Plural Words in Austronesian Languages: Typology and History

Abstract

This paper investigates the typology and history of plural words in the Austronesian family, by using a sample of 128 languages representing both genealogical and geographical diversity. I first consider the definition of plural words, which are grammatical words indicating nominal plurality at the phrasal level. I then present the distribution of plural words in the sample and examine their history. Several findings can be drawn from the data. First, plural words are the most common type of plural markers in the Austronesian family, attested in more than half of the sample languages. Second, languages with plural words exhibit an uneven distribution: they are typically found in the Philippines, eastern Indonesia, and across the Pacific islands, particularly in New Ireland and Vanuatu, but virtually absent in western Indonesia. This uneven geographical distribution also correlates with a skewed genealogical distribution. Third, as for the diachronic developments of plural words, the previously reconstructed proto plural word *maŋa is only reflected to a limited extent, almost exclusively in the Philippine languages. More commonly, plural words reflect the grammaticalization of third-person plural pronouns, a path found for nearly half of the plural words.