Austronesian Research Articles

Verb-Verb Construction in Bugis Language: A Linguistic Typology Approach

This study examines the formation of serial verbs in the Bugis Bone language utilizing a qualitative descriptive approach and typological analysis. Data were collected by observation, including audio recordings of Bugis speakers’ direct talk, and supplemented by interviews for contextual comprehension. The assessment focused on language structures, and identifying patterns and distributions of lexemes and phrases. The results demonstrate that Bugis serial verbs align with the worldwide typology of serial verbs, consisting of four syntactic categories and six semantic categories: movement, directional, manner, cause-effect, comitative, modality, and aspect. This work is significant for its contribution to linguistic typology, providing insights into the universal elements of serial verb formations and the distinct qualities of the Bugis Bone language. The results have ramifications for the comprehensive understanding of Austronesian languages, establishing a basis for comparative analyses and contributing to the preservation of linguistic variety. Moreover, the study enhances understanding of the functioning of serial verb formulations within a particular linguistic and cultural framework, hence advancing theoretical knowledge in syntax and semantics. Future research may explore Bugis sentence forms through other theoretical frameworks to enhance the understanding of Bugis language typology.

A Phonological Sketch of Modo: An Endangered Language in Eastern Indonesia

Modo is an endangered Austronesian language mainly spoken on the islands of Komodo and Rinca in East Nusa Tenggara Province of Indonesia. Despite its status as an endangered language, Modo remains under-documented and understudied. This paper presents a phonological sketch of Modo based on primary data collected from native speakers in our 30-day fieldwork on the two islands. Through careful analysis of recordings from an elicited wordlist and transcription of naturalistic speech, this description covers Modo’s consonant and vowel inventories, syllable structure, stress assignment, and morphophonological analysis. Modo exhibits 31 consonants, including eight prenasalized stops, two implosives /ɓ/ and /ɗ/, the dental plosive /d̪/, the labio-dental approximant /ʋ/, and the loan palatal approximant /j/ and labio-dental fricative /f/. Additionally, Modo has six oral vowels, including the mid-central vowel /ə/, and five nasal vowels. The syllable structure of Modo is predominantly open, though it permits the consonants /h/ and /ʔ/ in word-final positions. Stress in Modo is generally assigned to the penultimate syllable, though shifts can occur in more complex phrases and sentences, indicating a nuanced prosodic system. Modo exhibits limited morphophonological processes, with only deletion and assimilation found in compounding. Furthermore, this study includes a brief discussion on practical orthography to enhance the accessibility of Modo’s unique phonemic units. We suggest the representation of distinctive phonemes, such as the implosives /ɓ/ and /ɗ/, voiced dental /d̪/, labio-dental approximant /ʋ/, and nasal vowels. This phonological sketch not only contributes to the documentation of an endangered language but also clarifies some phonological issues found in previous works and underscores the intricate linguistic features that characterize the Modo language, paving the way for future research and revitalization efforts.

Kekerabatan Bahasa Sunda dan Bahasa Bali

In the field of comparative historical linguistics, examining language kinship can illuminate the relationships between languages in a particular region and their evolutionary paths over time. Sundanese and Balinese are two prominent languages that originated in different areas of Indonesia, yet both are part of the Austronesian language family. This study aims to investigate the kinship relationship between Sundanese and Balinese by employing lexicostatistics and phonemic correspondence techniques, providing a structured approach to analyzing their linguistic connections. Data collection was conducted through interviews, focusing on 200 Swadesh vocabulary words that encompass basic terms. The findings reveal a kinship degree of 41% between Sundanese and Balinese, indicating that they diverged approximately 2,058 years ago. Several phonemic correspondences were identified, including /a ~ ə/, /ɣ ~ ə/, /d~ r/, and /a,u/ ~ o/. The analysis further unveiled sound change processes such as lenition, merger, and splitting. Notably, Sundanese appears to be more closely aligned with Proto-Austronesian (PAN) than Balinese, as it has preserved certain phonemes, including /b/, /d/, and /h/, without significant alterations. These findings support the conclusion that Sundanese and Balinese belong to the same language family classification.

The Classification of Irarutu and Koiwai: A New Proposal

Abstract: The classification of Irarutu and Koiwai, two Austronesian languages spoken in the vicinity of New Guinea’s Bomberai Peninsula, is unresolved. Competing proposals variously link the languages to the South Halmahera–West New Guinea group and the Central Malayo-Polynesian group. This article makes a novel proposal, positing that Irarutu and Koiwai subgroup together and, in turn, places them in a higher subgroup with the Seram Laut languages.

