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Austronesian
Ethnicity	Austronesian peoples
Geographic distribution	Maritime and parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Oceania, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Andaman archipelago and parts of Hainan and Madagascar
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Proto-language	Proto-Austronesian
Subdivisions	Rukai Tsouic Puyuma Northwest Formosan Western Plains Atayalic East Formosan Bunun Paiwan Malayo-Polynesian
ISO 639-2 / 5	map
Glottolog	aust1307[1]
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 (4.9%), making it the fifth-largest language family by number of speakers. Major Austronesian languages with the highest number of speakers are Malay (Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, and Filipino (Tagalog). The family contains 1,257 languages, which is the second most of any language family.^[3]

Similarities between the languages spoken in the Malay Archipelago and the Pacific Ocean were first observed in 1706 by the Dutch scholar Adriaan Reland.^[4] In the 19th century, researchers (e.g. Wilhelm von Humboldt, Herman van der Tuuk)
started to apply the comparative method to the Austronesian languages, but the first comprehensive and extensive study on the phonological history of the Austronesian language family including a reconstruction of Proto-Austronesian lexicon was made by the German linguist Otto Dempwolff.^[5] The term Austronesian itself was coined by Wilhelm Schmidt (German austronesisch, based on Latin auster "south wind" and Greek νῆσος "island").^[6] 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 (including both Indonesian and Malaysian variants), is spoken by 250 million people, making it the 8th most spoken language in the world. Approximately twenty 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 by the number of languages they contain, 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, but with the influence of Indo-European languages, dated to the mid-6th century AD 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 languages (Ross 2002):

• The first group includes, besides the languages of the Philippines, the Austronesian languages of Taiwan, Sabah, North Sulawesi and Madagascar. It is primarily characterized by the retention of the original system of Philippine-type voice alternations, where typically three or four verb voices determine which semantic role the "subject"/"topic" expresses (it may express either the actor, the patient, the location and the beneficiary, or various other circumstantial roles such as instrument and concomitant). The phenomenon has frequently been referred to as focus (not to be confused with the usual sense of that term in linguistics). Furthermore, the choice of voice is influenced by the definiteness of the participants. The word order has a strong tendency to be verb-initial.


• In contrast, the more innovative Indonesian-type languages, which are particularly represented in Malaysia and western Indonesia, have reduced the voice system to a contrast between only two voices (actor voice and "undergoer" voice), but these are supplemented by applicative morphological devices (originally two: the more direct *-i and more oblique *-an/-[a]kən), which serve to modify the semantic role of the "undergoer". They are also characterized by the presence of preposed clitic pronouns. Unlike the Philippine type, these languages mostly tend towards verb-second word-orders. A number of languages, such as the Batak languages, Old Javanese, Balinese, Sasak and several Sulawesi languages seem to represent an intermediate stage between these two types.^[7][8]
  


• Finally, in some languages, which Ross calls "post-Indonesian", the original voice system has broken down completely and the voice-marking affixes no longer preserve their functions.

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 dusa; Amis tusa; Māori 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)^{[citation not found]} 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.^[9]

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)

• 
  Tsou language.


• 
  Saaroa language.


• 
  Kanakanabu language.

• 
  Thao language, AKA Sao. Brawbaw and Shtafari dialects.


• Central Western Plains
  
  
  
  • 
    Babuza language: Taokas, Poavosa dialects; old Favorlang language.
  
  
  • 
    Papora-Hoanya language: Papora, Hoanya dialects.
  
  
  
  

• 
  Saisiyat language: Taai and Tungho dialects.


• 
  Pazeh language AKA Kulun.

• 
  Atayal language.


• 
  Seediq language: AKA Truku/Taroko.

• Northern (Kavalanic languages).
  
  
  
  • 
    Basay language: Trobiawa and Linaw–Qauqaut dialects.
  
  
  • 
    Kavalan language.
  
  
  • 
    Ketagalan language, or Ketangalan.
  
  
  
  


• Central (Ami).
  
  
  
  • 
    Amis proper.
  
  
  • 
    Sakizaya.
  
  
  
  


• 
  Siraya language.

• Mantauran, Tona, and Maga dialects of Rukai are divergent.

