Proto-Austronesian language explained

Proto-Austronesian
Target:Austronesian
Familycolor:Austronesian

Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify in Taiwan.[1]

Lower-level reconstructions have also been made, and include Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian. Recently, linguists such as Malcolm Ross and Andrew Pawley have built large lexicons for Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Polynesian.

Phonology

Proto-Austronesian is reconstructed by constructing sets of correspondences among consonants in the various Austronesian languages, according to the comparative method. Although in theory the result should be unambiguous, in practice given the large number of languages there are numerous disagreements, with various scholars differing significantly on the number and nature of the phonemes in Proto-Austronesian. In the past, some disagreements concerned whether certain correspondence sets were real or represent sporadic developments in particular languages. For the currently remaining disagreements, however, scholars generally accept the validity of the correspondence sets but disagree on the extent to which the distinctions in these sets can be projected back to proto-Austronesian or represent innovations in particular sets of daughter languages.

Blust's reconstruction

Below are Proto-Austronesian phonemes reconstructed by Robert Blust, a professor of linguistics at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.[2] A total of 25 Proto-Austronesian consonants, 4 vowels, and 4 diphthongs were reconstructed. However, Blust acknowledges that some of the reconstructed consonants are still controversial and debated.

The symbols below are frequently used in reconstructed Proto-Austronesian words.

Proto-Austronesian Consonants (Blust, 2009)
LabialAlveolarPalatalRetroflexVelarUvularGlottal
Unvoiced stopp pronounced as /link/t pronounced as /link/k pronounced as /link/q pronounced as /link/
Voiced stopb pronounced as /link/d pronounced as /link/D pronounced as /link/g pronounced as /link/; j pronounced as /link/
Nasalm pronounced as /link/n pronounced as /link/ñ pronounced as /link/ŋ pronounced as /link/
FricativeS pronounced as /link/s pronounced as /link/h pronounced as /link/
AffricateC pronounced as /link/c pronounced as /link/, z pronounced as /link/
Laterall pronounced as /link/N pronounced as /link/
Trillr pronounced as /link/R pronounced as /link/
Approximantw pronounced as /link/y pronounced as /link/

*D only appears in final position, *z/*c/*ñ only in initial and medial position, while *j is restricted to medial and final position.

The Proto-Austronesian vowels are a, i, u, and ə.

Proto-Austronesian Vowels (Blust, 2009)! colspan="2"
HeightFrontCentralBack
Closei pronounced as /link/u pronounced as /link/
Midə pronounced as /link/
Opena pronounced as /link/

The diphthongs, which are diachronic sources of individual vowels, are:

Wolff's reconstruction

In 2010, John Wolff published his Proto-Austronesian reconstruction in Proto-Austronesian phonology with glossary.[3] Wolff reconstructs a total of 19 consonants, 4 vowels (*i, *u, *a, *e, where *e = pronounced as //ə//), 4 diphthongs (*ay, *aw, *iw, *uy), and syllabic stress.

Proto-Austronesian Consonants (Wolff)
LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarUvularGlottal
Unvoiced stopp pronounced as //p//t pronounced as //t//c pronounced as //c//k pronounced as //k//q pronounced as //q//
Voiced stop/fricativeb pronounced as //b//d pronounced as //d//j pronounced as //ɟ//g pronounced as //ɡ//ɣ pronounced as //ʁ//
Nasalm pronounced as //m//n pronounced as //n//ŋ pronounced as //ŋ//
Voiceless fricatives pronounced as //s//h pronounced as //h//
Laterall pronounced as //l//ɬ pronounced as //ʎ//[4]
Approximantw pronounced as //w//y pronounced as //j//

The following table shows how Wolff's Proto-Austronesian phonemic system differs from Blust's system.

*p
  • t
  • C
  • c
  • k
  • q
  • b
  • ‑D
style='border-style: solid none solid solid;'
  • d‑ *‑d‑
style='border-style: solid solid solid none;'
  • ‑d
  • z‑ *‑z‑
  • ‑j- *‑j
  • g‑
  • ‑g- *‑g
  • R
  • m
  • n
  • N
  • ñ
  • ŋ
  • l
  • r
  • s
  • S
  • h
  • w
  • y
Wolff
  • p
  • t
rejected
  • k
  • q
  • b
style='border-style: solid none solid solid;'
  • ‑d
style='border-style: solid solid solid none;'
  • d‑ *‑d‑
style='border-style: solid none solid solid;'
  • ‑j
style='border-style: solid solid solid none;'
  • j‑ *‑j‑
  • g
rejected
  • ɣ
  • m
  • n
  • ɬ
  • ŋ
  • l
rejected
  • c
  • s
  • h
  • w
  • y

Historical overview of reconstructions for Proto-Austronesian

According to Malcolm Ross, the following aspects of Blust's system are uncontroversial: the labials (p b m w); the velars k ŋ; y; R; the vowels; and the above four diphthongs. There is some disagreement about the postvelars (q ʔ h) and the velars g j, and about whether there are any more diphthongs; however, in these respects, Ross and Blust are in agreement. The major disagreement concerns the system of coronal consonants. The following discussion is based on Ross (1992).

