In many of these languages, the ancestral *k has weakened to a glottal stop represented by the 'okina.
According to studies of this language family's kinship terms by Jeff Marck, speakers of its ancestral language were matrilineal. "Middle" verbs of intermediate transitivity are a hallmark of this language family, which has been ascribed an "accusative-to- ergative drift" based on Kenneth Hale's study of its unusual use of suffix morphemes that convert verbs into a passive form. In many of these languages, the ancestral *k has weakened to a glottal stop represented by the 'okina. Mitochondrial DNA studies on the origin of this language family's speakers cast doubt on the "Express Train" model in favor of the "Slow Boat." Similar terms for tapa cloth and the entheogen kava are common in this family, whose Nuclear languages diverged from the Tongic branch, the source of the English loanword "taboo." For 10 points, name this relative of Fijian, a language family that includes M ̄aori, Samoan, and Hawaiian.
According to studies of this language family's kinship terms by Jeff Marck, speakers of its ancestral language were matrilineal.
Polynesian languages [prompt on "Austronesian", "Malayo-Pacific", "Oceanic", or "Central Pacific"]