Austronesian languages

Not to be confused with Austroasiatic languages.
"Austronesian" redirects here. For other uses, see Austronesian (disambiguation).
Austronesian
Geographic
distribution:		 Maritime Southeast Asia, Oceania, Madagascar, Taiwan, Andaman archipelago
Linguistic classification: One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language: Proto-Austronesian
Subdivisions:
ISO 639-2 / 5: map
Glottolog: aust1307[1]

{{{mapalt}}}

Distribution of Austronesian languages.

The Austronesian languages are a language family that is widely dispersed throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, Madagascar and the islands of the Pacific Ocean, with a few members in continental Asia.[2] Austronesian languages are spoken by about 386 million people, making it the fifth-largest language family by number of speakers, behind only the Indo-European languages, the Sino-Tibetan languages, the Niger-Congo languages, and the Afroasiatic languages. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger–Congo, and Afroasiatic as one of the best-established language families. Major Austronesian languages with the highest number of speakers are Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, and Filipino (Tagalog).

Otto Dempwolff was the first researcher to extensively explore Austronesian using the comparative method. Another German, Wilhelm Schmidt, coined the German word austronesisch[3] which comes from Latin auster "south wind" plus Greek nêsos "island". The name Austronesian was formed from the same roots. The family is aptly named, as the vast majority of Austronesian languages are spoken on islands: only a few languages, such as Malay and the Chamic languages, are indigenous to mainland Asia. Many Austronesian languages have very few speakers, but the major Austronesian languages are spoken by tens of millions of people and one Austronesian language, Malay (incl. Indonesian and Malaysian), is spoken by 250 million people, making it the 8th most spoken language in the world. Twenty or so Austronesian languages are official in their respective countries (see the list of major and official Austronesian languages).

Different sources count languages differently, but Austronesian and Niger–Congo are the two largest language families in the world, each having roughly one-fifth of the total languages counted in the world. The geographical span of Austronesian was the largest of any language family before the spread of Indo-European in the colonial period, ranging from Madagascar off the southeastern coast of Africa to Easter Island in the eastern Pacific. Hawaiian, Rapa Nui, and Malagasy (spoken on Madagascar) are the geographic outliers of the Austronesian family.

According to Robert Blust (1999), Austronesian is divided in several primary branches, all but one of which are found exclusively on Taiwan. The Formosan languages of Taiwan are grouped into as many as nine first-order subgroups of Austronesian. All Austronesian languages spoken outside Taiwan (including its offshore Yami language) belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch, sometimes called Extra-Formosan.

Most Austronesian languages lack a long history of written attestation, making the feat of reconstructing earlier stages – up to distant Proto-Austronesian – all the more remarkable. The oldest inscription in the Cham language, the Đông Yên Châu inscription, dated to the mid-6th century at the latest, is also the first attestation of any Austronesian language.

Structure

Banknote for 5 dollars, Hawaii, circa 1839, using Hawaiian language.

It is difficult to make generalizations about the languages that make up a family as diverse as Austronesian. Very broadly, one can divide the Austronesian languages into three groups: Philippine-type languages, Indonesian-type languages and post-Indonesian type (Ross 2002):

The Austronesian languages tend to use reduplication (repetition of all or part of a word, as in wiki-wiki or agar-agar). Like many East and Southeast Asian languages, most Austronesian languages have highly restrictive phonotactics, with generally small numbers of phonemes and predominantly consonant–vowel syllables.

Lexicon

The Austronesian language family has been established by the linguistic comparative method on the basis of cognate sets, sets of words similar in sound and meaning which can be shown to be descended from the same ancestral word in Proto-Austronesian according to regular rules. Some cognate sets are very stable. The word for eye in many Austronesian languages is mata (from the most northerly Austronesian languages, Formosan languages such as Bunun and Amis all the way south to Māori). Other words are harder to reconstruct. The word for two is also stable, in that it appears over the entire range of the Austronesian family, but the forms (e.g. Bunun rusya, lusha; Amis tusa; Māori tahi, rua) require some linguistic expertise to recognise. The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database gives word lists (coded for cognateness) for approximately 1000 Austronesian languages.

Classification

The internal structure of the Austronesian languages is complex. The family consists of many similar and closely related languages with large numbers of dialect continua, making it difficult to recognize boundaries between branches. However, it is clear that the greatest genealogical diversity is found among the Formosan languages of Taiwan, and the least diversity among the islands of the Pacific, supporting a dispersal of the family from Taiwan or China. The first comprehensive classification to reflect this was Dyen (1965).

The seminal article in the classification of Formosan—and, by extension, the top-level structure of Austronesian—is Blust (1999). Prominent Formosanists (linguists who specialize in Formosan languages) take issue with some of its details, but it remains the point of reference for current linguistic analyses, and is shown below. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are frequently included within Blust's Eastern Formosan branch due to their shared leveling of proto-Austronesian *t, *C to /t/ and *n, *N to /n/, their shift of *S to /h/, and vocabulary such as *lima "five" which are not attested in other Formosan languages.

There appear to have been two great migrations of Austronesian languages that quickly covered large areas, resulting in multiple local groups with little large-scale structure. The first was Malayo-Polynesian, distributed across the Philippines, Indonesia, and Melanesia. The Central Malayo-Polynesian languages are similar to each other not because of close genealogical relationships, but rather because they reflect strong substratum effects from non-Austronesian languages. The second migration was that of the Oceanic languages into Polynesia and Micronesia (Greenhill, Blust & Gray 2008).