Otto Dempwolff's reconstruction of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian from the 1930s included:

Dyen (1963), including data from the Formosan languages, expanded Dempwolff's set of coronal consonants:

Tsuchida (1976),[5] building on Dyen's system:

Dahl reduced Tsuchida's consonants into:

Blust based his system on a combination of Dyen, Tsuchida and Dahl, and attempted to reduce the total number of phonemes. He accepted Dahl's reduction of Dyen's S X x into S but did not accept either Tsuchida's or Dahl's split of Dyen's d; in addition, he reduced Dyen's s1 s2 to a single phoneme s. While accepting Dyen's c, he was hesitant about T and D (more recently, Blust appears to have accepted D but rejected T, and also rejected Z).

Ross likewise attempted to reduce the number of phonemes, but in a different way:

Sound changes

As Proto-Austronesian transitioned to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian, the phonemic inventories were continually reduced by merging formerly distinct sounds into one sound. Three mergers were observed in the Proto-Austronesian to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian transition, while nine were observed for the Proto-Oceanic to Proto-Polynesian transition. Thus, Proto-Austronesian has the most elaborate sound system, while Proto-Polynesian has the fewest phonemes. For instance, the Hawaiian language is famous for having only eight consonants, while Māori has only ten consonants. This is a sharp reduction from the 19–25 consonants of the Proto-Austronesian language that was originally spoken on Taiwan or Kinmen.

Blust also observed the following mergers and sound changes between Proto-Austronesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian.[2]

Proto-Austronesian!c=03
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
c=02
  • C/t
c=03
  • t
c=02
  • N/n
c=03
  • n
c=02
  • S/h
c=03
  • h
c=02 c=03
  • ah

However, according to Wolff (2010:241), Proto-Malayo-Polynesian's development from Proto-Austronesian only included the following three sound changes.

Proto-Oceanic merged even more phonemes. This is why modern-day Polynesian languages have some of the most restricted consonant inventories in the world.[2]

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian!c=03
Proto-Oceanic
c=02
  • b/p
c=03
  • p
c=02
  • mb/mp
c=03
  • b
c=02
  • c/s/z/j
c=03
  • s
c=02
  • nc/nd/nz/nj
c=03
  • j
c=02
  • g/k
c=03
  • k
c=02
  • ŋg/ŋk
c=03
  • g
c=02
  • d/r
c=03
  • r
c=02
  • e/-aw
c=03
  • o
c=02
  • -i/uy/iw
c=03
  • i

Unusual sound changes that occurred within the Austronesian language family include:[2]

Syntax

Word order

Proto-Austronesian is a verb-initial language (including VSO and VOS word orders), as most Formosan languages, all Philippine languages, some Bornean languages, all Austronesian dialects of Madagascar, and all Polynesian languages are verb-initial.[2] However, most Austronesian (many of which are Oceanic) languages of Indonesia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Micronesia are SVO, or verb-medial, languages. SOV, or verb-final, word order is considered to be typologically unusual for Austronesian languages, and is only found in various Austronesian languages of New Guinea and to a more limited extent, the Solomon Islands. This is because SOV word order is very common in the non-Austronesian Papuan languages.

Voice system

The Austronesian languages of Taiwan, Borneo, Madagascar and the Philippines are also well known for their unusual morphosyntactic alignment, which is known as the symmetrical voice (also known as the Austronesian alignment). This alignment was also present in the Proto-Austronesian language. Unlike Proto-Austronesian, however, Proto-Oceanic syntax does not make use of the focus morphology present in Austronesian-aligned languages such as the Philippine languages. In the Polynesian languages, verbal morphology is relatively simple, while the main unit in a sentence is the phrase rather than the word.

Below is a table of John Wolff's Proto-Austronesian voice system from Blust (2009:433). Wolff's "four-voice" system was derived from evidence in various Formosan and Philippine languages.