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).^[10][11] Rukai and Tsouic are seen as highly divergent,^[10] although the position of Rukai is highly controversial.^[12]

• F0: Formosan = Austronesian
  
  
  
  • 
    
    
      Rukai
    
    
    
    
    
    • Mantauran
    
    
    • Maga–Tona, Budai–Labuan–Taromak
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • F1
    
    
    
    • 
      
      
        Central (Tsouic)
      
      
      
      
      
      • Tsou
      
      
      • Southern Tsouic
        
        
        
        • Saaroa
        
        
        • Kanakanabu
        
        
        
        
      
      
      
      
    
    
    • F2
      
      
      
      • 
        
        
          Northern Formosan
        
        
        
        
        
        • Northwestern (Plains)
          
          
          
          • 
            Saisiyat–Kulon–Pazeh
            
          
          
          • Western
            
            
            
            • Thao
            
            
            • West Coast (Papora–Hoanya–Babuza–Taokas)
            
            
            
            
          
          
          
          
        
        
        • 
          Atayalic
          
          
          
          • Squliq Atayal
          
          
          • 
            Ts'ole' Atayal (= C'uli')
          
          
          • Seediq
          
          
          
          
        
        
        
        
      
      
      • 
        
        
          East Formosan
        
        
        
        
        
        • 
          Kavalan–Basay
          
        
        
        • 
          Siraya–Amis
          
        
        
        
        
      
      
      •  ? Southern [uncertain]
        
        
        
        • 
          
          
            Bunun
          
          
          
          
          
          • Isbukun
          
          
          • Northern and Central (Takitudu and Takbanuaz)
          
          
          
          
        
        
        • 
            Paiwan–Puyuma [uncertain]
        
        
        
        
      
      
      
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  

Ross (2009)

In 2009, Malcolm Ross proposed a new classification of the Austronesian language family based on morphological evidence from various Formosan languages.^[13] 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.^[14]

Austronesian

• (Mantauran and Tona–Maga dialects are divergent)

• Subdivisions not addressed, apart from Saaroa–Kanakanabu being separate from Tsou.

Major languages

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.