In addition to Malayo-Polynesian, thirteen Formosan families are broadly accepted. Debate centers primarily around the relationships between these families. Of the classifications presented here, Blust (1999) links two families into a Western Plains group, two more in a Northwestern Formosan group, and three into an Eastern Formosan group, while Lee (2008) also links five families into a Northern Formosan group. The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database (2008) accepts Northern, rejects Eastern, links Tsouic and Rukai (two highly divergent languages), and links Malayo-Polynesian with Paiwan in a Paiwanic group. Ross (2009) splits Tsouic, and notes that Tsou, Rukai, and Puyuma fall outside of reconstructions of Proto-Austronesian.

Other studies have presented phonological evidence for a reduced Paiwanic family of Paiwanic, Puyuma, Bunun, Amis, and Malayo-Polynesian, but this is not reflected in vocabulary. The Eastern Formosan peoples Basay, Kavalan, and Amis share a homeland motif that has them coming originally from an island called Sinasay or Sanasay (Li 2004). The Amis, in particular, maintain that they came from the east, and were treated by the Puyuma, amongst whom they settled, as a subservient group (Taylor 1888).[6]

Blust (1999)

Families of Formosan languages before Minnanese colonization of Taiwan, per Blust (1999).
Distribution of the Austronesian languages, per Blust (1999).
Austronesian

(clockwise from the southwest)

  Western Plains (Formosan)
  Northwest Formosan
  Paiwan language (southern tip of Formosa)

Li (2008)

Families of Formosan languages before Minnanese colonization, per Li (2008). The three languages in green (Bunun, Puyuma, Paiwan) may form a Southern Formosan branch, but this is uncertain.

This classification retains Blust's East Formosan, and unites the other northern languages. Li proposes a Proto-Formosan (F0) ancestor and equates it with Proto-Austronesian (PAN), following the model in Starosta (1995).[7][8] Rukai and Tsouic are seen as highly divergent,[7] although the position of Rukai is highly controversial.[9]

Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database (2008)

Families of Formosan languages before Minnanese colonization, per the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database (Greenhill, Blust & Gray 2008).

This investigation keeps Li's Northern Formosan, but breaks up Blust's East Formosan, and suggests Paiwan may be the closest to Malayo-Polynesian. It also unites Tsouic and Rukai, the two most divergent languages in Li.

Austronesian
  Kavalanic

This is an obvious, low-level grouping

These groups are linked with an estimated 97% probability.

  Ami

Another low-level grouping

  Bunun
  Tsou–Rukai

Tsou and Rukai are connected with moderate confidence, estimated at 85% probability.

  Siraya
  Puyuma
  Paiwanic

Malayo-Polynesian and Paiwan are linked with a low level of confidence (74%).

Ross (2009)

Families of Formosan languages before Minnanese colonization, per Ross (2009).

In 2009, Malcolm Ross proposed a new classification of the Austronesian language family based on morphological evidence from various Formosan languages.[10] He proposed that the current reconstructions for Proto-Austronesian actually correspond to an intermediate stage, which he terms "Proto-Nuclear Austronesian". Notably, Ross' classification does not support the unity of the Tsouic languages, instead considering the Southern Tsouic languages of Kanakanavu and Saaroa to be a separate branch. This supports Chang's (2006) claim that Tsouic is not a valid group.[11]

Austronesian
  Rukai
  Puyuma
  Tsou
  Nuclear Austronesian

Major languages

Austronesian comparison chart

Below is a chart comparing list of numbers of 1-10 and thirteen words in Austronesian languages; spoken in Taiwan, the Philippines, the Mariana Islands, Indonesia, Malaysia, Chams or Champa in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, East Timor, Papua, New Zealand, Hawaii, Madagascar, Borneo and Tuvalu.

Austronesian List of Numbers 1-10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Proto-Austronesian *əsa
*isa 		*duSa *təlu *Səpat *lima *ənəm *pito *walu *Siwa *(sa-)puluq
Formosan languages 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Amis cecay tosa tolo spat lima enem pito falo siwa mo^tep
Atayal qutux sazing cyugal payat magal mtzyu mpitu mspat mqeru mopuw
Paiwan ita drusa tjelu sepatj lima enem pitju alu siva tapuluq
Bunun tasʔa dusa tau paat hima nuum pitu vau siva masʔan
Puyuma isa zuwa telu pat lima unem pitu walu iwa pulu'
Rukai itha drusa tulru supate lrima eneme pitu valru bangate pulruku
Tsou coni yuso tuyu sʉptʉ eimo nomʉ pitu voyu sio maskʉ
Saisiyat 'aeihae' roSa' to:lo' Sopat haseb SayboSi: SayboSi: 'aeihae' maykaSpat hae'hae' lampez
Yami asa dora atlo apat lima anem pito wao siyam poo
Thao taha tusha turu shpat tarima katuru pitu kashpat tanathu makthin
Kavalan usiq uzusa utulu uspat ulima unem upitu uwalu usiwa rabtin
Truku kingal dha tru spat rima mataru empitu maspat mngari maxal
Sakizaya cacay tosa tolo sepat lima enem pito walo siwa cacay a bataan
Seediq kingal daha teru sepac rima mmteru mpitu mmsepac mngari maxal
Malayo-Polynesian languages 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əsa
*isa 		*duha *təlu *əpat *lima *ənəm *pito *walu *hiwa *puluq
Nuclear Malayo-Polynesian (MP) languages 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Sunda–Sulawesi languages 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Acehnese sifar
soh		 sa duwa lhee peuet limong nam tujoh lapan sikureueng siploh
Balinesea

