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Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 39:4 (2022) ► pp.449–489

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Is Malayo-Polynesian a primary branch of Austronesian?

A view from morphosyntax

 | Victoria University of Wellington
 | National Taipei University of Technology
 | Australian National University | University of the Philippines Diliman
 | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Published online: 16 May 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.21019.che
Abstract
An understudied morphosyntactic innovation, reanalysis of the Proto-Austronesian (PAn) stative intransitive prefix *ma- as a transitive affix, offers new insights into Austronesian higher-order subgrouping. Malayo-Polynesian is currently considered a primary branch of Austronesian, with no identifiably closer relationship with any linguistic subgroup in the homeland (. 1999. Subgrouping, circularity, and extinction: Some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Elizabeth Zeitoun & Paul Jen-kuei Li (eds.), Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, 31–94. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2009/2013. The Austronesian languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2005. The Batanic languages in relation to the early history of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of Austronesian. Journal of Austronesian Studies 1(2). 1–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). However, the fact that it displays the same innovative use of ma- with Amis, Siraya, Kavalan and Basay-Trobiawan and shares the merger of PAn *C/t with this group suggests that Malayo-Polynesian and East Formosan may share a common origin – the subgroup that comprises the four languages noted above. This observation points to a revised subgrouping more consistent with a socio-historical picture where the out-of-Taiwan population descended from a seafaring community expanding to the Batanes and Luzon after having developed a seafaring tradition. It also aligns with recent findings in archaeology and genetics that (i) eastern Taiwan is the most likely starting point of Austronesian dispersal (Hung, Hsiao-chuen. 2005. Neolithic interaction between Taiwan and Northern Luzon: The pottery and jade evidence form the Cagayan Valley. Journal of Austronesian Studies 11. 109–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2008. Migration and cultural interaction in southern coastal China, Taiwan and the northern Philippines, 3000 bc to ad 100: The early history of the Austronesian-speaking populations. PhD dissertation, The Australian National University., . 2019. Ancient interactions between eastern Taiwan and the Philippines: From the Palaeolithic Age to Iron Age. Field Archaeology of Taiwan 19(2). 87–116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2017. First islanders: Prehistory and human migration in Island Southeast Asia. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2008. Austronesian cultural origins: Out of Taiwan, via the Batanes Islands, and onwards to Western Polynesia. In Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, Roger Blench, Malcolm D. Ross, Ilia Peiros & Marie Lin (eds.), Past human migrations in East Asia: Matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics, 23–39. UK: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Carson, Mike & Hsiao-chuen Hung. 2018. Learning from paleo-landscapes: Defining the land-use systems of the ancient Malayo-Polynesian homeland. Current Anthropology 59(6). 790–813. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and (ii) that the Amis bear a significantly closer relationship with Austronesian communities outside Taiwan (Capelli, Cristian, James F. Wilson, Martin Richards, Michael P. Stumpf, Fiona Gratrix, Stephen Oppenheimer, Peter Underhill, Vincenzo L. Pascali, Tsang-Ming Ko & David B. Goldstein. 2001. A predominantly indigenous paternal heritage for the Austronesian-speaking peoples of insular Southeast Asia and Oceania. American Journal of Human Genetics 681. 432–43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Trejaut, Jean A., Toomas Kivisild, Jun Hun Loo, Chien Liang Lee, Chun Lin He, Chia Jung Hsu, Zheng Yuan Li & Marie Lin. 2005. Traces of archaic Mitochondrial lineages persist in Austronesian speaking Formosan populations. PLoS Biology 31. e247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; McColl, Hugh, Fernando Racimo, Lasse Vinner, Fabrice Demeter, Takashi Gakuhari, J. Victor Moreno-Mayar, George van Driem, … Eske Willersley. 2018. The prehistoric peopling of Southeast Asia. Science 3611. 88–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Pugach, Irina, Alexander Hübner, Hsiao-Chun Hung, Matthias Meyer, Mike Carson, & Mark Stoneking. 2021. Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(1). e2022112118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Tätte, Kai, Ene Metspalu, Helen Post, Leire Palencia-Madrid, Javier R. Luis, Maere Reidla, Anneliis Rea, Erika Tamm, Everett J. Moding, Marian M. de Pancorbo & Ralph Garcia-Bertrand. 2021. The Ami and Yami aborigines of Taiwan and their genetic relationship to East Asian and Pacific populations. European Journal of Human Genetics 291, 1092–1102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Future investigation of additional shared innovations between Malayo-Polynesian and East Formosan could shed further light on their interrelationships.