Genetic, Linguistic and Molecular Anthropological Study of the Indian Ocean Littoral in Austronesian Dispersal Across the Pacific

The Indian Ocean region is a critical route/corridor/barrier for the migration and settlement of people whose social, linguistic and genetic ancestry is of interest to anthropologists worldwide. Varying from the ‘little tradition’ of small isolated populations to the ‘great tradition’ of global and admixed heritage, in the field of collating evidences from culture, language and anthropological genetics this paper will examine the ‘Austronesian dispersal’ within the boundaries of the Indian ocean sporadically sprinkled across Pacific islanders.

Perubahan Bunyi Bahasa Proto Austronesia ke dalam Bahasa Melayu Riau Dialek Pasir Pengaraian

Riau Malay has language variations generating various dialects, including Pasir Pengaraian dialect, which reflects sound differences. To understand the characteristics of the dialect, it is necessary to analyze the sound changes from Proto Austronesian into Pasir Pengaraian Riau Malay dialect. The purpose of this research was first, to identify the sound changes of Proto Austronesian language into Riau Malay dialect of Pasir Pengaraian using Keraf's theory and second, to analyze the meaning changes that occur due to sound changes using Crowley & Bowern's theory. This research belonged to qualitative-descriptive research exploring thoroughly how sound changes from Proto Austronesian languages occured in detail and how these changes affect the meaning of words in cultural and social contexts which were then explained and described systematically. The data collection method used was interview method with listening technique, note-taking technique and recording technique by referring to the list of 200 Swadesh vocabularies. The results of the research obtained that (1) the types of sound changes of Proto Austronesian language into Riau Malay language were assimilation (progressive assimilation and palatalization), metathesis, afferesis, syncope, apocope, prothesis, epenthesis, paragogue, and monoftongization. (2) meaning changes that occur were pejoration, broadening, narrowing, and bifurcation.

From aspect to information structure: Non-aspectual functions of change of state markers in Austronesian and beyond

Abstract This paper discusses a phenomenon that has so far received little attention in previous literature: the presence, in several languages from different branches of the Austronesian family, of polyfunctional markers, which combine an aspectual meaning of change of state with information and discourse structuring functions. In this study, based on a comparative analysis of fifty-two Austronesian languages, I show that polyfunctional change of state markers are distributed throughout the entire family, crosscutting the major typological and geographical divide between Western and Eastern Austronesian. I argue that the development of information and discourse structuring functions of change of state markers derives from applying the notions of current relevance and transition to new situation not to eventualities, but to elements of propositions, and I also suggest that this process may be universally valid and could explain the similar development of change of state markers into information and discourse structuring devices attested in non-Austronesian languages.

Pengaruh Bahasa Pertama (Bahasa Sasak) Terhadap Perkembangan Bahasa Anak dalam Lingkungan Keluarga di Desa Pelembak

The aim of this research is to explain the influence of the first language (Sasak language) on children's language development in the family environment in Pelembak Village. Sasak language is the regional language of the Sasak tribe used by people on the island of Lombok. The Sasak language has a diversity of dialects. This language is related to Balinese and Javanese and belongs to the Austronesian language family. This research uses qualitative research methods. Using observation, interview and documentation data collection techniques. The data sources in this research were 11 children from 11 selected heads of families in Gunung Malang Hamlet, Pelembak Village. Of the 11 heads of families, the research objects were children aged 2-4 years in several families. This is based on the influence of the first language on the child's language through the family environment which researchers have observed during observations and by looking at their linguistic background. The data analysis technique is conducting interviews to collect data and then carrying out reductions (summaries) to create a research focus, then the researcher describes the data in the form of interviews and then concludes to present the research results. Based on the results of this research, it was found that the first language (Sasak language) greatly influences children's language development in the family environment in Pelembak Village. This results in weak mastery of the Indonesian language. The factors that influence the first language (Sasak) on children's language development in the family environment in Pelembak Village are: parental, family, social environment, education and technology factors.