nul

besik
siki

dua

telu

papat

lime

nenem

pitu

kutus

sia 		dasa
Banjar asa dua talu ampat lima anam pitu walu sanga sapuluh
Batak, Toba sada dua tolu opat lima onom pitu ualu sia sampulu
Buginese ceddi dua tellu empa lima enneng pitu arua asera seppulo
Cia-Cia dise
ise 		rua
ghua 		tolu pa'a lima no'o picu walu
oalu 		siua ompulu
Cham sa dua klau pak lima nam tujuh dalapan salapan sapluh
Indonesian kosong
nol 		satu
suatu[12] 		dua tiga[13][14] empat lima[15] enam tujuh delapan[16] sembilan sepuluh
Javanese (Kawi)b[17] sunya
eka
dwi
tri
catur
panca
sad
sapta
asta
nawa 		dasa
Javanese (Kuna)[18] das sa
(sa' / sak) 		rwa tĕlu pāt lima nĕm pitu walu sanga sapuluh
Javanese (Krama) nol setunggal kalih tiga sekawan gangsal enem pitu wolu sanga sedasa
Javanese (Ngoko)[19] nol siji loro telu papat lima enem pitu wolu sanga sepuluh
Kelantan-Pattani kosong so duwo tigo pak limo ne tujoh lape smile spuloh
Madurese nol settong dhuwa' tello' empa' lema' ennem petto' ballu' sanga' sapolo
Makassarese ᨒᨚᨅ
lobbang
ᨊᨚᨒᨚ
nolo'		 ᨙᨔᨙᨑ
se're 		ᨑᨘᨕ
rua 		ᨈᨒᨘ
tallu 		ᨕᨄ
appa' 		ᨒᨗᨆ
lima 		ᨕᨊ
annang 		ᨈᨘᨍ
tuju 		ᨔᨂᨈᨘᨍ
sangantuju 		ᨔᨒᨄ
salapang 		ᨔᨄᨘᨒᨚ
sampulo
Malay kosong
sifar 		satu
suatu 		dua tiga[13] empat lima[20] enam tujuh lapan sembilan sepuluh
Minangkabau[21] ciek duo tigo ampek limo anam tujuah salapan sambilan sapuluah
Moken cha:? thuwa:? teloj
(təlɔy) 		pa:t lema:? nam luɟuːk waloj
(walɔy) 		chewaj
(cʰɛwaːy / sɛwaːy) 		cepoh
Sasak sekek due telo empat lime enam pituk baluk siwak sepulu
Sundanese ᮔᮧᮜ᮪
nol 		ᮠᮤᮏᮤ
hiji 		ᮓᮥᮃ
dua 		ᮒᮤᮜᮥ
tilu 		ᮇᮕᮒ᮪
opat 		ᮜᮤᮙ
lima 		ᮌᮨᮔᮨᮕ᮪
genep 		ᮒᮥᮏᮥᮂ
tujuh 		ᮓᮜᮕᮔ᮪
dalapan 		ᮞᮜᮕᮔ᮪
salapan 		ᮞᮕᮥᮜᮥᮂ
sapuluh
Terengganu Malay kosong se duwe tige pak lime nang tujoh lapang smilang spuloh
Tetun zero
nol 		ida rua tolu hat lima nen hitu ualu sia sanulu
Tsat (HuiHui)c sa³³ *,
ta¹¹ ** 		tʰua¹¹ kiə³³ pa²⁴ ma³³ naːn³² su⁵⁵ paːn³² tʰu¹ paːn³² piu⁵⁵
There are two forms for numbers 'one' in Tsat (Hui Hui; Hainan Cham) :
^* The word sa³³ is used for serial counting.
^** The word ta¹¹ is used with hundreds and thousands and before qualifiers.
Borneo–Philippine languages 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ilokano ibbong
awan
sero 		maysa duwa tallo uppat lima innem pito walo siyam sangapulo
Ibanag awan
sero 		tadday duwa tallu appa' lima annam pitu walu siyam mamfulu
Pangasinan sakey duwa talo apat lima anem pito walo siyam samplo
Kapampangan metung
isa 		aduwa atlu apat lima anam pitu walu siyam apulu
Tagalog wala
sero 		isa dalawa tatlo apat limá anim pito walo siyam sampu
Masbatenyo isad
usad 		duwa
duha 		tulo upat lima unom pito walo siyam napulo
Aklanon uwa
sero 		isaea
sambilog 		daywa tatlo ap-at lima an-om pito waeo siyam napueo
Karay-a wala
sero 		isara darwa tatlo apat lima anəm pito walo siyam napulo
Onhan isya darwa tatlo upat lima an-om pito walo siyam sampulo
Romblomanon isa duha tuyo upat lima onum pito wayo siyam napuyo
Hiligaynon wala
sero 		isa duha tatlo apat lima anom pito walo siyam napulo
Waray waray
sero 		usa duha tulo upat lima unom pito walo siyam napulo
Cebuano walay
sero 		usa duha tulo upat lima unom pito walo siyam napulo
pulo
Tausug isa duwa tū upat lima unum pitu walu siyam hangpu'
Maranao isa dua telu pat lima nem pitu ualu siau sapulu'
Benuaq (Dayak Benuaq) eray duaq toluu opaat limaq jawatn turu walo sie sepuluh
Dusun aiso iso duo tolu apat limo onom turu walu siam hopod
Malagasy aotra isa
iray 		roa telo efatra dimy enina fito valo sivy folo
Sangirese (Sangir-Minahasan) sembau darua tatelu epa lima eneng pitu walu sio mapulo
Oceanic languagesd 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fijian saiva dua rua tolu vaa lima ono vitu walu ciwa tini
Hawaiian 'ole 'e-kahi 'e-lua 'e-kolu 'e-hā 'e-lima 'e-ono 'e-hiku 'e-walu 'e-iwa 'umi
Kiribati akea teuana uoua tenua aua nimaua onoua itua wanua ruaiwa tebwina
Māori kore tahi rua toru whā rima ono whitu waru iwa tekau
ngahuru
Marshallese[22] o̧o juon ruo jilu emān ļalem jiljino jimjuon ralitōk ratimjuon jon̄oul
Motue[23] ta rua toi hani ima tauratoi hitu taurahani taurahani-ta gwauta
Niuean nakai taha ua tolu fa lima ono fitu valu hiva hogofulu
Rapanui tahi rua toru hā rima ono hitu va'u iva angahuru
Rarotongan Māori kare ta'i rua toru 'ā rima ono 'itu varu iva nga'uru
Rotuman ta rua folu hake lima ono hifu vạlu siva saghulu
Sāmoan o tasi lua tolu fa lima ono fitu valu iva sefulu
Sāmoan
(K-type)		 o kasi lua kolu fa lima ogo fiku valu iva sefulu
Tahitian hō'ē
tahi 		piti toru maha pae ōno hitu va'u iva hō'ē 'ahuru
