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Below are two charts 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, Kiribati, Caroline Islands, and Tuvalu.
- One of the world's primary language families
Most Austronesian languages have between 16 and 22 consonants and 4 or 5 vowels. Exceptionally large consonant inventories are found in the languages of the Loyalty Islands in southern Melanesia, and exceptionally small consonant inventories in the Polynesian languages. Hawaiian has the second smallest inventory of phonemes, or distinctive ...
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About 5,000 unaffixed stems have been reconstructed for Proto-Austronesian, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, or Proto-Western-Malayo-Polynesian. Although the Indo-European languages have a far richer textual tradition, probably no language family excels Austronesian in the richness of vocabulary reconstructed through the comparative method.
The vocabulary of a language reflects the collective experience of its speakers, making reference to both their natural world and their culture. The reconstruction of vocabulary and the identification of loanwords thus can provide insight into the natural environment and culture of prehistoric language communities and the nature of their linguistic contacts.
Reconstructed vocabulary shows clearly that the speakers of Proto-Austronesian had grain crops, including rice and millet; that they lived in settled villages of houses raised on piles; that they practiced weaving on simple back looms; that they domesticated dogs, pigs, and probably chickens; and that they were in contact with the sea and its resources. Familiarity with many tropical food plants can be inferred for speakers of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian. These include the coconut, banana, yam, sugarcane, pandanus, taro, sago, and breadfruit. Of these only sugarcane, pandanus, and wild taros of the genus Alocasia can safely be inferred for Proto-Austronesian, which probably was spoken on both sides of the Tropic of Cancer.
Reconstructions for ‘boat,’ ‘sail,’ and ‘paddle’ can be attributed to Proto-Austronesian, but terminology specific to the outrigger can be assigned only to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, a language that was probably spoken somewhere in the northern Philippines in the period 3500–3000 bce.
About 5,000 unaffixed stems have been reconstructed for Proto-Austronesian, Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, or Proto-Western-Malayo-Polynesian. Although the Indo-European languages have a far richer textual tradition, probably no language family excels Austronesian in the richness of vocabulary reconstructed through the comparative method.
The vocabulary of a language reflects the collective experience of its speakers, making reference to both their natural world and their culture. The reconstruction of vocabulary and the identification of loanwords thus can provide insight into the natural environment and culture of prehistoric language communities and the nature of their linguistic contacts.
Reconstructed vocabulary shows clearly that the speakers of Proto-Austronesian had grain crops, including rice and millet; that they lived in settled villages of houses raised on piles; that they practiced weaving on simple back looms; that they domesticated dogs, pigs, and probably chickens; and that they were in contact with the sea and its resources. Familiarity with many tropical food plants can be inferred for speakers of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian. These include the coconut, banana, yam, sugarcane, pandanus, taro, sago, and breadfruit. Of these only sugarcane, pandanus, and wild taros of the genus Alocasia can safely be inferred for Proto-Austronesian, which probably was spoken on both sides of the Tropic of Cancer.
Reconstructions for ‘boat,’ ‘sail,’ and ‘paddle’ can be attributed to Proto-Austronesian, but terminology specific to the outrigger can be assigned only to Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, a language that was probably spoken somewhere in the northern Philippines in the period 3500–3000 bce.
Aug 16, 2022 · Austronesian languages are spoken from Madagascar to Polynesia, including te reo Māori, and have been the focus of considerable research. But many basic questions remain about the origin and ...
- Victoria Chen
The total number of speakers of Austronesian languages is estimated at 311,740,132 with a median of 3,384 speakers per language . The existence of the Austronesian language family was first discovered in the 17th century when Polynesian words were compared to words in Malay. Despite extensive research into Austronesian languages, their origin ...
The Oceanic hypothesis maintains that all Austronesian languages east of a line that runs through Indonesian New Guinea at approximately 138° E longitude—except for Palauan and Chamorro of western Micronesia—are descended from a single protolanguage spoken many generations after the initial breakup of Proto-Austronesian itself.
An Account of Austronesian. Lisa J. Erickson Linguistics 450 Cynthia Hallen 28 February 2000. The Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian language family, which is comprised of between 800 and 1200 languages, is thought to be the most widespread and the second largest language phyla in the world. Some 270 million people are speakers of Austronesian ...