Bahasa Bugis dalam perspektif Islam pada mahasiswa Sulawesi di D.I. Yogyakarta

Indonesian is part of the Austronesian language family and has a unique script system known as Lontara. Although Indonesian is more dominant, the Bugis language still plays an important role in maintaining the cultural identity and traditions of the Bugis people. This study was conducted to find differences in Bugis speech between students from Southeast Sulawesi in Yogyakarta and their home regions. The object of this research is 22 Southeast Sulawesi students who live in a student dormitory in Yogyakarta. A qualitative-descriptive approach based on Lev Vygotsky's theory was used in this study. The results show that dialectal variations, different ethnic backgrounds, historical and cultural factors, the use of Arabic letters in Bugis writing, the level of formality of use, and the development of Bugis language literature cause the differences in language speech. The findings highlight the importance of Bugis language preservation by Sulawesi students and the strengthening of the community's cultural identity, provide a new contribution to the development of literature on Bugis language development, especially in the Yogyakarta area, and provide new insights into efforts to preserve Indonesian culture.

Bayesian phylogenetic analysis of Philippine languages supports a rapid migration of Malayo-Polynesian languages

The Philippines are central to understanding the expansion of the Austronesian language family from its homeland in Taiwan. It remains unknown to what extent the distribution of Malayo-Polynesian languages has been shaped by back migrations and language leveling events following the initial Out-of-Taiwan expansion. Other aspects of language history, including the effect of language switching from non-Austronesian languages, also remain poorly understood. Here we apply Bayesian phylogenetic methods to a core-vocabulary dataset of Philippine languages. Our analysis strongly supports a sister group relationship between the Sangiric and Minahasan groups of northern Sulawesi on one hand, and the rest of the Philippine languages on the other, which is incompatible with a simple North-to-South dispersal from Taiwan. We find a pervasive geographical signal in our results, suggesting a dominant role for cultural diffusion in the evolution of Philippine languages. However, we do find some support for a later migration of Gorontalo-Mongondow languages to northern Sulawesi from the Philippines. Subsequent diffusion processes between languages in Sulawesi appear to have led to conflicting data and a highly unstable phylogenetic position for Gorontalo-Mongondow. In the Philippines, language switching to Austronesian in ‘Negrito’ groups appears to have occurred at different time-points throughout the Philippines, and based on our analysis, there is no discernible effect of language switching on the basic vocabulary.

LEXICAL AND POST-LEXICAL PROSODIC DOCUMENTATION OF EMBALOH LANGUAGE

This research investigated the prosody of the Embaloh language, which has yet to be widely explored, to document and preserve the language. The method used is data collection of spontaneous and non-spontaneous speeches from 12 native speakers. Prosodic analysis was then carried out based on visualising and observing speech sound waves using the autosegmental-metrical theory (AM) framework. The results show that prominence tends to be on the right edge at both lexical and post-lexical prosodic levels. The findings show that the Embaloh language is outside the mainstream of Austronesian languages, which places word stress at the penultimate syllable. At the post-lexical level in interrogative intonation, phrases with a question word are marked by the pitch accent located at the target question word in the nuclear contour of the phrase. The pitch accent follows the position of the question word in the intonation phrase, forward or backward, with one of the following tones: H* (high), LH* (low-high), or LHL* (low-high-low). The intonation of the question is indicated by the H(high) tone at the end of the phrase. The H (high) tone also acts as a boundary tone represented by H*% (high).

DICTIONARY-BASED COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE CHINESE “个 (GÈ)” AND THE MALAY “BUAH” NUMERAL CLASSIFIERS

Classifiers are used for categorising nouns according to animacy, form, shape, and size. As one of the Austronesian languages, Malay is said to have an extensive numeral classifier system. Past studies have classified these two classifiers as general classifiers; however, an extensive study comparing the use of these two classifiers have not been attempted. This study aims to highlight the similarities and differences by comparing the Chinese classifier “个 (gè)” and the Malay “buah” using evidence from reference classifier dictionaries of the two languages. The findings show that while some similarities exist and both classifiers can be used interchangeably with some nouns, these classifiers are unique and have distinctive semantic usage. Both个 (gè) and buah are used for organisation, products of nature, buildings and places, and artifacts (things created by humans). However, only个 (gè) can be used for organs or body parts, humans, fruits and food, time, directions, and thought and intellectual products. In contrast, only buah is used for transportation, accessories, home furniture and appliances, publications, musical instruments, and performances.

Austronesian Lexemes in Basa Latala of Borneo: A Punan Sajau Song Language

Abstract: In recent work based on a 130-item wordlist, Lansing et al. claim that Basa Latala, a Punan Sajau song language of Borneo, is not an Austronesian language. In this squib, we argue that there is no linguistic basis for this claim. Many Basa Latala words have clear Austronesian and Borneo cognates and show evidence of Austronesian cognate morphology.