Tongan noa taha ua tolu fa nima ono fitu valu hiva hongofulu
taha noa
Trukese eet érúúw één fáán niim woon fúús waan ttiw engoon
Tuvaluan tahi
tasi 		lua tolu fa lima ono fitu valu iva sefulu
English one two three four person house dog road day new we what fire
Tetum ida rua tolu haat ema uma asu dalan loron foun ita saida ahi
Amis cecay tosa tolo sepat tamdaw luma wacu lalan cidal faroh kita uman namal
Puyuma sa dua telu pat taw rumah soan dalan wari vekar mi amanai apue,
asi
Tagalog isa dalawa tatlo apat tao bahay aso daan araw bago tayo / kami ano apoy
Rinconada Bikol əsad darwā tolō əpat tawō baləy ayam raran aldəw bāgo kitā onō kalayō
Cebuano usa,
isa		 duha tulo upat tawo balay iro dalan adlaw bag-o kita unsa kalayo
Waray usa duha tulo upat tawo balay ayam,
ido		 dalan adlaw bag-o kita anu kalayo
Hiligaynon isa duha tatlo apat tawo balay ido dalan adlaw bag-o kita ano kalayo
Aklanon isaea,
sambilog		 daywa tatlo ap-at tawo baeay ayam daean adlaw bag-o kita ano kaeayo
Kinaray-a sara darwa tatlo apat tawo balay ayam dalan adlaw bag-o kita ano kalayo
Tausug hambuuk duwa tu upat tau bay iru' dan adlaw ba-gu kitaniyu unu kayu
Maranao isa dowa t'lo phat taw walay aso lalan gawi'e bago tano tonaa apoy
Kapampangan metung adwa atlu apat tau bale asu dalan aldo bayu ikatamu nanu api
Pangasinan sakey dua,
duara		 talo,
talora		 apat,
apatira		 too abong aso dalan ageo balo sikatayo anto pool
Ilokano maysa dua tallo uppat tao balay aso dalan aldaw baro datayo ania apoy
Ivatan asa dadowa tatdo apat tao vahay chito rarahan araw va-yo yaten ango apoy
Ibanag tadday dua tallu appa' tolay balay kitu dalan aggaw bagu sittam anni afi
Yogad tata addu tallu appat tolay binalay atu daddaman agaw bagu sikitam gani afuy
Gaddang antet addwa tallo appat tolay balay atu dallan aw bawu ikkanetam sanenay afuy
Tboli sotu lewu tlu fat tau gunu ohu lan kdaw lomi tekuy tedu ofih
Malay/Indonesian satu dua tiga[24] empat orang rumah,
balai		 anjing jalan hari baru kita apa,
anu		 api
Old Javanese esa,
eka		 rwa,
dwi		 tĕlu,
tri		 pat,
catur[25]		 wwang umah asu dalan dina hañar, añar[26] kami[27] apa,
aparan		 apuy,
agni
Javanese siji,
setunggal		 loro,
kalih		 tĕlu,
tiga[28]		 papat,
sekawan		 uwong,
tiyang,
priyantun[28]		 omah,
griya,
dalem[28] 		asu,
sĕgawon		 dalan,
gili[28]		 dina,
dinten[28]		 anyar,
énggal[28]		 awaké dhéwé,
kula panjenengan[28]		 apa,
punapa[28]		 gĕni,
latu,
brama[28]
Sundanese hiji dua tilu opat urang imah anjing jalan poe anyar,
enggal		 arurang naon seuneu
Acehnese sa duwa lhèë peuët ureuëng rumoh,
balè,
seuëng		 asèë röt uroë barô (geu)tanyoë peuë apui
Minangkabau ciek duo tigo ampek urang rumah anjiang labuah,
jalan		 hari baru awak apo api
Lampungese sai khua telu pak jelema lamban kaci ranlaya khani baru kham api apui
Buginese sedi dua tellu eppa tau bola asu lalen esso baru idi aga api
Temuan satuk duak tigak empat uwang,
eang		 gumah,
umah		 anying,
koyok		 jalan aik,
haik		 bahauk kitak apak apik
Bataknese sada dua tolu opat halak jabu biang dalan ari baru hita aha api
Kelantan-Pattani so duwo tigo pak oghe ghumoh,
dumoh		 anjing jale aghi baghu kito gapo api
Chamorro håcha,
maisa		 hugua tulu fatfat taotao guma ga'lågu[29] chålan ha'åni nuebu[30] hita håfa guafi
Motu ta,
tamona		 rua toi hani tau ruma sisia dala dina matamata ita,
ai		 dahaka lahi
Māori tahi rua toru whā tangata whare kurī ara rā hou tāua, tātou/tātau
māua, mātou/mātau		 aha ahi
Tuvaluan tasi lua tolu fá toko fale kuli ala,
tuu		 aso fou tāua a afi
Hawaiian kahi lua kolu hā kanaka hale 'īlio ala ao hou kākou aha ahi
Banjarese asa duwa talu ampat urang rūmah hadupan heko hǎri hanyar kami apa api
Malagasy isa roa telo efatra olona trano alika lalana andro vaovao isika inona afo
Dusun iso duo tolu apat tulun walai,
lamin		 tasu ralan tadau wagu tokou onu/nu tapui
Kadazan iso duvo tohu apat tuhun hamin tasu lahan tadau vagu tokou onu,
nunu		 tapui
Rungus iso duvo tolu,
tolzu		 apat tulun,
tulzun		 valai,
valzai		 tasu dalan tadau vagu tokou nunu tapui,
apui
Sungai/Tambanuo ido duo tolu opat lobuw waloi asu ralan runat wagu toko onu apui
Iban satu, sa,
siti, sigi		 dua tiga empat orang,
urang		 rumah ukui,
uduk		 jalai hari baru kitai nama api
Sarawak Malay satu,
sigek		 dua tiga empat orang rumah asuk jalan ari baru kita apa api
Terengganuan se duwe tige pak oghang ghumoh,
dumoh		 anjing jalang aghi baghu kite mende, ape,
gape, nape		 api
Kanayatn sa dua talu ampat urakng rumah asu' jalatn ari baru kami',
diri'		 ahe api