Independent
(non-past)!c=02
Independent
(past)
c=03Future-general
action
c=04Dependentc=05Subjunctive
Actor voicec=01-um-c=02-inum-c=03?c=04øc=05-a
Direct passivec=01-enc=02-in-c=03r- -enc=04-ac=05?
Local passivec=01-anc=02-in-anc=03r- -anc=04-ic=05-ay
Instrumental passivec=01Si-c=02Si- -in- (?)c=03?c=04-an (?)c=05?

However, Ross (2009)[8] notes that what may be the most divergent languages, Tsou, Rukai, and Puyuma, are not addressed by this reconstruction, which therefore cannot claim to be alignment system of the protolanguage of the entire family. He calls the unit to which this reconstruction applies Nuclear Austronesian.

Interrogatives and case markers

The following table compares Proto-Austronesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian question words.

English!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
c=01whatc=02
  • (n)-anu
c=03
  • apa
c=01whoc=02
  • (si)-ima
c=03
  • i-sai
c=01wherec=02
  • i-nu
c=03
  • i nu
c=01whenc=02
  • ija-n
c=03
  • p-ijan
c=01howc=02
  • (n)-anu
c=03
  • ku(j)a
how much
  • pijax
  • pija

Currently, the most complete reconstruction of the Proto-Austronesian case marker system is offered by Malcolm Ross.[2] The reconstructed case markers are as follows:

Common nouns!c=02
Singular
personal nouns
c=03Plural
personal nouns
Neutralc=01
  • [y]a, *u
c=02
  • i
c=03
Nominativec=01
  • k-a
c=02
  • k-u
c=03
Genitivec=01
  • n-a, *n-u
c=02
  • n-i
c=03
  • n-i-a
Accusativec=01
  • C-a, *C-u
c=02
  • C-i
c=03
Obliquec=01
  • s-a, *s-u
c=02c=03
Locativec=01
  • d-a
c=02c=03

Important Proto-Austronesian grammatical words include the ligature *na and locative *i.[2]

Morphology

Morphology and syntax are often hard to separate in the Austronesian languages, particularly the Philippine languages.[2] This is because the morphology of the verbs often affects how the rest of the sentence would be constructed (i.e., syntax).

Affixes

Below are some Proto-Austronesian affixes (including prefixes, infixes, and suffixes) reconstructed by Robert Blust. For instance, *pa- was used for non-stative (i.e., dynamic) causatives, while *pa-ka was used for stative causatives (Blust 2009:282). Blust also noted a p/m pairing phenomenon in which many affixes have both p- and m- forms. This system is especially elaborate in the Thao language of Taiwan.[2]

Affix!c=02
Gloss
c=01
  • ka-
c=02inchoative (Formosan only), stative, past time, accompanied action/person, abstract noun formative, manner in which an action is carried out, past participle
c=01
  • ma-
c=02stative, future time (Formosan only)
c=01
  • maka-
c=02abilitative/aptative
c=01
  • maki/paki
c=02petitive (petitioning for something)[9]
c=01
  • mi-
c=02possession (Formosan only)
c=01
  • mu-
c=02movement[10]
c=01
  • pa(-ka-)
c=02causative
c=01
  • pi-
c=02causative of location
c=01
  • pu-
c=02causative of movement
c=01
  • qali/kali-
c=02sensitive connection with the spirit world[11]
c=01
  • Sa-
c=02instrumental noun
c=01
  • Si-
c=02instrumental voice
c=01
  • -an
c=02instrumental voice: imperative
c=01
  • Sika-
c=02ordinal numeral
c=01
  • taʀ-/ta-
c=02sudden, unexpected, or accidental action
c=01
  • -um-
c=02actor voice: transitivity, etc.
c=01
  • -in-
c=02perfective, nominalizer
c=01
  • -ar-
c=02plural
c=01
  • -an
c=02locative voice
c=01
  • -i
c=02locative voice: imperative
c=01
  • -en
c=02patient voice
c=01
  • -a
c=02patient voice: imperative
c=01
  • -ay
c=02future
c=01
  • ka- -an
c=02adversative passive, abstract nouns
c=01-tac=021st person plural inclusive, genitive suffix

A verbal prefix *paRi- is also reconstructed (albeit at the lower level of), for “reciprocal or collective action”;[12] it is particularly developed in Oceanic languages.[13]

Reduplication

CV (consonant + vowel) reduplication is very common among the Austronesian languages. In Proto-Austronesian, Ca-reduplicated (consonant + /a/) numbers were used to count humans, while the non-reduplicated sets were used to count non-human and inanimate objects. CV-reduplication was also used to nominalize verbs in Proto-Austronesian. In Ilocano, CV-reduplication is used to pluralize nouns.