Comparison chart-numerals

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	*pitu	*walu	*Siwa	*(sa-)puluq
Formosan languages	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Atayal		qutux	sazing	cyugal	payat	magal	mtzyu	mpitu	mspat	mqeru	mopuw
Seediq		kingal	daha	teru	sepac	rima	mmteru	mpitu	mmsepac	mngari	maxal
Truku		kingal	dha	tru	spat	rima	mataru	empitu	maspat	mngari	maxal
Thao		taha	tusha	turu	shpat	tarima	katuru	pitu	kashpat	tanathu	makthin
Papora		tanu	nya	tul	pat	lima	minum	pitu	mehal	mesi	metsi
Babuza		nata	naroa	natura	naspat	nahop	naitu	naito	natap	maitu	tsihet
Taokas		tatanu	rua	tool'a	lapat	hasap	tahap	yuweto	mahalpat	tanaso	tais'id
Pazeh		adang	dusa	tu'u	supat	xasep	xasebuza	xasebidusa	xasebitu'u	xasebisupat	isit
Saisiyat		'aeihae'	roSa'	to:lo'	Sopat	haseb	SayboSi:	SayboSi: 'aeihae'	maykaSpat	hae'hae'	lampez
Tsou		coni	yuso	tuyu	sʉptʉ	eimo	nomʉ	pitu	voyu	sio	maskʉ
Bunun		tasʔa	dusa	tau	paat	hima	nuum	pitu	vau	siva	masʔan
Rukai		itha	drusa	tulru	supate	lrima	eneme	pitu	valru	bangate	pulruku
Paiwan		ita	drusa	tjelu	sepatj	lima	enem	pitju	alu	siva	tapuluq
Puyuma		isa	zuwa	telu	pat	lima	unem	pitu	walu	iwa	pulu'
Kavalan		usiq	uzusa	utulu	uspat	ulima	unem	upitu	uwalu	usiwa	rabtin
Basay		tsa	lusa	tsu	səpat	tsjima	anəm	pitu	wasu	siwa	labatan
Amis		cecay	tosa	tolo	spat	lima	enem	pito	falo	siwa	mo^tep
Sakizaya		cacay	tosa	tolo	sepat	lima	enem	pito	walo	siwa	cacay a bataan
Siraya		sasaat	duha	turu	tapat	tu-rima	tu-num	pitu	pipa	kuda	keteng
Taivoan		tsaha'	ruha	toho	paha'	hima	lom	kito'	kipa'	matuha	kaipien
Makatao		na-saad	ra-ruha	ra-ruma	ra-sipat	ra-lima	ra-hurum	ra-pito	ra-haru	ra-siwa	ra-kaitian
Yami		asa	dora	atlo	apat	lima	anem	pito	wao	siyam	poo
Qauqaut		is	zus	dor	sop	rim	ən	pit	ar	siu	tor
Malayo-Polynesian languages	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian		*əsa *isa	*duha	*təlu	*əpat	*lima	*ənəm	*pitu	*walu	*siwa	*puluq
Nuclear Malayo-Polynesian (MP) 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		디세 dise ise	루아 rua ghua	똘루 tolu	빠아 pa'a	을리마 lima	노오 no'o	삐쭈 picu	ᄫᅡᆯ루 walu oalu	시우아 siua	옴뿔루 ompulu
Cham		sa	dua	klau	pak	lima	nam	tujuh	dalapan	salapan	sapluh
Javanese (Kawi)b[15]	sunya	eka	dwi	tri	catur	panca	sad	sapta	asta	nawa	dasa
Old Javanese[16]	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)[17]	nol	siji from sahiji	loro from ka-rwa (ka-ro)	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
Standard Malay (both Indonesian and Malaysian)	kosong sifar[18] nol[19]	sa/se satu suatu[20]	dua	tiga[21][22]	empat	lima[23]	enam	tujuh	delapan lapan[24]	sembilan	sepuluh
Minangkabau		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	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
Ilocano	ibbong awan	maysa	dua	tallo	uppat	lima	innem	pito	walo	siam	sangapulo
Ibanag	awan	tadday	duwa	tallu	appa'	lima	annam	pitu	walu	siyam	mafulu
Pangasinan		sakey	duwa	talo	apat	lima	anem	pito	walo	siyam	samplo
Kapampangan	ala	metung/ isa'	adua	atlu	apat	lima	anam	pitu	walu	siyam	apulu
Tagalog	.mw-parser-output .script-baybayin{font-family:"Tagalog Doctrina 1593","Baybayin Lopez","Tagalog Stylized","Noto Sans Tagalog",Code2000} ᜏᜎ walâ	ᜁᜐ isá	ᜇᜎᜏ dalawá	ᜆᜆ᜔ᜎᜓ tatló	ᜀᜉᜆ᜔ apat	ᜎᜒᜋ limá	ᜀᜈᜒᜋ᜔ anim	ᜉᜒᜆᜓ pitó	ᜏᜎᜓ waló	ᜐᜒᜌᜋ᜔ siyám	ᜐᜋ᜔ᜉᜓ sampû
Bikol	wara	sarô	duwá	tuló	apat	limá	anom	pitó	waló	siyám	sampulû
Aklanon	uwa	isaea sambilog	daywa	tatlo	ap-at	lima	an-om	pito	waeo	siyam	napueo
Karay-a	wara	(i)sara	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
Masbatenyo		isad usad	duwa duha	tulo	upat	lima	unom	pito	walo	siyam	napulo
Hiligaynon	wala	isa	duha	tatlo	apat	lima	anom	pito	walo	siyam	napulo
Cebuano	wala	usa	duha	tulo	upat	lima	unom	pito	walo	siyam	napulo pulo
Waray	waray	usa	duha	tulo	upat	lima	unom	pito	walo	siyam	napulò
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
Lun Bawang/ Lundayeh	na luk dih	eceh	dueh	teluh	epat	limeh	enem	tudu'	waluh	liwa'	pulu'
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[25]	o̧o	juon	ruo	jilu	emān	ļalem	jiljino	jimjuon	ralitōk	ratimjuon	jon̄oul
Motue[26]		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

Comparison chart-thirteen words

English	one	two	three	four	person	house	dog	road	day	new	we	what	fire
Proto-Austronesian	*əsa, *isa	*duSa	*təlu	*əpat	*Cau	*balay, *Rumaq	*asu	*zalan	*qaləjaw, *waRi	*baqəRu	*kita, *kami	*anu, *apa	*Sapuy
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
Bikol	sarô	duwá	tuló	apat	táwo	harong	áyam	dálan	aldaw	bâgo	kitá	anó	kalayó
Rinconada Bikol	əsad	darwā	tolō	əpat	tawō	baləy	ayam	raran	aldəw	bāgo	kitā	onō	kalayō
Waray	usa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	ayam, ido	dalan	adlaw	bag-o	kita	anu	kalayo
Cebuano	usa, isa	duha	tulo	upat	tawo	balay	iro	dalan	adlaw	bag-o	kita	unsa	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	(i)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
Lun Bawang/ Lundayeh	eceh	dueh	teluh	epat	lemulun/lun	ruma'	uko'	dalan	eco	beruh	teu	enun	apui
Malay (Malaysian/Indonesian)	sa/se, satu, suatu	dua	tiga[27]	empat	orang	rumah, balai	anjing	jalan	hari	baru	kita	apa, anu	api
Old Javanese	esa, eka	rwa, dwi	tĕlu, tri	pat, catur[28]	wwang	umah	asu	dalan	dina	hañar, añar[29]	kami[30]	apa, aparan	apuy, agni
Javanese	siji, setunggal	loro, kalih	tĕlu, tiga[31]	papat, sekawan	uwong, tiyang, priyantun[31]	omah, griya, dalem[31]	asu, sĕgawon	dalan, gili[31]	dina, dinten[31]	anyar, énggal[31]	awaké dhéwé, kula panjenengan[31]	apa, punapa[31]	gĕni, latu, brama[31]
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	se'di	dua	tellu	eppa'	tau	bola	asu	laleng	esso	baru	idi'	aga	api
Temuan	satuk	duak	tigak	empat	uwang, eang	gumah, umah	anying, koyok	jalan	aik, haik	bahauk	kitak	apak	apik
Toba Batak	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/tautau	guma'	ga'lågu[32]	chålan	ha'åni	nuebu[33]	hita	håfa	guåfi
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:

... 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.

Austronesian languages expansion map. Periods are based on archeological studies, though the association of the archeological record and linguistic reconstructions is disputed.

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

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

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.^[34] 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.^[35] 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 as well as to the south. Alexander Vovin calls his reconstruction of Proto-Japanese suggestive of a Southeast Asian origin of the Japonic languages.^[36] Several Japanese linguists classify Japanese as "Para-Austronesian".^{[citation needed]}

Ongan

It has recently been proposed that the Austronesian and the Ongan protolanguage are the descendants of an Austronesian–Ongan protolanguage (Blevins 2007).^[37] But this view is not supported by mainstream linguists and remains very controversial. Robert Blust (2014) criticizes Blevins' reconstruction.^[38]

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.

• 
  Brahmi script
  
  
  
  • 
    Kawi script
    
    
    
    • 
      Balinese alphabet - used to write Balinese and Sasak.
    
    
    • 
      Batak alphabet - used to write several Batak languages.
    
    
    • 
      Baybayin - used to write Tagalog and several Philippine languages.
    
    
    • 
      Bima alphabet - once used to write the Bima language.
    
    
    • 
      Buhid alphabet - used to write Buhid language.
    
    
    • 
      Hanunó'o alphabet - used to write Hanuno'o language.
    
    
    • 
      Javanese alphabet - used to write the Javanese language and several neighbouring languages like Madurese.
    
    
    • 
      Kerinci alphabet (Kaganga) - used to write the Kerinci language.
    
    
    • 
      Kulitan alphabet - used to write the Kapampangan language.
    
    
    • 
      Lampung alphabet - used to write Lampung and Komering.
    
    
    • 
      Lontara alphabet - used to write the Buginese, Makassarese and several languages of Sulawesi.
    
    
    • 
      Sundanese alphabet - used to write the Sundanese language.
    
    
    • 
      Rejang alphabet - used to write the Rejang language.
    
    
    • 
      Rencong alphabet - once used to write the Malay language.
    
    
    • 
      Tagbanwa alphabet - once used to write various Palawan languages.
    
    
    • 
      Lota alphabet - used to write the Ende-Li'o language.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    Cham alphabet - used to write Cham language.
  
  
  
  


• 
  Arabic script
  
  
  
  • 
    Pegon alphabet - used to write Javanese, Sundanese and Madurese as well as several smaller neighbouring languages.
  
  
  • 
    Jawi alphabet - used to write Malay, Acehnese, Banjar, Minangkabau, Tausug, Western Cham and others.
  
  
  • 
    Sorabe alphabet - once used to write several dialects of Malagasy language.
  
  
  
  


• 
  Hangul - once used to write the Cia-Cia language but the project is no longer active.


• 
  Dunging - used to write the Iban language but it was not widely used.


• 
  Avoiuli - used to write the Raga language.


• 
  Eskayan - used to write the Eskayan language, a secret language based on Boholano.


• 
  Woleai script (Caroline Island script) - used to write the Carolinian language (Refaluwasch).


• 
  Rongorongo - possibly used to write the Rapa Nui language.


• 
  Braille - used in Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian, Tolai, Motu, Māori, Samoan, Malagasy, and many other Austronesian languages.

See also

• Ainu languages


• Austric languages


• Austronesia


• Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association


• Austronesian peoples


• Austro-Tai


• Hmong-Mien


• 
  Indonesian language and Malaysian language
  


• Japanese language


• List of Austronesian languages


• List of Austronesian regions


• Margaret Florey


• Tai-Kadai

Notes

References

Further reading

External links