History

The protohistory of the Austronesian people can be traced farther back through time than can that of the Proto-Austronesian language. From the standpoint of historical linguistics, the home (in linguistic terminology, Urheimat) of the Austronesian languages is the main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa; on this island the deepest divisions in Austronesian are found, among the families of the native Formosan languages. According to Robert Blust, the Formosan languages form nine of the ten primary branches of the Austronesian language family Blust (1999). Comrie (2001:28) noted this when he wrote:

Austronesian languages expansion map. Periods are based on archeological studies, though the association of the archeological record and linguistic reconstructions is disputed.
“ ... the internal diversity among the... Formosan languages... is greater than that in all the rest of Austronesian put together, so there is a major genetic split within Austronesian between Formosan and the rest... Indeed, the genetic diversity within Formosan is so great that it may well consist of several primary branches of the overall Austronesian family. ”

At least since Sapir (1968), linguists have generally accepted that the chronology of the dispersal of languages within a given language family can be traced from the area of greatest linguistic variety to that of the least. For example, English in North America has large numbers of speakers, but relatively low dialectal diversity, while English in Great Britain has much higher diversity; such low linguistic variety by Sapir's thesis suggests a more recent origin of English in North America. While some scholars suspect that the number of principal branches among the Formosan languages may be somewhat less than Blust's estimate of nine (e.g. Li 2006), there is little contention among linguists with this analysis and the resulting view of the origin and direction of the migration. For a recent dissenting analysis, see (Peiros 2004).

To get an idea of the original homeland of the Austronesian people, scholars can probe evidence from archaeology and genetics. Studies from the science of genetics have produced conflicting outcomes. Some researchers find evidence for a proto-Austronesian homeland on the Asian mainland (e.g., Melton et al. 1998), while others mirror the linguistic research, rejecting an East Asian origin in favor of Taiwan (e.g., Trejaut et al. 2005). Archaeological evidence (e.g., Bellwood 1997) is more consistent, suggesting that the ancestors of the Austronesians spread from the South Chinese mainland to Taiwan at some time around 8,000 years ago. Evidence from historical linguistics suggests that it is from this island that seafaring peoples migrated, perhaps in distinct waves separated by millennia, to the entire region encompassed by the Austronesian languages (Diamond 2000). It is believed that this migration began around 6,000 years ago (Blust 1999). However, evidence from historical linguistics cannot bridge the gap between those two periods. The view that linguistic evidence connects Austronesian languages to the Sino-Tibetan ones, as proposed for example by Sagart (2002), is a minority one. As Fox (2004:8) states:

“ Implied in... discussions of subgrouping [of Austronesian languages] is a broad consensus that the homeland of the Austronesians was in Taiwan. This homeland area may have also included the P'eng-hu (Pescadores) islands between Taiwan and China and possibly even sites on the coast of mainland China, especially if one were to view the early Austronesians as a population of related dialect communities living in scattered coastal settlements. ”

Linguistic analysis of the Proto-Austronesian language stops at the western shores of Taiwan; any related mainland language(s) have not survived. The only exceptions, the Chamic languages, derive from more recent migration to the mainland (Thurgood 1999:225).

