The linguistic situation on the island of Atauro in Timor-Leste has so far been unclear. Key publications are hard to access, and there are conflicting reports on the number of languages. This paper clarifies the linguistic situation on the island and (re)introduces its four languages: Rasua, Hresuk, Raklungu, and Dadu'a. It includes preliminary sociolinguistic information, as well as a description of verbal agreement, possessive morphology, and word lists of 251 items for each language.

This article reconstructs the gender vocalics of the South Bird’s Head family and compares them with those reconstructed for two other Trans New Guinea families, Anim and Ok. Although chance cannot be convincingly ruled out, the close correspondences between the gender vocalics of the Proto-South Bird’s Head family and those of Proto-Anim and Proto-Ok suggest the possibility of a shared innovation that replaced the third singular pronoun *[y]a/ *ua of Proto-Trans New Guinea by two gendered demonstrative pronouns, *e ‘that. M’ and *u ‘that. F’. The demonstrative vocalics formed the starting point for grammaticalization processes that resulted in similar systems of elaborate gender vocalism in the three families.

Based on over 240 firsthand data, this paper provides the first formal analysis of empirical generalizations regarding the suprasegmental adaptation of Japanese loanwords in Isbukun Bunun, an Austronesian language spoken in Taiwan. This study reveals that during the loanword adaptation process, the position of the Japanese accent is entirely disregarded, and stress in Japanese loanwords is generally assigned according to native phonological rules. However, a noteworthy exception is observed: closed syllables, traditionally considered light in native phonology, unexpectedly attract stress in loanwords. Interestingly, closed syllables do not always maintain their heaviness in loanwords and may become light when preceded by a bimoraic syllable. This unexpected weight contribution from the coda suggests that Japanese loanwords do not adhere to the same phonological constraints as native words, and the variation in the weight of closed syllables indicates a flexible ranking between a constraint favoring moraic codas and a constraint penalizing unstressed heavy syllables.

A central issue in Austronesian higher-order subgrouping concerns the position of the Philippine languages. Despite considerable debate, it remains unsettled whether these languages represent multiple intersecting MalayoPolynesian primary branches forming a linkage, or whether they descend from a single shared ancestor distinct from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian. We present three new lines of evidence supporting the former view. First, the absence of a genuine *d/*z merger in Central Luzon and Minahasan languages undermines the sole phonological argument for a Proto-Philippine branch. Second, the geographical distribution of the purported Proto-Philippine-defining lexicon favors a diffusion-based explanation. Third, the distribution of an underexplored morphological innovation across Philippine languages suggests frequent contact among major island groups, excluding interior and peripheral areas. These findings not only highlight the absence of defining innovations for a cohesive Proto-Philippine but also point to extensive horizontal transmission across the archipelago, extending beyond lexical exchange. We further propose that the *d/*z merger is better understood as an areal drift rather than a diagnostic innovation. We conclude that Philippine languages are best analyzed as intersecting Malayo-Polynesian primary branches, in line with recent perspectives. Moreover, the high number of proposed lexical innovations attributed to Proto-Philippine likely reflects contact-driven processes—diffusion, borrowing, and linkage histories—rather than retention from a unified ancestor.

Sex-based grammatical gender marking is rare in Austronesian languages, although it has emerged independently a handful of times in the family. Gorontalo, a Philippine-type language of northern Sulawesi, exhibits an innovative gender distinction in its case markers. Although common nouns do not always exhibit overt case marking, personal names are marked with obligatory case markers that precede the noun. These personal name case markers encode a sex-based gender distinction, agreeing in gender with their nouns. In addition to the default personal name markers ti ‘pivot’ (

Presentatives are a clause type that has received little attention in the literature. This paper provides a detailed description of presentatives in Malagasy, focusing on their internal structure. We show that although presentatives appear to conform to the typical predicate–subject structure of Malagasy, this clause type raises questions about key aspects of Malagasy syntax, including the nature of the subject position and definiteness restrictions. We suggest directions for further analysis and implications.

Abstract: Proto-Oceanic *R was irregularly lost or merged with another liquid in several branches of Oceanic. In Southern Oceanic, the likelihood of *R loss increases from north to south. This squib examines the merger and loss of *R in Micronesian, where the pattern is most similar to the southernmost languages of North Central Vanuatu. I discuss scenarios of lexical diffusion that could have led to the observed state of affairs, proposing an interpretation where structured variation along the hypo/hyperarticulation continuum is inherited from a proto-language, resulting in parallel developments in distant branches.

Abstract: Tomoip is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of New Britain in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Although previously thought by some to be a non-Austronesian language, Tomoip is undeniably a member of the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian family. However, its precise classification has remained a challenge, largely because its lexicon seemingly contains a high percentage of non-Austronesian content and its Austronesian forms exhibit several complex sound correspondences. This paper provides a historical phonology of Tomoip, detailing the sound changes that have led from Proto-Oceanic to contemporary Tomoip. Based on these sound changes and morphological evidence, we propose that Tomoip is most closely related to the New Ireland subgroup of the Meso-Melanesian cluster. We further hypothesize that Tomoip and Proto-New Ireland are coordinate branches of a single proto-language, which we call Proto-Tomoip–New Ireland.

Abstract: The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary continues to serve as an important resource for the comparative study of Austronesian languages, but recent changes in management as well as an updated database format and host site make an update on the Austronesian Comparative Dictionary and its future necessary.