Résumé
Innovation morphosyntaxique peu étudiée, la réanalyse du préfixe intransitif statif proto-austronésien (PAn) *ma- en affixe transitif, offre de nouvelles perspectives sur le groupement linguistique dont émerge l’austronésien. Le malayo-polynésien, le sous-groupe linguistique qui comprend toutes les langues austronésiennes parlées en dehors de Taïwan, est actuellement considéré comme une branche primaire sans étroite relation discernable avec quelque sous-groupe linguistique du foyer d’origine (. 1999. Subgrouping, circularity, and extinction: Some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Elizabeth Zeitoun & Paul Jen-kuei Li (eds.), Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, 31–94. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2009/2013. The Austronesian languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2005. The Batanic languages in relation to the early history of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of Austronesian. Journal of Austronesian Studies 1(2). 1–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Cependant, ce sous-groupe affiche la même utilisation innovante de ma- que quatre langues de l’est de Formose, dispersées sur le littoral (l’amis, le siraya, le kavalan, le basay-trobiawan) et partage la fusion des phonèmes *C/t proto-austronésiens avec ce groupe, ce qui suggère la possibilité d’une origine commune pour ces groupes linguistiques de l’est de Formose et le malayo-polynésien. Cette observation conduit à postuler un sous-groupe plus conforme à la représentation socio-historique selon laquelle la population issue de Taïwan descendrait d’une communauté de navigateurs dont la tradition maritime s’étendait des Batanes à l’île de Luzon. Cela correspond également aux découvertes récentes en archéologie et en génétique selon lesquelles (i) l’est de Taïwan est probablement le point de départ de la dispersion austronésienne (Hung, Hsiao-chuen. 2005. Neolithic interaction between Taiwan and Northern Luzon: The pottery and jade evidence form the Cagayan Valley. Journal of Austronesian Studies 11. 109–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2008. Migration and cultural interaction in southern coastal China, Taiwan and the northern Philippines, 3000 bc to ad 100: The early history of the Austronesian-speaking populations. PhD dissertation, The Australian National University., . 2019. Ancient interactions between eastern Taiwan and the Philippines: From the Palaeolithic Age to Iron Age. Field Archaeology of Taiwan 19(2). 87–116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2017. First islanders: Prehistory and human migration in Island Southeast Asia. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2008. Austronesian cultural origins: Out of Taiwan, via the Batanes Islands, and onwards to Western Polynesia. In Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, Roger Blench, Malcolm D. Ross, Ilia Peiros & Marie Lin (eds.), Past human migrations in East Asia: Matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics, 23–39. UK: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Carson, Mike & Hsiao-chuen Hung. 2018. Learning from paleo-landscapes: Defining the land-use systems of the ancient Malayo-Polynesian homeland. Current Anthropology 59(6). 790–813. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) et (ii) les Amis manifestent une relation spécifiquement plus étroite avec les communautés austronésiennes en dehors de Taïwan (Capelli, Cristian, James F. Wilson, Martin Richards, Michael P. Stumpf, Fiona Gratrix, Stephen Oppenheimer, Peter Underhill, Vincenzo L. Pascali, Tsang-Ming Ko & David B. Goldstein. 2001. A predominantly indigenous paternal heritage for the Austronesian-speaking peoples of insular Southeast Asia and Oceania. American Journal of Human Genetics 681. 