Hypothesized relations

Genealogical links have been proposed between Austronesian and various families of East and Southeast Asia.

Austric

Main article: Austric languages

A link with the Austroasiatic languages in an 'Austric' phylum is based mostly on typological evidence. However, there is also morphological evidence of a connection between the conservative Nicobarese languages and Austronesian languages of the Philippines. Paul K. Benedict extended the Austric proposal to include the Tai–Kadai and Hmong–Mien families, but this has not been followed by other linguists.

Austro-Tai

Main article: Austro-Tai languages

A competing Austro-Tai proposal linking Austronesian and Tai–Kadai is supported by Weera Ostapirat, Roger Blench, and Laurent Sagart, and is based on the traditional comparative method. Ostapirat (2005) proposes a series of regular correspondences linking the two families and assumes a primary split, with Tai–Kadai speakers being the Austronesians who stayed behind in their Chinese homeland. Blench (2004) suggests that, if the connection is valid, the relationship is unlikely to be one of two sister families. Rather, he suggests that proto-Tai–Kadai speakers were Austronesians who migrated to Hainan Island and back to the mainland from the northern Philippines, and that their distinctiveness results from radical restructuring following contact with Hmong–Mien and Sinitic.

Sino-Austronesian

French linguist and Sinologist Laurent Sagart considers the Austronesian languages to be related to the Sino-Tibetan languages, and also groups the Tai–Kadai languages as more closely related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages.[31] He also groups the Austronesian languages in a recursive-like fashion, placing Tai–Kadai as a sister branch of Malayo-Polynesian. His methodology has been found to be spurious by his peers.

Japanese

Several linguists have proposed that Japanese may be a relative of the Austronesian family, a claim countered by others.[32] Some linguists think it is more plausible that Japanese might have instead been influenced by Austronesian languages, perhaps by an Austronesian substratum. Those who propose this scenario suggest that the Austronesian family once covered the islands to the north of Formosa as well as to the south.

Ongan

It has recently been proposed that the Austronesian and the Ongan protolanguage are the descendants of an Austronesian–Ongan protolanguage (Blevins 2007).[33]

Writing systems

Sign in Balinese and Latin script at a Hindu temple in Bali.
Manuscript from early 1800s using Batak alphabet.

