Wiktionary:About Proto-Austronesian
Proto-Austronesian (PAN) is the reconstructed ancestor of all Austronesian languages. Its descendant is Proto-Malayo-Polynesian. As a reconstructed language, it should be located in the Reconstruction: namespace.
Notation[edit]
Multiple notations of PAN forms exist, the most known being those by Robert Blust (2009) and John Wolff (2010). Entry names should generally follow the scheme by Wolff.
Vowels[edit]
- Central vowels: *a, *ə
- Front vowel: *i
- Back vowels: *u
- Diphthongs: *aw, *ay, *iw, and *uy
The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary uses *e for instances of the schwa, but should be changed to *ə.
Consonants[edit]
Lemma should generally use consonants following Wolff 2010.
- Voiceless stops: *p *t *c *k *q
- Voiced stops and fricatives: *b *d *j *g *ɣ
- Nasals: *m *n *ŋ
- Voiceless fricatives: *s *h
- Laterals: *l *ɬ
- Approximants: *w *y
PAN consonants according to Blust 2009 are as follows. Reconstructions by Blust should be generally alternative forms unless they a certain consonant does not appear in Wolff 2010 reconstruction:
- Voiceless stops: *p *t *k *q
- Voiced stops: *b *d *D *g *j *g
- Nasals: *m *n *ñ *ŋ
- Voiceless fricatives: *S *s *h
- Affricates: *C *c *z
- Laterals: *l *N
- Taps and trills: *r *ʀ
- Approximants: *w *y
Correspondences between Blust and Wolff's reconstructions for most other consonants are as follows:
- *t and *C by Blust are merged into *t by Wolff
- *c /t͡ʃ/ by Blust is rejected by Wolff
- Final *D, and initial and medial *d by Blust are merged into *d by Wolf
- Final *d, and initial and medial *z by Blust are merged into *j (/ɟ/) by Wolff
- Medial and final *j, and initial *g by Blust are merged into *g by Wolff
- Medial and final *g by Blust is rejected by Wolff
- *ʀ by Blust is reconstructed as *ɣ by Wolff
- *r /ɾ/ by Blust is rejected by Wolff
- *N and *ñ by Blust are merged into * ɬ by Wolf
- *s (/ʃ/) by Blust becomes *c (/c/) by Wolf
- *S (/s/) by Blust becomes *s by Wolf
Descendants[edit]
Descendants are generally listed in the southward, and then eastward order, following the diffusion of Austronesians south from Taiwan, then to the Philippines, Borneo and the Malay archipelago and peninsula, then into Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and New Zealand.
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian
- Proto-Philippine
- Proto-Malayic
- Proto-Cham
- Proto-Batak
- Proto-South-Sulawesi
- Proto-Celebic
- Proto-Oceanic
- Proto-Torres-Banks
- Proto-Micronesian
- Proto-New-Caledonian
- Proto-Polynesian