*SET-U

CANONICAL LANGUAGE GRAPH

TRACE A WORD ↗
NODE / 0325attestedTongan

tabu / tapu

forbidden, prohibited, unlawful; historically also sacred or consecrated

DATE
Tongan
SENSE
sacred prohibited
FAMILY
Austronesian / Malayo-Polynesian · Oceanic · Polynesian
CANONICAL KEY
node:41:tapu:attested:sense:sacred-prohibited

The numeric date is a broad Tongan-language anchor. Merriam-Webster prints tabu; POLLEX records historical taboo and modern tapu forms and senses.

01

ANCESTRAL EDGES

ROOT OF THIS ROOT

1
GO DEEPERinheritanceprobable
Proto-Oceanic · Proto-Oceanic reconstruction · ritual restriction

*tampu

sacred, forbidden; under ritual restriction

SOUND
POLLEX compares Tongan tapu with Proto-Oceanic *tampu; intermediate Polynesian developments are not over-specified here.
MEANING
The sacred, prohibited, and ritual-restriction field remains continuous across the comparison.
CHRONOLOGY
Reconstructed Oceanic prehistory to attested Tongan.
SCHOLAR
POLLEX editors
CONFIDENCE
probable — The modern form is attested while the Proto-Oceanic form is a comparative reconstruction.
TAPU [OC] — Prohibited, under ritual restriction, taboosupportsReconstruction and notes — POC *tampu; Tongan tapu

Supplies the comparative Oceanic reconstruction and Tongan reflex.

ORIGINAL ↗
OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 313 ↗
02

DIRECT DESCENDANT EDGES

THE NEXT HISTORICAL STEP

1
DESCENDANTborrowingestablished
Present-Day English · 1777–today · ritual social prohibition

taboo

a ritual or social prohibition; prohibited or set apart

SOUND
Tongan tabu was adapted to the English spelling taboo and English phonology.
MEANING
A Polynesian field joining sacredness and prohibition became an English noun, adjective, and verb for prohibited things and acts.
CHRONOLOGY
English record by 1777.
SCHOLAR
Merriam-Webster Editors · POLLEX editors
CONFIDENCE
established — Merriam-Webster explicitly identifies Tongan tabu; POLLEX documents the Tongan forms and semantic range.
Taboo — Word HistorysupportsWord History — Etymology; First Known Use

Identifies Tongan tabu and reports English use in 1777.

ORIGINAL ↗
TAPU [OC] — Prohibited, under ritual restriction, taboosupportsTongan reflexes under OC.TAPU

Documents Tongan taboo or tapu with forbidden, sacred, and consecrated senses.

ORIGINAL ↗
OPEN CANONICAL EDGE 312 ↗
03

TRANSITIVE DESCENDANT CLOSURE

EVERY REVIEWED BRANCH FROM HERE

1

This is the complete downstream closure currently supported by the canonical graph. Every displayed step is a real reviewed edge with its own sound claim, meaning claim, scholar, confidence, and citations.

UNIQUE DESCENDANT NODES
1
REVIEWED EDGES
1
DEEPEST PATH
1
MODERN DOSSIERS REACHED
1
taboo1 connected node
HISTORICAL STEP 011 EDGE
STEP 01borrowingestablished
Tongantabu / tapu→Present-Day English · 1777–todaytabooa ritual or social prohibition; prohibited or set apart
SOUND
Tongan tabu was adapted to the English spelling taboo and English phonology.
MEANING
A Polynesian field joining sacredness and prohibition became an English noun, adjective, and verb for prohibited things and acts.
Merriam-Webster Editors · POLLEX editors2 CITATIONSEDGE 312 ↗
Taboo — Word History · Word History — Etymology; First Known Use ↗TAPU [OC] — Prohibited, under ritual restriction, taboo · Tongan reflexes under OC.TAPU ↗

“Every” means every descendant in the reviewed SET-U graph. It does not convert missing scholarship or missing ingestion into a claim of historical completeness. The coverage ledger remains the honest denominator.

04

RECORDED EVIDENCE

ATTESTATIONS / FIRST KNOWN USE

0
NO RECORDED WITNESS ATTACHED.

The reviewed graph does not yet attach a source-reported or directly inspected witness to this canonical form.

05

EDITORIAL REUSE

WORD DOSSIERS USING THIS NODE

1
02tabootabu / tapu · established