The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai-Kadai - Archive ouverte HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Oceanic Linguistics Année : 2004

The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai-Kadai

Résumé

This paper presents a new higher phylogeny for the Austronesian family, based on three independent lines of evidence: the observation of a hierarchy of implications among the numerals from 5 to 10 in the languages of Formosa and in PMP; the finding that the numerals *pitu '7', *walu '8' and *Siwa '9' can be derived from longer additive expressions meaning 5+2, 5+3 and 5+4, preserved in Pazeh, using only six sound changes; and the observation that the phylogeny which can be extracted from these and other innovations -mostly changes in the basic vocabulary- evinces a coherent spatial pattern, whereby an initial Austronesian settlement in NW Taiwan expanded unidirectionally counterclockwise along the coastal plain, circling the island in a millennium or so. In the proposed phylogeny, Malayo-Polynesian is a branch of Muic, a taxon which also includes NE Formosan (Kavalan plus Ketagalan). The ancestor language: Muish, is deemed to have been spoken in or near NE Formosan. Further evidence that the The Tai-Kadai languages, contrary to common sense, are a subgroup of Austronesian (specifically: a branch of Muic, coordinate with PMP and NE Formosan) is presented.

Domaines

Linguistique
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
THE_HIGHER_PHYLOGENY_OF_AUSTRONESIAN.pdf (458.45 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Loading...

Dates et versions

halshs-00090906 , version 1 (04-09-2006)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : halshs-00090906 , version 1

Citer

Laurent Sagart. The higher phylogeny of Austronesian and the position of Tai-Kadai. Oceanic Linguistics, 2004, 43 (2), pp.411-444. ⟨halshs-00090906⟩
368 Consultations
3741 Téléchargements

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More