Reduplication patterns include (Blust 2009):

Other less common patterns are (Blust 2009):

Vocabulary

Pronouns

See also: Austronesian personal pronouns. The Proto-Austronesian and Proto-Malayo-Polynesian personal pronouns below were reconstructed by Robert Blust.[2]

Type of Pronoun!c=02
Englishc=03Proto-Austronesianc=04Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
c=011s.c=02"I"c=03
  • i-aku
c=04
  • i-aku
c=012s.c=02"you/thou"c=03
  • i-(ka)Su
c=04
  • i-kahu
c=013s.c=02"he/she/it"c=03
  • si-ia
c=04
  • si-ia
c=011p. (inclusive)c=02"we (and you)"c=03
  • i-(k)ita
c=04
  • i-(k)ita
c=011p. (exclusive)c=02"we (but not you)"c=03
  • i-(k)ami
c=04
  • i-(k)ami
c=012p.c=02"you all"c=03
  • i-kamu
c=04
  • i-kamu, ihu
c=013p.c=02"they"c=03
  • si-ida
c=04
  • si-ida

In 2006, Malcolm Ross also proposed seven different pronominal categories for persons. The categories are listed below, with the Proto-Austronesian first person singular ("I") given as examples.[14]

  1. Neutral (e.g., PAN *i-aku)
  2. Nominative 1 (e.g., PAN *aku)
  3. Nominative 2 (e.g., PAN *=ku, *[S]aku)
  4. Accusative (e.g., PAN *i-ak-ən)
  5. Genitive 1 (e.g., PAN *=[a]ku)
  6. Genitive 2 (e.g., PAN *(=)m-aku)
  7. Genitive 3 (e.g., PAN *n-aku)

The following is from Ross' 2002 proposal of the Proto-Austronesian pronominal system, which contains five categories, including the free (i.e., independent or unattached), free polite, and three genitive categories.[2]

Free!c=02
Free politec=03Genitive 1c=04Genitive 2c=05Genitive 3
1s.c=01
  • [i-]aku
c=02c=03
  • =ku
c=04
  • maku
c=05
  • n-aku
2s.c=01
  • [i-]Su
c=02
  • [i-]ka-Su
c=03
  • =Su
c=04
  • miSu
c=05
  • ni-Su
3s.c=01
  • s(i)-ia
c=02c=03(*=ia)c=04c=05
  • n(i)-ia
1p. (excl.)c=01
  • i-ami
c=02
  • [i-]k-ami
c=03
  • =mi
c=04
  • mami
c=05
  • n(i)-ami
1p. (incl.)c=01
  • ([i])ita
c=02
  • [i-]k-ita
c=03
  • =ta
c=04
  • mita
c=05
  • n-ita
2p.c=01
  • i-amu
c=02
  • [i-]k-amu
c=03
  • =mu
c=04
  • mamu
c=05
  • n(i)-amu
3p.c=01
  • si-da
c=02c=03(*=da)c=04c=05
  • ni-da

Nouns

Proto-Austronesian vocabulary relating to agriculture and other technological innovations include:[2]

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian innovations include:

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian also has several words for house:

Body part!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesianc=04Proto-Oceanicc=05Proto-Polynesian
c=01handc=02
  • (qa)lima
c=03
  • (qa)lima
c=04
  • lima
c=05
  • lima
c=01leg, footc=02
  • qaqay
c=03
  • qaqay
c=04
  • waqe
c=05
  • waqe
c=01headc=02
  • qulu
c=03
  • qulu
c=04
  • qulu, *bwatu(k)
c=05
  • qulu
c=01eyec=02
  • maCa
c=03
  • mata
c=04
  • mata
c=05
  • mata
c=01earc=02
  • Caliŋa
c=03
  • taliŋa
c=04
  • taliŋa
c=05
  • taliŋa
c=01nosec=02
  • mujiŋ
c=03
  • ijuŋ
c=04
  • isuŋ
c=05
  • isu
c=01mouthc=02
  • ŋusu
c=03
  • baqbaq
c=04
  • papaq
c=05
  • ŋutu
c=01bloodc=02
  • daRaq
c=03
  • daRaq
c=04
  • draRaq
c=05
  • toto
c=01liverc=02
  • qaCay
c=03
  • qatay
c=04
  • qate
c=05
  • qate
c=01bonec=02
  • CuqelaN
c=03
  • tuqelaŋ
c=04
  • suri
c=05
  • hui
c=01skinc=02
  • qaNiC
c=03
  • kulit
c=04
  • kulit
c=05
  • kili
c=01backc=02
  • likud
c=03
  • likud
c=04
  • muri, *takuRu
c=05
  • tuqa
c=01bellyc=02
  • tiaN
c=03
  • tian, *kempuŋ
c=04
  • tian
c=05
  • manawa
c=01intestinesc=02
  • Cinaqi
c=03
  • tinaqi
c=04
  • tinaqi
c=05
c=01breastc=02
  • susu
c=03
  • susu
c=04
  • susu
c=05
  • susu, *huhu
c=01shoulderc=02
  • qabaRa
c=03
  • qabaRa
c=04
  • (qa)paRa
c=05
  • uma
c=01neckc=02
  • liqeR
c=03
  • liqeR
c=04
  • Ruqa, *liqoR
c=05
  • ua
c=01hairc=02
  • bukeS
c=03
  • buhek
c=04
  • raun ni qulu
c=05
  • lau-qulu
c=01toothc=02
  • nipen
c=03
  • ipen, *nipen
c=04
  • nipon, *lipon
c=05
  • nifo
Kinship!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesianc=04Proto-Oceanicc=05Proto-Polynesian
c=01person, human beingc=02
  • Cau
c=03
  • tau
c=04
  • taumataq
c=05
  • taŋata
c=01motherc=02
  • t-ina
c=03
  • t-ina
c=04
  • tina
c=05
  • tinana
c=01fatherc=02
  • t-ama
c=03
  • t-ama
c=04
  • tama
c=05
  • tamana
c=01childc=02
  • aNak
c=03
  • anak
c=04
  • natu
c=05
  • tama
c=01man, malec=02
  • ma-Ruqanay
c=03
  • laki, *ma-Ruqanay
c=04
  • mwaRuqane
c=05
  • taqane
c=01woman, femalec=02
  • bahi
c=03
  • bahi
c=04
  • pine, *papine
c=05
  • fafine
c=01housec=02
  • Rumaq
c=03
  • Rumaq, *balay, *banua
c=04
  • Rumwaq
c=05
  • fale

Animals

Animal!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesianc=04Proto-Oceanicc=05Proto-Polynesian
c=01dogc=02
  • asu
c=03
  • asu
c=04c=05
  • kuli
c=01birdc=02
  • qayam
c=03 c=04
  • manuk
c=05
  • manu
c=01snakec=02
  • SulaR
c=03
  • hulaR, *nipay
c=04
  • mwata
c=05
  • ŋata
c=01lousec=02
  • kuCu
c=03
  • kutu
c=04
  • kutu
c=05
  • kutu
c=01fishc=02
  • Sikan
c=03
  • hikan
c=04
  • ikan
c=05
  • ika
c=01chickenc=02
  • manuk
c=03c=04c=05
Selected animal names! No. !! Common name !! Scientific name !! Proto-Austronesian
6845 Macaca cyclopis
  • luCuŋ
7228 deer sp.
  • benan
7187 Talpa insularis
  • mumu
709 a dove Ducula spp.?
  • baRuj
7127 omen bird Alcippe spp.
  • SiSiN
234 termite, white ant
  • aNay
6861 jungle leech Haemadipsa spp.
  • -matek
6862 jungle leech Haemadipsa spp.
  • qaNi-matek

