The Batanic Languages in Relation to the Early History of the Malayo-Polynesian Subgroup of Austronesian

Abstract

The Batanic languages are a group of closely related Austronesian languages spoken on the small islands scattered between Taiwan and Luzon. The purpose of this paper is to present what is known of their relationships to other Austronesian groups, the Formosan languages to the north and the Malayo-Polynesian languages to the south. It is shown that the Batanic languages are Malayo-Polynesian, but do not subgroup with any other smaller group of languages within the huge Malayo-Polynesian language group. In view of this, it is possible that the Batanic languages are descended from the speech of a community established in the islands by speakers of Proto Malayo-Polynesian before they reached Luzon. This possibility is supported by the conservatism of the Batanic languages, but remains just that-a possibility, not a certainty.The paper concludes with a consideration of the question, what is the closest relative within Taiwan of Proto Malayo-Polynesian? and concludes that there is at present no clear answer to this question.