan alo(vi) to wave, to beckon, to signal
      • Micronesian

        • Kiribati ano to beckon
      • Polynesian *ʔaro(f)

        • Tongic

          • Niuēan alo to beckon, to signal
        • Polynesian *ʔarof-ak-i

          • Outlier Polynesian

            • Takuu arofāki to beckon
          • Nuclear Polynesian

            • Māori aroarofaki a hand motion in dance
  • Austronesian *ta(Ra)-qalop with unknown prefix <*ta(ɾa

    • Malayo-Polynesian

      • Oceanic *tā-qalo(p)

        • Wayan tā-yalo wave
        • Polynesian *ta-ʔalo

          • Tongan ta-'alo to beckon
          • Nuclear Polynesian

            • Samoan tālo to wave, to beckon

              • Samoan talofa greeting
  • Malayo-Polynesian *qarop like, be fond of

    • Oceanic *qarop(-i)

      • Southeast Solomonic

        • Bughotu (r)arovi to pity
        • Gela arovi to pity
      • Oceanic *qarop-an fondness

        • Polynesian *ʔarofa love, compassion

          • Tongan alofa love

            • Tongan ofa to love

              • Tongan Nukuʻalofa Place of Love (placename)

                • English Nukuʻalofa
            • Nuclear Polynesian

              • Marquesic

                • Hawaiʻian aloha love, compassion, greeting

                  • English aloha
                  • Hawaiʻian aloha kakahiaka good morning
                  • Hawaiʻian aloha ahiahi good morning
              • Rapa Nui ꞌaroha
              • Samoic

                • Samoan talofa greeting
                • Samoan alofa love
              • Tahitic

                • Māori aroha love, compassion

                  • English aroha
                • Tahitian arōfa compassion, pity

Visual

Collected English words

aloha, Nukuʻalofa, aroha