Most Austronesian languages have Latin-based writing systems today. Some non-Latin-based writing systems are listed below.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Austronesian". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. ↑ "Austronesian Languages". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  3. ↑ John Simpson; Edmund Weiner, eds. (1989). Official Oxford English Dictionary (OED2) (Dictionary). Oxford University Press. p. 22000.
  4. ↑ Adelaar, K. Alexander and Nikolaus Limmelmann. 2005. The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar. P.6-7
  5. ↑ Croft, William. 2012 Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure. P.261
  6. ↑ "The Tipuns... are certainly descended from emigrants, and I have not the least doubt but that the Amias are of similar origin; only of later date, and most probably from the Mejaco Simas [that is, Miyako-jima], a group of islands lying 110 miles to the North-east.... By all accounts the old Pilam savages, who merged into the Tipuns, were the first settlers on the plain; then came the Tipuns, and a long time afterwards the Amias. The Tipuns, for some time, acknowledged the Pilam Chief as supreme, but soon absorbed both the chieftainship and the people, in fact the only trace left of them now, is a few words peculiar to the Pilam village, one of which, makan (to eat), is pure Malay. The Amias submitted themselves to the jurisdiction of the Tipuns."
  7. 1 2 Li, Paul Jen-kuei. 2008. "Time perspective of Formosan Aborigines." In Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia ed. Past human migrations in East Asia: matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics. Taylor & Francis US.
  8. ↑ Starosta, S. 1995. "A grammatical subgrouping of Formosan languages." In P. Li, Cheng-hwa Tsang, Ying-kuei Huang, Dah-an Ho, and Chiu-yu Tseng eds. Austronesian Studies Relating to Taiwan, pp. 683–726, Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.
  9. ↑ "The position of Rukai is the most controversial: Tsuchida... treats it as more closely related to Tsouic languages, based on lexicostatistic evidence, while Ho... believes it to be one of the Paiwanic languages, i.e. part of my Southern group, as based on a comparison of fourteen grammatical features. In fact, Japanese anthropologists did not distinguish between Rukai, Paiwan and Puyuma in the early stage of their studies" (Li 2008: 216).
  10. ↑ 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.
  11. ↑ Chang, Henry Yungli. 2006. "Rethinking the Tsouic Subgroup Hypothesis: A Morphosyntactic Perspective." In Chang, H., Huang, L. M., Ho, D. (eds.). Streams converging into an ocean: Festschrift in honor of Professor Paul Jen-Kuei Li on his 70th birthday. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
  12. ↑ The Sanskrit loanword "Ekasila" : "Eka" means 1, "Sila" means "pillar", "principle" appeared in Sukarno's speech
  13. 1 2 In Kedukan Bukit inscription the numeral tlu ratus appears as three hundred, tlu as three, in http://www.wordsense.eu/telu/ the word telu is referred to as three in Malay, although the use of telu is very rare.
  14. ↑ The Sanskrit loanword "Trisila" : "Tri" means 3, "Sila" means "pillar", "principle" appeared in Sukarno's speech
  15. ↑ The Sanskrit loanword: Pancasila is the 5 principles of sukarno explained here: Pancasila (politics), "Panca" means 5, "Sila" means "pillar", "principle".
  16. ↑ Lapan is a known shortage of Delapan.
  17. ↑ Siman Widyatmanta, Adiparwa. Vol. I dan II. Cetakan Ketiga. Yogyakarta: U.P. "Spring", 1968.
  18. ↑ Zoetmulder, P.J., Kamus Jawa Kuno-Indonesia. Vol. I-II. Terjemahan Darusuprapto-Sumarti Suprayitno. Jakarta: PT. Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 1995.
  19. ↑ Javanese alphabet, pronunciation, and language (Aksara Jawa), http://www.omniglot.com/writing/javanese.htm
  20. ↑ The Sanskrit loanword: "Panca" means 5, in the name of Siti Nurhaliza songs disc, "Pancawarna" which means: "5 colors".
  21. ↑
  22. ↑ Cook, Richard (1992). Peace Corps Marshall Islands: Marshallese Language Training Manual (PDF), pg. 22. Accessed August 27, 2007
  23. ↑ Percy Chatterton, (1975). Say It In Motu: An instant introduction to the common language of Papua. Pacific Publications. ISBN 978-0-85807-025-7
  24. ↑ In Kedukan Bukit inscription appears the numeral Tlu ratus as Three hundred, Tlu as Three, in http://www.wordsense.eu/telu/ the word Telu is referred as Three in Malay and Indonesian Language although the use of Telu is very rare.
  25. ↑ s.v. kawan, Old Javanese-English Dictionary, P.J. Zoetmulder and Stuart Robson, 1982
  26. ↑ s.v. hañar, Old Javanese-English Dictionary, P.J. Zoetmulder and Stuart Robson, 1982
  27. ↑ s.v. kami, this could mean both first person singular and plural, Old Javanese-English Dictionary, P.J. Zoetmulder and Stuart Robson, 1982
  28. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Javanese English Dictionary, Stuart Robson and Singgih Wibisono, 2002
  29. ↑ From Spanish "galgo"
  30. ↑ From Spanish "nuevo"
  31. ↑ van Driem, George. 2005. Sino-Austronesian vs. Sino-Caucasian, Sino-Bodic vs. Sino-Tibetan, and Tibeto-Burman as default theory. Contemporary Issues in Nepalese Linguistics, pp. 285–338. http://www.eastling.org/paper/Driem.pdf (see page 304)
  32. ↑ Benedict (1990), Lewin (1976), Matsumoto (1975), Miller (1967), Murayama (1976), Shibatani (1990).
  33. ↑ Blevins, Juliette (2007), "A Long Lost Sister of Proto-Austronesian? Proto-Ongan, Mother of Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands" (PDF), Oceanic Linguistics, 46 (1): 154–198, doi:10.1353/ol.2007.0015, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-11