432–43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Trejaut, Jean A., Toomas Kivisild, Jun Hun Loo, Chien Liang Lee, Chun Lin He, Chia Jung Hsu, Zheng Yuan Li & Marie Lin. 2005. Traces of archaic Mitochondrial lineages persist in Austronesian speaking Formosan populations. PLoS Biology 31. e247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Tätte, Kai, Ene Metspalu, Helen Post, Leire Palencia-Madrid, Javier R. Luis, Maere Reidla, Anneliis Rea, Erika Tamm, Everett J. Moding, Marian M. de Pancorbo & Ralph Garcia-Bertrand. 2021. The Ami and Yami aborigines of Taiwan and their genetic relationship to East Asian and Pacific populations. European Journal of Human Genetics 291, 1092–1102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Pugach, Irina, Alexander Hübner, Hsiao-Chun Hung, Matthias Meyer, Mike Carson, & Mark Stoneking. 2021. Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(1). e2022112118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Un examen ultérieur des innovations communes aux langues malayo-polynésiennes et de l’est de Formose pourrait aider à clarifier la nature de leurs liens.
Zusammenfassung
Die Reanalyse des proto-austronesischen (PAn) Stativpräfix *ma- als Transitivaffix ist eine wenig beachtete morphosyntaktische Innovation undbietet neue Erkenntnisse in Bezug auf die übergeordnete Gruppierung des Austronesischen. Das Malayo-Polynesische, der Zweig der alle austronesischen Sprachen außerhalb Taiwans umfasst, wird momentan als primärer Zweig gesehen, ohne identifizierbares näheres Verhältnis zu den Zweigen in Taiwan (. 1999. Subgrouping, circularity, and extinction: Some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics. In Elizabeth Zeitoun & Paul Jen-kuei Li (eds.), Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, 31–94. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2009/2013. The Austronesian languages. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2005. The Batanic languages in relation to the early history of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of Austronesian. Journal of Austronesian Studies 1(2). 1–23.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Es zeigt aber den gleichen innovativen Gebrauch von ma- und die Verschmelzung von PAn *C/t wie vier ostformosische Sprachen (Amis, Siraya, Kavalan und Basay-Trobiawa), die verstreut an der Küste Taiwans liegen. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass der ostformosische und der malayo-polynesische Zweig einen gemeinsamen Ursprung haben könnten. Diese Beobachtung deutet auf eine neue Gruppierung hin, die besser mit einem soziohistorischen Szenario übereinstimmt, in dem die Bevölkerung außerhalb Taiwans von einer seefahrender Gruppe abstammt, die in die Batanen und Luzon expandierte. Dies passt auch zu jüngsten Erkenntnissen aus Archäologie und Genetik, die zeigen, (i) dass der Osten Taiwans wahrscheinlich der Ausgangspunkt für die Ausbreitung des Austronesischen ist (Hung, Hsiao-chuen. 2005. Neolithic interaction between Taiwan and Northern Luzon: The pottery and jade evidence form the Cagayan Valley. Journal of Austronesian Studies 11. 109–34.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, . 2008. Migration and cultural interaction in southern coastal China, Taiwan and the northern Philippines, 3000 bc to ad 100: The early history of the Austronesian-speaking populations. PhD dissertation, The Australian National University., . 2019. Ancient interactions between eastern Taiwan and the Philippines: From the Palaeolithic Age to Iron Age. Field Archaeology of Taiwan 19(2). 87–116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2017. First islanders: Prehistory and human migration in Island Southeast Asia. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; . 