Plants

Selected plant names[16] ! No. !! Common name !! Scientific name !! Proto-Austronesian
8465 Polyporus spp.
  • kulaC
8795 Panicum miliaceum
  • baCaR
10249 Ricinus communis
  • katawa
10710 elephant grass, miscanthus grass Themeda gigantea
  • Caŋelaj
6569 Liquidambar formosana
  • daRa₁
6629 loquat tree and fruit Eriobotrya deflexa
  • Ritu
7254 mulberry tree and fruit Morus formosensis
  • taNiud
4614 Calamus sp.
  • quay
6568 Sapindus mukorossi, Sapindus saponaria
  • daqu₂
7166 Laportea spp.
  • laCeŋ
4900 Imperata cylindrica
  • Riaq
6689 Imperata cylindrica
  • Rimeja
7070 a hairy vine Pueraria hirsuta
  • baSay
484 giant crinum lily, spider lily Crinum asiaticum
  • bakuŋ₁
4039 Caesarweed, Congo jute Urena lobata
  • puluC
6560 Chinese sumac, nutgall tree Rhus semialata
  • beRuS
6587 aromatic litsea, may chang Litsea cubeba
  • maqaw
6630 Indian lettuce Lactuca indica
  • Samaq
6630 sow thistle Sonchus oleraceus
  • Samaq
6697 a plant Aralia decaisneana
  • tanaq
6818 European black nightshade Solanum nigrum
  • SameCi
7082 Phragmites spp.
  • qaReNu
7084 a plant Begonia aptera
  • qanus₁
7418 fireweed, burnweed Erechtites spp.
  • Sina
12731 Chinese elder Sambucus formosana
  • Nayad
8455 a plant with roots that are pounded and put in rivers to stun fish Derris elliptica
  • tuba
7191 Sesamum indicum
  • Samud
12683 a small tree bearing round, green fruit Ehretia spp.
  • kaNawaS
611 a thorny vine Smilax spp.
  • baNaR
619 a thorny vine Smilax spp.
  • baNaw
4243 fragrant manjack Cordia dichotoma
  • qaNuNaŋ
7114 chinaberry tree Melia azedarach
  • baŋaS
12726 bishop wood Bischofia javanica
  • CuquR
12811 a tree Zelkova formosana
  • teRebeS
12773 Shorea maxwelliana
  • buleS
6682 Cinnamomum spp.
  • dakeS
7233 an evergreen tree Acacia confusa?
  • tuquN
9776 Bambusa spinosa?
  • kawayan
1046 bamboo of very large diameter Dendrocalamus sp.?
  • betuŋ₁
6559 Musa sapientum
  • beNbeN
6693 nut of Areca catechu
  • Sawiki
1223 cane grass Miscanthus sp.
  • biRaSu
6620 Cucumis sativus
  • baRat₂
6621 Colocasia esculenta
  • Cali
8750 millet sp. Setaria italica (?)
  • zawa₂
811 Setaria italica
  • beCeŋ
3089 plant sp. Diospyros discolor
  • kamaya
2054 Saccharum officinarum
  • CebuS
7952 Saccharum officinarum
  • tebuS
7304 Chamaecyparis obtusa
  • baŋun₁
12687 Rubus parvifolius, Rubus taiwanianus
  • RiNuk
4722 tree with sticky fruits Cordia spp.
  • quNuNaŋ
1601 type of slender bamboo Schizostachyum spp.
  • buluq₂
1218 wild taro, elephant's ear or itching taro Alocasia spp.
  • biRaq₁

Colors and directions

Below are colors in reconstructed Proto-Austronesian, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian.[2] [17] The first three have been reconstructed by Robert Blust, while the Proto-Polynesian words given below were reconstructed by Andrew Pawley. Proto-Polynesian displays many innovations not found in the other proto-languages.

Color!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesianc=04Proto-Oceanicc=05Proto-Polynesian
c=01whitec=02
  • ma-puNi
c=03
  • ma-putiq
c=04
  • ma-puteq
c=05
  • tea
c=01blackc=02
  • ma-CeŋeN
c=03
  • ma-qitem
c=04
  • ma-qetom
c=05
  • quli(-quli)
c=01redc=02
  • ma-puteq
c=03
  • ma-iRaq
c=04
  • meRaq
c=05
  • kula
c=01yellowc=02c=03
  • ma-kunij
c=04
  • aŋo
c=05
  • reŋareŋa, *felo(-felo)
c=01greenc=02
  • mataq
c=03
  • mataq
c=04
  • karakarawa
c=05
  • mata (?)

The Proto-Austronesians used two types of directions, which are the land-sea axis and the monsoon axis. The cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west developed among the Austronesian languages only after contact with the Europeans. For the land-sea axis, upstream/uphill and inland, as well as downstream/downhill and seaward, are synonym pairs. This has been proposed as evidence that Proto-Austronesians used to live on a mainland, since the sea would be visible from all angles on small islands.[2]

In Kavalan, Amis, and Tagalog, the reflexes of *timuR mean "south" or "south wind," while in the languages of the southern Philippines and Indonesia it means "east" or "east wind."

In Ilocano, Iloko: dáya and Iloko: láud respectively mean "east" and "west," while in Puyuma, ɖaya and ɭauɖ respectively mean "west" and "east."[18] This is because the Ilocano homeland is the west coast of northern Luzon, while the Puyuma homeland is on the eastern coast of southern Taiwan. Among the Bontok, Kankanaey, and Ifugaw languages of northern Luzon, the reflexes of *daya mean "sky" because they already live in some of the highest elevations in the Philippines (Blust 2009:301).

