4 ms·
It's over 11,000 km from Malaysia to the Cook Islands, yet the number 5 is lima in Malay and rima in Cook Islands Maori.
by thematrixturtle 4y ago
It's over 11,000 km from Malaysia to the Cook Islands, yet the number 5 is lima in Malay and rima in Cook Islands Maori.
- marc_abonce 4y agoApparently it's also rima in Rapanui, the language of Easter Island near Chile. And the number two is even crazier, being roa in Malagasy and rua in Rapanui, so this word is shared from Madagascar all the way to Easter Island. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rima#Rapa_Nui https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rima#Rapa_Nui https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rua#Rapa_Nui https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rua#Rapa_Nui https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roa#Malagasy https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/roa#Malagasy
- tmnvix 4y agoLikely because Polynesians are descended from East Asians that migrated south to Melanesia and then out into Polynesia.