Onomatopoeia in Puyuma

This paper examines the Kra-Dai and Austroasiatic evidence for a revised Proto Austronesian consonant inventory that includes three new phonemic distinctions (*f, *g, and *ɭ) and an expanded domain for two others (*ʈ and *c). Corroborative evidence is found in Kra-Dai, strengthening the hypothesis of a genetic relationship (Austro-Tai) between Kra-Dai and Austronesian. Evidence from Austroasiatic is weaker, but still suggestive of a non-accidental relationship with Austro-Tai, through either genetic relatedness or contact.

Journal of Language Relationship, 2015

The Takuu language of Papua New Guinea shows both the lateral [l] and the flap rhotic [r] as regular reflexes of Proto-Nuclear-Polynesian *l. Older speakers tend to pronounce it closer to [r] and younger speakers closer to [l]. This situation is likely to be described as a sound change in progress (r → l). However, it is possible to show that distribution of [l] and [r] is predictable, depending on strictly defined phonological environments and the age of the speaker. Thus, a seemingly ongoing sound change turns out to be a series of seven different related sound changes which trigger each other. The closely related languages Nukeria and Nukumanu whose speakers maintain close contact with Takuu show only a part of the Takuu distributional patterns for liquids; in these cases we probably deal with shared sound changes that have recently originated in one of the languages. Intricate distributions involving laterals and rhotics on one hand and fricatives on the other are characteristic of Polynesian Outliers. The author suggests that distributions of this kind are responsible for irregular reflexes of Proto-Polynesian liquids and fricatives in modern Polynesian languages. Keywords: sound change in progress, irregular sound changes, shared phonological innovations, theory of sound change, geminate consonants, liquid consonants, Polynesian languages, Polynesian Outliers, Takuu language of Papua New Guinea. Aller Lautwandel, soweit er mechanisch vor sich geht, vollzieht sich nach ausnahmslosen Gesetzen, d.h. die Richtung der Lautbewegung ist bei allen Angehörigen einer Sprachgenossenschaft, außer dem Fall, daß Dialektspaltung eintritt, stets dieselbe, und alle Wörter, in denen der der Lautbewegung unterworfene Laut unter gleichen Verhältnissen erscheint, werden ohne Ausnahme von der Veränderung ergriffen. Hermann Osthoff und Karl Brugmann (1878), Morphologische Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiete der indogermanischen Sprachen. Band I. Hildesheim. S. XIII. * Friends, colleagues and accidental strangers have all contributed to the uneasy birth of this study; I cannot mention all of them here. First of all, I would like to thank the people of Papua New Guinea who were always ready to help and make me feel at home on my way-Aruka Kareva, Brendon Wells, Edmond Teppuri, Rumano Mahara and Tom Puaria. This work would not be possible without the help of Claire Moyse,

2009

Languages almost universally include oral plosives in their inventory of consonants, and of the oral consonants labial, coronal, and dorsal places of articulation can be reckoned to be the most ‘basic’, in terms of consistently appearing in use in different languages, and showing more contrasts than other places that are used. Coronal, in particular, covers a wide range of articulatory ground, and contrasts of place within the larger description of ‘coronal’ are not uncommon. Although such a contrast is rare in the languages of Europe, it is far from unheard of. The plosives of Hula, an Oceanic language of southeast New Guinea, are shown in (1), and here it is clear that dental stops contrast with alveolar ones.

1975

A second article, elsewhere in this issue, discusses those papers treating subjects in Eastern Austronesian, or Oceanic, languages. Contained in the present report are summaries of thirty-seven papers. This includes all of the papers, either read personally or by proxy, for which a complete draft was ready at the time of the conference. The names and addresses of the authors are• given so that further comments and requests may be sent directly to them. [The full texts of many of the papers summarized here will be published in volumes 12 and 13 of the journal Oceanic Linguistics.] Of the papers, eight relate specifically to the phonological reconstruction of Proto-Austronesian, five to syntactic reconstruction, eight to problems of subgrouping, seven to phonological, morphological, or syntactic problems in specific languages, three to sociological considerations, two to contact phenomena between Austronesian and non-Austronesian languages, three to non-Austronesian languages, and one to a general hypothesis of the origin and dispersal of Austronesian peoples. This• article is divided into eight sections, the headings reflecting the groups discussed above: Reconstruction-Phonological (1.1) and Syntactic (1.2), Subgrouping (2), Specific Problems (3), Sociological Considerations (4), Contact Phenomena (5), non-Austronesian Languages (6), and Dispersal (7). Within each section, articles are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the author.

2009

A festschrift in honour of Robert Blust bringing together new work on Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history. Part 1 reflects on Blust’s groundbreaking contributions to these fields over the last 40 years. The remaining 26 chapters contain contributions by leading Austronesianists on a wide range of topics that broadly match Blust’s own research interests. The chapters in Part 2 (‘sound change’) examine issues in the historical phonology of Austronesian languages. Those in Part 3 (‘grammatical change and typology’) deal with the reconstruction of historical morphology and syntax at various levels, from Proto Austronesian down. Those in Part 4 (‘subgrouping’) concern methodological and substantive issues in the genetic classification of Austronesian languages. Chapters in Part 5 (‘culture history and lexical reconstruction’) investigate ways in which the close analysis of lexicon, in conjunction with different kinds of non-linguistic evidence, can throw light on the history of Austronesian-speaking peoples. Several chapters in the volume propose significant revisions to currently accepted reconstructions of PAn phonology and morphosyntax. Other chapters focus on the historical development of languages of particular regions including Taiwan, the Philippines, Borneo, Java, the Strait of Malacca, Sulawesi, the Moluccas, New Guinea, the Solomon Is., Vanuatu, Polynesia and Micronesia.