Squib: The Phonetic Nature of PAN *j

Abstract

This paper brings evidence from Campidanese Sardinian and other languages to support and refine the author’s earlier proposal that Proto-Austronesian *j was a palatal nasal whose modern reflexes arose through an episode of palatal glide fortition. It clarifies the evolution of *j in Formosan, responds to some criticisms, and details the circumstances leading to the loss of the nasal component after glide fortition. It concludes that where an alveolar or palatal nasal is in correspondence with [g], [ ɟ], or [d], the default historical interpretation is of the nasal.