Sumatran

Abstract: The island of Sumatra and the Barrier Islands lying off its west coast are home to a diverse array of Austronesian languages. For at least a century and a half, a close genetic relationship between many of the non-Malayo-Chamic languages of the region—namely the Batak languages, Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano—has been proposed. Evidence in support of such a group was first thoroughly detailed by Nothofer, who outlined sound correspondences and phonological innovations for a Barrier Island–Batak subgroup. Building upon Nothofer's proposal and recent observations about the languages of Sumatra, this paper proposes a far-reaching language group we call Sumatran, comprising Nothofer's Barrier Island–Batak group as well as Gayo, spoken in northern Sumatra, and Nasal, spoken in southwestern Sumatra. We also provide stronger evidence for the inclusion of Enggano, spoken on the southernmost Barrier Island, which Nothofer only tentatively included. To support this proposal, we outline shared innovations that establish the foundation of what constitutes the Sumatran language subgroup.

Five Centuries of Settlement Dynamics and Mobility in the Northern Raja Ampat Islands of West Papua

ABSTRACT We explore changes to settlement and mobility in the northern Raja Ampat Islands (Waigeo, Gam, and Batanta) over the past five centuries, a time when speakers of several Austronesian languages were moving throughout the archipelago. The evidence shows: (1) some settlement relocations were rapid, occurring within a generation, while other settlements remained fixed for hundreds of years; and (2) there were numerous clan and family scale movements that led to high levels of intermarriage between language groups and settlements. The results demonstrate that far from being a place of stasis caught between the worlds of Maluku and New Guinea, Raja Ampat settlement and mobility were highly dynamic. This dynamism prompts us to rethink the relationship between today’s settlement locations, their language affiliations, and the meta-narratives about their recent population histories. We propose that the deeper past of Raja Ampat may have also been characterized by dynamic movement and social flux.

Inheritance of Consonant Phonemes from PAN to Mandailing Language

This study aims to examine the inheritance of consonant phonemes from Proto-Austronesian (PAN) to Mandailing Language (BM), as part of the Austronesian language family. The method used is the comparative historical method with a focus on analyzing basic Swadesh vocabulary collected from native speakers in Panyabungan, Mandailing Natal. The diachronic analysis shows that BM preserved some phonemes from PAN while undergoing significant changes in some consonants. The results show patterns of phonetic changes of PAN to BM consonants, including changes of /b/ to /b/ or /m/, /k/ to /h/ in the penultima position, /z/ to /j/ in the ultima position, /l/ to /n/ in the ultima position, and changes of /h/ to missing in the ultima position. These changes provide deep insights into phonological evolution in BM, indicating a PAN linguistic heritage with innovative variations in word phonology and morphology. The findings support the theory of language evolution and make an important contribution to the understanding of Austronesian historical linguistics.

Sound Change of Batahan Language as Malay Dialect in Mandailing Natal Regency

This research deals with comparative historical linguistic studies that discuss the types of sound changes from Proto-Austronesian into Batahan Malay. This research uses qualitative methods with listening and recording techniques. Data sources were obtained from informants who are native speakers of Batahan Coastal Malay. Vocabulary taken from the speakers' recordings are those listed in the swadesh list. In the sound changes of the Austronesian language into Batahan Coastal Malay based on sound position, there are only six changes out of seven changes namely metathesis, apheresis, syncope, apocope, prothesis, and paragogue.

Association of HLA-C*07:359 with HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 alleles in Taiwanese.

