{"title":"Proto-Philippine Addenda: Theory, Method and Data","authors":"Robert Blust","doi":"10.1353/ol.2022.0020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2022.0020","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The argument for a Philippine subgroup of Austronesian languages that has been presented by Blust is further strengthened through the addition of 320 new etymologies, amounting to an increase of about 25% over the earlier dataset. While the earlier publication aimed at comprehensiveness, this one adopts a more restrictive approach that virtually eliminates the likelihood of cognate distributions being the result of borrowing. The emphasis is thus on the quality of individual comparisons, rather than on the impact of an argument based, at least in part, on quantity. In addition, it clearly describes the foundations of the theory being defended, and provides an explicit discussion of method that lays bare certain misconceptions about the nature of historical linguistics held by some critics of the earlier proposal.","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47063140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Serial Verbs by Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald (review)","authors":"Chia-jung Pan","doi":"10.1353/ol.2021.0030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2021.0030","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45903105","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Challenge of Semantic Reconstruction 3: Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *guntiŋ ‘scissors’?","authors":"Robert Blust","doi":"10.1353/ol.2021.0024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2021.0024","url":null,"abstract":"While a fair amount has been written on semantic change, semantic reconstruction is in some ways the last frontier in historical linguistics. Following principles laid down in past publications starting in 1987, I argue here that Dempwolff's classic reconstruction of “Original Austronesian” *guntiŋ ‘scissors’ is questionable, based both on records of the history of technology, and on evidence that *guntiŋ had another, more plausible meaning by at least PMP times (correlated with the Philippine Neolithic starting circa 2,200 BC). In particular, reflexes of this form (which appears as *sala-guntiŋ in some Philippine languages) refer to an X-shaped architectural structure used to support roof beams in traditional house construction. In addition, in languagesranging from the northeast Philippines to the Malay peninsula, it evidently designated a similar structure used to hold a spear in horizontal position prior to being triggered by an animal taking the bait in a *balatik spring-set spear trap used to take wild pigs. Both of these are features of Neolithic technology that was widely-shared by PMP times, and there is little need to assume that they were borrowed. Scissors, on the other hand, which share the same X-shape when opened, were extremely useful in hair-cutting when once obtained, and quickly acquired the name guntiŋ because of their shape. If they arrived from the Middle East, as seems likely, they would probably have first been acquired by Malays, who then passed them on (along with many other loanwords) to languages all over the Indo-Malaysian archipelago and the Philippines to their north.","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-12-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"66487596","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Three Puzzles for Phonological Theory in Philippine Minority Languages","authors":"J. W. Lobel, Robert Blust, E. Thomas","doi":"10.1353/ol.2021.0014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2021.0014","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This squib describes three theoretically challenging phonological processes found in the Manide, Inagta Alabat, and Umiray Dumaget languages spoken on the large northern Philippine island of Luzon. These three well-documented processes do not conform to current theoretical expectations about what is a likely or even a possible diachronic process, although each is part of a larger, complex context of sound change which does conform to theoretical expectation. A brief background survey of vocalic changes triggered by voiced stops is given, followed by the puzzling changes that depart from this more general pattern.","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45959305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introducing diri: Understanding the Role of diri as a Reflexivizer","authors":"","doi":"10.1353/ol.2021.0021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2021.0021","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:The expression of reflexivity in Indonesian and related languages is based on various strategies, see Cole and Hermon (2005), Kartono (2013), and Schadler (2014) for discussion. This paper focuses on the expression of reflexivity based on the element diri and its cognates, not discussed in these papers. As a reflexive marker, bare diri is not specified for grammatical features such as number, gender, and person, so it imposes no restrictions on the value of the subject argument. It is only allowed with a subset of verbs, namely agent–theme verbs. Our goal is to determine its precise role. After applying a number of diagnostics for argumenthood (Dimitriadis and Everaert 2014), we show that diri is not an argument. We propose that the role of diri is that of an element marking detransitivization of the verb and reflecting an operation combining the latter's agent and theme roles into one complex agent–theme role (\"a bundling operation\" in the sense of Reinhart and Siloni 2005). This complex role is assigned to the remaining argument resulting in a reflexive interpretation. Further tests also show that agent and patient roles are indeed present in verbs with diri after the bundling operation.","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47432052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Taokas-10 Revisited: Taokas or Atayal?","authors":"Andre Goderich","doi":"10.1353/ol.2020.0031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2020.0031","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper reexamines the genetic affiliation of Taokas-10 using the comparative method. Taokas-10 is a wordlist of a Formosan language recorded near Miaoli, Taiwan, in the beginning of the twentieth century by the Japanese linguist Naoyoshi Ogawa. It was assumed to be a dialect of Taokas due to its geographic position, and although later researchers noted its resemblance to another Formosan language—Atayal—no evidence has been presented to justify this claim. This paper presents a thorough examination of its phonology, lexicon, and parts of its morphosyntax. The evidence is clear that the language in the Taokas-10 dataset was in fact a dialect of Atayal, with some lexical borrowings from neighboring Formosan languages (Saisiyat, Taokas, and other Atayal dialects). Although it is most closely related to Matu'uwal (Mayrinax) Atayal, it still shows peculiarities in both phonology and lexicon. It was likely a remnant of a larger Atayal population living in the lowlands of Miaoli that was later assimilated by Hakka Chinese, who now dominate the region.","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44008549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Uvular Reflexes of Proto-Austronesian *q: Mysterious Disappearance or Drift Toward Oblivion?","authors":"J. Blevins","doi":"10.1353/ol.2021.0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2021.0019","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This paper demonstrates an unexplained typological oddity in the historical phonology of Proto-Austronesian: PAn *q, widely believed to be a voiceless uvular stop, is rarely continued as a uvular consonant outside of the Formosan languages. The rarity of uvular reflexes of PAn *q in Austronesian languages is striking: of the 1,000 or so non-Formosan Austronesian languages, only two, Muna and Mapos Buang, show possible uvular reflexes of *q while maintaining an inherited contrast between that segment and reflexes of *k. If PAn *q was a uvular stop, and maintained as such in Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Central/Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Central Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Eastern-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-South Halmahera–West New Guinea, and Proto-Oceanic, why are there so few Austronesian languages outside of Taiwan with uvular reflexes of *q? Several possible explanations are considered here, ranging from simple typological explanations to cultural factors related to sound symbolism and taboo. The most promising approach relates drift away from *q to expansion of the vowel inventory.","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43941927","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Sketch Grammar of Pondi by Russell Barlow (review)","authors":"W. Foley","doi":"10.1353/ol.2021.0015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2021.0015","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51848,"journal":{"name":"OCEANIC LINGUISTICS","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2021-11-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47282082","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}