Also, the Malay reflex of *lahud is Malay: laut, which means "sea", used as directions Malay: timur laut (means "northeast", timur = "east") and Malay: barat laut (means "northwest", barat = "west"). Meanwhile, *daya only performs in Malay: barat daya, which means "southwest".

Numerals

Below are reconstructed Proto-Austronesian, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian numbers from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database.[19]

Note that *lima 'five', ultimately the root for 'hand', is not found for 'five' in some Formosan languages, such as Pazeh, Saisiat, Luilang, Favorlang and Taokas; numerals cognate with Proto-Malayo-Polynesian 6–10 are found in Amis, Basay, Bunun, Kanakanabu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Saaroa and Tsou. Pazeh, Favorlang, Saisiat and Taokas reflect *RaCep 'five'.

Laurent Sagart suggests that this was the PAn root, replaced by *lima in a lineage that lead to the remaining languages, rather than the reverse, because it seems to be retained in proto-Malayo-Polynesian in the forms 7, 8, 9, which appear to be disyllabic contractions of additive phrases attested from some of the western Formosan languages, especially Pazeh: Pazeh xaseb-uza 'six' (literally 'five-one'); xaseb-i-dusa 'seven' ('five-and-two'), with the bidu cognate with PMP *pitu; xaseb-a-turu 'eight' ('five-and-three'), with the baturu cognate with PMP *walu; xaseb-i-supat 'nine' ('five-and-four'), with the supa (< PAn *Sepat 'four') cognate with PMP *Siwa.[20]

Number!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesianc=04Proto-Oceanicc=05Proto-Polynesian
c=01onec=02
  • esa, *isa
c=03
  • esa, *isa
c=04
  • sa-kai, *ta-sa, *tai, *kai
c=05
  • taha
c=01twoc=02
  • duSa
c=03
  • duha
c=04
  • rua
c=05
  • rua
c=01threec=02
  • telu
c=03
  • telu
c=04
  • tolu
c=05
  • tolu
c=01fourc=02
  • Sepat
c=03
  • epat
c=04
  • pat, *pati, *pani
c=05
  • faa
c=01fivec=02
  • RaCep > *lima
c=03
  • lima
c=04
  • lima
c=05
  • lima

The Proto-Austronesian language had different sets of numerals for non-humans ("set A") and humans ("set B") (Blust 2009:279). Cardinal numerals for counting humans are derived from the non-human numerals through Ca-reduplication. This bipartite numeral system is found in Thao, Puyuma, Yami, Chamorro, and various other languages (however, Paiwan uses ma- and manə- to derive human numerals). In many Philippine languages such as Tagalog, the two numeral systems are merged (Blust 2009:280–281).

Number!c=02
Set Ac=03Set Bc=04Tagalog
c=01onec=02
  • isa
c=03
  • ?
c=04Tagalog: isa (A)
c=01twoc=02
  • duSa
c=03
  • da-duSa
c=04Tagalog: dalawa (B)
c=01threec=02
  • telu
c=03
  • ta-telu
c=04Tagalog: tatlo (B)
c=01fourc=02
  • Sepat
c=03
  • Sa-Sepat
c=04Tagalog: apat (B)
c=01fivec=02
  • lima
c=03
  • la-lima
c=04Tagalog: lima (A)
c=01sixc=02
  • enem
c=03
  • a-enem
c=04Tagalog: anim (B)
c=01sevenc=02
  • pitu
c=03
  • pa-pitu
c=04Tagalog: pito (A)
c=01eightc=02
  • walu
c=03
  • wa-walu
c=04Tagalog: walo (A)
c=01ninec=02
  • Siwa
c=03
  • Sa-Siwa
c=04Tagalog: (siyam)
c=01tenc=02
  • sa-puluq
c=03
  • ?
c=04Tagalog: sampu

Proto-Austronesian also used *Sika- to derive ordinal numerals (Blust 2009:281).

Verbs

Below are reconstructed Proto-Austronesian, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian verbs from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database.