It is thought that Taiwanese indigenous people were the "first people" to populate Taiwan (Formosa) having been there for over 5000 years, preceding the Dutch colonization (from 1624 to 1662) and Spanish colonization (from 1626 to 1642). Taiwan's indigenes, represented by Austronesian language speakers, currently constitute approximately 2% of the total population in Taiwan. It is unknown whether they evolved from Taiwan's Paleolithic or Neolithic cultures, arrived during or after the Neolithic period from China or Southeast Asia or both. HLA studies on the Taiwanese indigenous population have found several intriguing genetic information showing one or two relatively frequently observed alleles and a small number of relatively less frequently observed ones. We report here a relatively frequently observed HLA-C*07:359 allele in the Taiwanese indigenous population, its linkage with HLA-B*39:01, and its probable associated HLA haplotype in two Taiwanese indigenous families. HLA-C*07:359 is a rarely observed allele in the HLA-C locus in the world populations. The objective of this study is to report the allele HLA-C*07:359 that is more frequently found in the Taiwanese population, especially in the Taiwanese indigenous people, to demonstrate that it has a close linkage with HLA-B*39:01 allele in the HLA-B locus and to show the plausible deduced HLA-A-C-B-DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes in association with HLA-C*07:359 in two families of Taiwanese indigenous unrelated individuals. The samples were peripheral whole blood, with dipotassium ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and/or acid citrate dextrose anticoagulation additives. The sequence-based typing method was employed to confirm the low incidence of the allele of HLA-C*07:359 observed in Taiwanese. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out to amplify exons 2, 3, and 4 of the HLA-A,-B,-C,-DRB1 and-DQB1 loci with group-specific primer sets. Amplicons were sequenced using the BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Ready Reaction Kit in both directions according to the manufacturer's protocol. C*07:359 is an uncommon allele in the HLA-C locus in the world general population, according to our literature review. However, in this study, it is observed in the general Taiwanese population (frequency 0.41%), especially in the Taiwanese indigenous people at a frequency of 0.23%. In addition, we deduced two probable HLA haplotypes in association with C*07:359 in two indigenous families: A*24:02-C*07:359-B*39:01-DRB1*04:36 and A*24:02-C*07:359-B*39:01-DRB1*04:04. The two deduced HLA haplotypes associated with the uncommon C*07:359 allele that we report here are valuable for HLA tissue typing laboratories for reference purposes and for stem cell transplantation donor search coordinators to determine the likelihood of finding compatible donors in unrelated bone marrow donor registries for patients bearing the uncommon HLA allele. Since C*07:359 was found mostly in the Taiwanese indigenous population, we think the allele and its haplotypes we report here are important in population and anthropological studies.

Malay Lexicon Project 3: The impact of orthographic-semantic consistency on lexical decision latencies.

Theories of word processing propose that readers are sensitive to statistical co-occurrences between spelling and meaning. Orthographic-semantic consistency (OSC) measures provide a continuous estimate of the statistical regularities between spelling and meaning. Here we examined Malay, an Austronesian language that is agglutinative. In Malay, stems are often repeated in other words that share a related meaning (e.g., sunyi/quiet; ke-sunyi-an/silence; makan/eat; makan-an/foods). The first goal was to expand an existing large Malay database by computing OSC estimates for 2,287 monomorphemic words. The second goal was to explore the impact of root family size and OSC on lexical decision latencies for monomorphemic words. Decision latencies were collected for 1,280 Malay words of various morphological structures. Of these, data from 1,000 monomorphemic words were analysed in a series of generalised additive mixed models (GAMMs). Root family size and OSC were significant predictors of decision latencies, particularly for lower frequency words. We found a facilitative effect of root family size and OSC. Furthermore, we observed an interaction between root family size and OSC in that an effect of OSC was only apparent in words with larger root families. This interaction has not yet been explored in English but has the potential to be a new benchmark effect to test distributional models of word processing.

Reassessing pseudosluicing in Austronesian

AbstractPseudosluicing diagnostics have played an important role in wider debates about sluicing. Sluicing is the term used to describe the deletion of an embedded clausal constituent, which leaves only a wh‐phrase overt. Genuine sluicing requires syntactic or semantic identity between the sluiced clause and its antecedent, contrasting with pseudosluicing, in which pro‐drop creates the appearance of a sluice but no identity is required. The underlying structure of sluicing in several Austronesian languages has been argued to be pseudoclefts, which involve a nominal wh‐predicate and a headless relative clause argument. Both Malagasy and Nukuoro have been analysed as having pseudocleft sluicing, and on the basis of this, claims about the type of identity required in sluicing have been made. Both analyses rely on diagnostics that rule out the possibility of pseudosluicing. This paper reexamines the pseudosluicing diagnostics used for Malagasy and Nukuoro and concludes that they have been insufficiently controlled for. This is supported by data from Madurese showing that pseudosluicing diagnostics are inconclusive in these Austronesian languages. Language‐internal support is needed for such diagnostics, especially as they play an important role in the conclusions drawn from Austronesian languages on the wider identity requirement for sluicing. Three language‐specific diagnostics are given which are successfully able to identify pseudosluicing in Madurese.