References

  • Bellwood, Peter (July 1991). "The Austronesian Dispersal and the Origin of Languages". Scientific American. 265 (1): 88–93. doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0791-88. 
  • Bellwood, Peter (1997). Prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian archipelago. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 
  • Bellwood, Peter (1998). "Taiwan and the Prehistory of the Austronesians-speaking Peoples". Review of Archaeology. 18: 39–48. 
  • Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James; Tryon, Darrell (1995). The Austronesians: Historical and comparative perspectives. Department of Anthropology, Australian National University. ISBN 0-7315-2132-3. 
  • Bellwood, Peter & Alicia Sanchez-Mazas (June 2005). "Human Migrations in Continental East Asia and Taiwan: Genetic, Linguistic, and Archaeological Evidence". Current Anthropology. 46 (3): 480–484. doi:10.1086/430018. 
  • Blench, Roger (June 10–13, 2004). Stratification in the peopling of China: how far does the linguistic evidence match genetics and archaeology? (PDF). Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan: genetic, linguistic and archaeological evidence. Geneva. 
  • Blevins, Juliette (2007). "A Long Lost Sister of Proto-Austronesian? Proto-Ongan, Mother of Jarawa and Onge of the Andaman Islands" (PDF). Oceanic Linguistics. 46 (1): 154–198. doi:10.1353/ol.2007.0015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-01-11. 
  • Blundell, David. "Austronesian Dispersal". Newsletter of Chinese Ethnology. 35: 1–26. 
  • Blust, Robert (1985). "The Austronesian Homeland: A Linguistic Perspective". Asian Perspectives. 26: 46–67. 
  • Blust, Robert (1999). "Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: some issues in Austronesian comparative". In Zeitoun, E.; Li, P.J.K. Selected papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics. Taipei: Academia Sinica. pp. 31–94. 
  • Comrie, Bernard (2001). "Languages of the world". In Aronoff, Mark; Rees-Miller,, Janie. The Handbook of LinguisticsLanguages of the world. Oxford: Blackwell. pp. 19–42. 
  • Diamond, Jared M (2000). "Taiwan's gift to the world" (PDF). Nature. 403 (6771): 709–10. doi:10.1038/35001685. PMID 10693781. 
  • Dyen, Isidore (1965). "A Lexicostatistical classification of the Austronesian languages". International Journal of American Linguistics (Memoir 19). 
  • Fox, James J. (19–20 August 2004). Current Developments in Comparative Austronesian Studies (PDF). Symposium Austronesia Pascasarjana Linguististik dan Kajian Budaya. Universitas Udayana, Bali. 
  • Fuller, Peter (2002). "Reading the Full Picture". Asia Pacific Research. Canberra, Australia: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Retrieved July 28, 2005. 
  • Greenhill, S.J.; Blust, R.; Gray, R.D (2008). "The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database: From Bioinformatics to Lexomics". Evolutionary Bioinformatics. 4: 271–283. .
  • "Homepage of linguist Dr. Lawrence Reid". Retrieved July 28, 2005. 
  • Li, Paul Jen-kuei (2004). "Origins of the East Formosans:Basay, Kavalan, Amis, and Siraya". Language and Linguistics. 5 (2): 363–376. 
  • Li, Paul Jen-kuei (17–20 January 2006). The Internal Relationships of Formosan Languages (PDF). Tenth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics (ICAL). Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, Philippines. 
  • Lynch, John, Malcolm Ross and Terry Crowley (2002). The Oceanic languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press. 
  • Melton T.; Clifford S.; Martinson J.; Batzer M. & Stoneking M. (1998). "Genetic evidence for the proto-Austronesian homeland in Asia: mtDNA and nuclear DNA variation in Taiwanese aboriginal tribes". American Journal of Human Genetics. 63 (6): 1807–23. doi:10.1086/302131. PMC 1377653Freely accessible. PMID 9837834. 
  • Ostapirat, Weera (2005). "Kra–Dai and Austronesian: Notes on phonological correspondences and vocabulary distribution". In Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench & Alicia Sanchez-Mazas. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. London: Routledge Curzon. pp. 107–131. 
  • Peiros, Ilia (June 10–13, 2004). Austronesian: What linguists know and what they believe they know. the workshop on Human migrations in continental East Asia and Taiwan. Geneva. 
  • Ross, Malcolm (2009). "Proto Austronesian verbal morphology: a reappraisal". In Adelaar, K. Alexander; Pawley, Andrew. Austronesian Historical Linguistics and Culture History: A Festschrift for Robert Blust. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 295–326. 
  • Ross, Malcolm & Andrew Pawley (1993). "Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history". Annual Review of Anthropology. 22: 425–459. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.22.100193.002233. OCLC 1783647. 
  • Ross, John (2002). "Final words: research themes in the history and typology of western Austronesian languages". In Wouk, Fay; Ross, Malcolm. The history and typology of Western Austronesian voice systems. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. pp. 451–474. 
  • Sagart, Laurent (8–11 January 2002). Sino-Tibeto-Austronesian: An updated and improved argument (PDF). Ninth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics (ICAL9). Canberra, Australia. 
  • Sagart, Laurent (2004). "The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai–Kadai". Oceanic Linguistics. 43: 411–440. doi:10.1353/ol.2005.0012. 
  • Sagart, Laurent (2005). "Sino-Tibeto-Austronesian: An updated and improved argument". In Blench, Roger; Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. London: Routledge Curzon. pp. 161–176. 
  • Sapir, Edward (1968). "Time perspective in aboriginal American culture: a study in method". In Mandelbaum, D.G. Selected writings of Edward Sapir in language, culture and personality. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 389–467. 
  • Taylor, G. (1888). "A ramble through southern Formosa". The China Review. 16: 137–161. 
  • Terrell, John Edward (December 2004). "Introduction: 'Austronesia' and the great Austronesian migration". World Archaeology. 36 (4): 586–590. doi:10.1080/0043824042000303764. 
  • Thurgood, Graham (1999). "From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects. Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications No. 28". Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 
  • Trejaut JA; Kivisild T; Loo JH; Lee CL; He CL (2005). "Traces of archaic mitochondrial lineages persist in Austronesian-speaking Formosan populations" (PDF). PLoS Biol. 3 (8): e247. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030247. PMC 1166350Freely accessible. PMID 15984912. 
  • Wouk, Fay and Malcolm Ross, eds. (2002), The history and typology of western Austronesian voice systems. Pacific Linguistics. Canberra: Australian National University.

Further reading

  • Bengtson, John D., The "Greater Austric" Hypothesis, Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory.
  • Blust, R. A. (1983). Lexical reconstruction and semantic reconstruction: the case of the Austronesian "house" words. Hawaii: R. Blust.
  • Cohen, E. M. K. (1999). Fundaments of Austronesian roots and etymology. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. ISBN 0-85883-436-7
  • Marion, P., Liste Swadesh élargie de onze langues austronésiennes, éd. Carré de sucre, 2009
  • Pawley, A., & Ross, M. (1994). Austronesian terminologies: continuity and change. Canberra, Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. ISBN 0-85883-424-3
  • Sagart, Laurent, Roger Blench, and Alicia Sanchez-Nazas (Eds.) (2004). The peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. London: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-415-32242-1.
  • Tryon, D. T., & Tsuchida, S. (1995). Comparative Austronesian dictionary: an introduction to Austronesian studies. Trends in linguistics, 10. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 3110127296
  • Wittmann, Henri (1972). "Le caractère génétiquement composite des changements phonétiques du malgache." Proceedings of the International Congress of Phonetic Sciences 7.807-10. La Haye: Mouton.
  • Wolff, John U., "Comparative Austronesian Dictionary. An Introduction to Austronesian Studies", Language, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 145–56, Mar 1997, ISSN 0097-8507

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/30/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.