2008. Austronesian cultural origins: Out of Taiwan, via the Batanes Islands, and onwards to Western Polynesia. In Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, Roger Blench, Malcolm D. Ross, Ilia Peiros & Marie Lin (eds.), Past human migrations in East Asia: Matching archaeology, linguistics and genetics, 23–39. UK: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Carson, Mike & Hsiao-chuen Hung. 2018. Learning from paleo-landscapes: Defining the land-use systems of the ancient Malayo-Polynesian homeland. Current Anthropology 59(6). 790–813. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) und (ii) dass die Amis ein viel engeres Verhältnis mit austronesischen Gruppen außerhalb Taiwans haben denn innerhalb (Capelli, Cristian, James F. Wilson, Martin Richards, Michael P. Stumpf, Fiona Gratrix, Stephen Oppenheimer, Peter Underhill, Vincenzo L. Pascali, Tsang-Ming Ko & David B. Goldstein. 2001. A predominantly indigenous paternal heritage for the Austronesian-speaking peoples of insular Southeast Asia and Oceania. American Journal of Human Genetics 681. 432–43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Trejaut, Jean A., Toomas Kivisild, Jun Hun Loo, Chien Liang Lee, Chun Lin He, Chia Jung Hsu, Zheng Yuan Li & Marie Lin. 2005. Traces of archaic Mitochondrial lineages persist in Austronesian speaking Formosan populations. PLoS Biology 31. e247. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; McColl, Hugh, Fernando Racimo, Lasse Vinner, Fabrice Demeter, Takashi Gakuhari, J. Victor Moreno-Mayar, George van Driem, … Eske Willersley. 2018. The prehistoric peopling of Southeast Asia. Science 3611. 88–92. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Pugach, Irina, Alexander Hübner, Hsiao-Chun Hung, Matthias Meyer, Mike Carson, & Mark Stoneking. 2021. Ancient DNA from Guam and the peopling of the Pacific. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(1). e2022112118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar; Tätte, Kai, Ene Metspalu, Helen Post, Leire Palencia-Madrid, Javier R. Luis, Maere Reidla, Anneliis Rea, Erika Tamm, Everett J. Moding, Marian M. de Pancorbo & Ralph Garcia-Bertrand. 2021. The Ami and Yami aborigines of Taiwan and their genetic relationship to East Asian and Pacific populations. European Journal of Human Genetics 291, 1092–1102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Zukünftige Studien zu mehr gemeinsamen Innovationen zwischen dem Malayo-Polynesischen und dem Ostformosischen könnten weiteres Licht auf ihr Verhältnis werfen.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A note on Austronesian higher-order subgrouping
  • 3.Two functions of ma- in western Austronesian
    • 3.1ma- as a stative intransitive prefix
    • 3.2ma- as a Patient Voice-like affix used in transitives
  • 4.Proposal: matr- as a single, shared innovation of EF and MP
    • 4.1Against Scenario I (matr- as a PAn retention)
    • 4.2Against Scenarios III and IV (matr- as the outcome of drift)
    • 4.3Against Scenario V (matr- as a case of structural borrowing)
  • 5.East Formosan as the closest relative of Malayo-Polynesian
  • 6.Further evidence for EF-MP connection
    • 6.1Potential lexical innovations defining Proto-Coastal-Formosan
    • 6.2Support from sister fields
      • 6.2.1Genetics
      • 6.2.2Archaeology
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
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Smith, Alexander D.
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Young, Chun-Jan
2024. Non-core case marking in Batanic languages. STUF - Language Typology and Universals 77:4 ► pp. 515 ff. DOI logo
Liu, Dang, Albert Min-Shan Ko, Mark Stoneking & George Milner
2023. The genomic diversity of Taiwanese Austronesian groups: Implications for the “Into- and Out-of-Taiwan” models. PNAS Nexus 2:5 DOI logo
Hung, Hsiao-chun, Cheng-hwa Tsang, Zhenhua Deng, Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia, Rey A. Santiago, Mike T. Carson & Peter Bellwood
2022. Preceramic riverside hunter-gatherers and the arrival of Neolithic farmers in northern Luzon. Antiquity 96:388 ► pp. 848 ff. DOI logo

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