Verb!c=02
Proto-Austronesianc=03Proto-Malayo-Polynesianc=04Proto-Oceanicc=05Proto-Polynesian
c=01to walkc=02
  • Nakaw
c=03
  • lakaw, paNaw
c=04
  • lako, pano
c=05
  • fano
c=01to swimc=02
  • Naŋuy
c=03
  • naŋuy
c=04
  • kakaRu
c=05
  • kaukau
c=01to knowc=02
  • bajaq
c=03
  • taqu
c=04
  • taqu
c=05
  • qiloa
c=01to thinkc=02
  • nemnem
c=03
  • demdem
c=04
  • rodrom
c=05
  • manatu
c=01to sleepc=02
  • tuduR
c=03
  • tuduR
c=04
  • turuR
c=05
  • mohe
c=01to standc=02
  • diRi
c=03
  • diRi, *tuqud
c=04
  • tuqur
c=05
  • tuqu
c=01to sewc=02
  • taSiq
c=03
  • tahiq, *zaqit
c=04
  • saqit, *turi
c=05
  • tui
c=01to die, be deadc=02
  • m-aCay
c=03
  • m-atay
c=04
  • mate
c=05
  • mate
c=01to choosec=02
  • piliq
c=03
  • piliq
c=04
  • piliq
c=05
  • fili
c=01to flyc=02
  • layap
c=03
  • layap, Rebek
c=04
  • Ropok
c=05
  • lele

Monosyllabic roots

The following are monosyllabic Proto-Austronesian roots reconstructed by John Wolff (Wolff 1999).[21]

Forms which can be reconstructed as monosyllables with a great deal of certainty

Sequences which are likely (or may have been) monosyllabic roots, but cannot be unequivocally reconstructed

Reconstructed doubled monosyllables phonologically but which cannot be proven to be monosyllabic roots

Sequences which occur as final syllables over a wide area but which cannot be reconstructed as a monosyllabic root

See also

Sources

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Blust. Robert. Robert Blust. Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics. The Austronesian languages: Revised Edition. 2013. Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. 1885/10191 . 978-1-92218-507-5.
  2. Book: Blust. Robert. Robert Blust. Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics. The Austronesian languages. 2009. Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. 978-0-85883-602-0.
  3. Wolff, John U. 2010. Proto-Austronesian Phonology with Glossary. Ithaca, NY: Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications.
  4. Wolff uses (ɬ|) (which in IPA stands for a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative) to represent the proto-sound which he assumes to have been a palatal lateral pronounced as /ʎ/.
  5. Tsuchida, Shigeru 1976. Reconstruction of proto-Tsouic phonology. Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Monograph Series, no. 5. Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa
  6. Technically this is still part of the *S > *h sound change. The difference is that the preceding vowel changes as well.
  7. Blust. R. A..
    • t to k: An Austronesian Sound Change Revisited
    . Oceanic Linguistics. 2004. 43. 2. 365–410. 10.1353/ol.2005.0001. 143013834 .
  8. Ross, Malcolm. 2009. "Proto Austronesian verbal morphology: A reappraisal." In Alexander Adelaar and Andrew Pawley (eds.). Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift for Robert Blust. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  9. Only found in the central and southern Philippines as well as some parts of Borneo and Sulawesi.
  10. Found in the Formosan languages and possibly also in Cebuano.
  11. Used with insects, rainbows, storm/natural phenomena, various plant/animal names, etc.
  12. See entry *paRi- in Blust, Trussel & Smith (2023).
  13. 12. 1/2. 103–188. Pawley. Andrew. Andrew Pawley. Some problems in Proto-Oceanic grammar. Oceanic Linguistics. 10.2307/3622854. 1973. 3622854. .
  14. [Malcolm Ross (linguist)|Ross, Malcolm]
  15. PMP *qayam means ;domesticated animal', PMP *manuk means 'domesticated fowl, chicken', and PMP *manu-manuk means 'bird'.
  16. [#acd|Blust, Trussel & Smith (2023)]
  17. Web site: Pawley . Andrew . Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Polynesian Reconstructions for Modified Swadesh 200 Meaning List, Without Supporting Cognate Sets . Unpublished list, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170413021014/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=658 . 2017-04-13 .
  18. Cauquelin, Josiane. 1991. Dictionnaire Puyuma–Français. Paris: Ecole française d'Extrême Orient.
  19. Web site: Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database . 2008-03-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170503020518/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/ . 2017-05-03 . dead .
  20. Laurent Sagart (2004) The Higher Phylogeny of Austronesian and the Position of Tai-Kadai
  21. Wolff, John. 1999. "The monosyllabic roots of Proto-Austronesian." In Elizabeth Zeitoun and Paul Jen-kuei Li, eds. 1999. Selected papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, 139–194. Taipei, Taiwan: Academia Sinica.