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Article published In: Language and Linguistics
Vol. 26:4 (2025) ► pp.673–694

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Reevaluating two schwa-initial reconstructions in Proto‑ and Pre‑Proto‑Austronesian numerals with some help from Kra‑Dai

ORCiD logo with link | Fudan University
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Published online: 5 August 2025
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lali.00245.smi
Abstract
Proto-Austronesian numeral reconstruction typically includes the reconstructions *əsa ‘one’ and *ənəm ‘six’. These lexemes are noteworthy because they contain the only examples of schwa in word-initial position in a Proto-Austronesian reconstruction as presented in the Austronesian Comparative Dictionary. In this study, both *əsa and *ənəm are critically evaluated with the hypothesis that Proto-Austronesian descended from an ancestor which did not, in fact, contain schwa-initial words and that these examples arose through historical processes that involve the deletion of a word-initial *h which was present in pre-Proto-Austronesian. Evidence from Kra-Dai suggests that this is true for *ənəm ‘six’, where Kra-Dai evidence suggests Proto-Kra-Dai *xənəm ‘six’. In the development of Proto-Austronesian, *x reduced to *h followed by deletion in Proto-Austronesian. Furthermore, it is shown that the putative reconstruction *əsa ‘one’ relies on evidence from an entry in Ferrell, Raleigh. 1982. Paiwan dictionary. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar Paiwan dictionary, which, under closer inspection, turns out to not be a valid Paiwan word. This, in turn, means that *əsa cannot be reconstructed to Proto-Austronesian due to a lack of Formosan evidence but must instead be a Proto-Malayo-Polynesian innovation. The only well-attested Proto-Austronesian reconstruction for ‘one’ is the doublet pair *isa/*asa.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Justifying the use of Kra-Dai
  • 3.PAn *ənəm and the initial *h hypothesis
    • 3.1*h-initial reconstructions and their reflexes
    • 3.2Kra-Dai reflexes of ‘six’
      • 3.2.1Tone and initial consonants in Kra
      • 3.2.2Nasal consonant voicing and initial consonants
      • 3.2.3Comparison between Kra voiceless nasals and other Kra-Dai branches
  • 4.What about *əsa, the other schwa-initial?
    • 4.1Kra-Dai reflexes of ‘one’
    • 4.2Paiwan and formosan evidence for PAn *əsa
    • 4.3Reflexes of *əsa in Malayo-Polynesian
  • 5.Conclusion: Did PAn have any schwa-initial vocabulary?
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • List of abbreviations
  • References
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