The pitfalls of negative evidence
‘Nuclear Austronesian’, ‘Ergative Austronesian’, and their progeny
Beginning with publications in the early 1980s there have been attempts to use syntactic data to determine the highest-order subgroups of Austronesian. These efforts fall into two categories: those which claim that the voice affixes of Philippine-type languages originally had exclusively nominalizing functions, and those which claim that the affixes themselves were innovated after the separation of Rukai from the ancestor of all other Austronesian languages. Although these ideas lay dormant for some years, recently both have been revived in renewed efforts to show that the Austronesian family tree is not ‘rake-like’ in its highest nodes, but shows extensive embedding of subgroups that can be justified by successive layers of syntactic innovations. This paper questions the methodological soundness of both types of arguments on the grounds that they appeal to negative evidence, and logically any such appeal can do no better than reach an inference of indeterminate status rather than the positive conclusions that have been proposed.
Article outline
- 1.The nature of scientific arguments
- 2.The morphosyntax-based arguments for Austronesian higher-order subgrouping
- 3.Malayo-Polynesian as a test case
- 3.1The history of Malayo-Polynesian, 1: The Nuclear Austronesian hypothesis
- 3.1.1Implications for Puyuma
- 3.2The history of Malayo-Polynesian, 2: The Ergative Austronesian hypothesis
- 3.2.1The temporal asymmetry of gains and losses
- 4.*-an before *-en? Implications of the morphosyntax-based subgroupings for Austronesian historical morphology
- 4.1Against *-en as a post-PAn innovation
- 4.1.1Patient nominalization in Puyuma: Tamalakaw and Katripul vs. Nanwang
- 4.1.2Tamalakaw and Katripul -en vs. Nanwang -an
- 4.2Rukai as a case of extensive loss: Budai Rukai <in>√-Ø
- 4.3Saaroa patient nominalization and its implications for the NAn hypothesis
- 4.4An East Formosan parallel: Amis -en vs. Kavalan -an
- 4.5Summary
- 5.Conclusion and implications
- Acknowledgements
- Notes
-
References
References
References
Adelaar, K. Alexander
2011 Siraya: Retrieving the Phonology, Grammar and Lexicon of a Dormant Formosan Language. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.
Aldridge, Edith
2014 Ergativity from subjunctive in Austronesian languages.
Online Proceedings of The 14th International Symposium on Chinese Languages and Linguistics (IsCLL-14), 289–318. Available at
[URL] (accessed 15 September 2016).
Aldridge, Edith
2016 Ergativity from subjunctive in Austronesian languages.
Language and Linguistics 17.11: 27–62.
Anceaux, J. C.
1952 The Wolio Language: Outline of Grammatical Description and Texts. (
VKI 11.) The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Anceaux, J. C.
1987 Wolio Dictionary (Wolio-English-Indonesian), Kamus Bahasa Wolio (Wolio-Inggeris-Indonesia). (
KITLV XVIII.) Dordrecht & Providence: Foris Publications.
Baird, Louise
2002 A Grammar of Kéo: an Austronesian Language of East Nusantara. Canberra: The Australian National University dissertation.
Bellwood, Peter
2011 The checkered prehistory of rice movement southwards as a domesticated cerealŠ– from the Yangzi to the Equator.
Rice 4.31: 93–103.
Blust, Robert
1999 Subgrouping, circularity and extinction: some issues in Austronesian comparative linguistics.
Selected Papers from the Eighth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, ed. by
Elizabeth Zeitoun &
Paul Jen-kuei Li, 31–94. (
Symposium Series of the Institute of Linguistics (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica, No. 1.) Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Blust, Robert
2003 Thao Dictionary. (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series A5.) Taipei: Institute of Linguistics (Preparatory Office), Academia Sinica.
Blust, Robert
2013 The Austronesian Languages. 2nd revised edition. (Asia-Pacific Open Access Monographs.) Canberra: College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University.
Blust, Robert, & Stephen Trussel
Ongoing.
The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary. Web edition. Available at
[URL] (accessed 15 September 2016).
Bowden, John
2001 Taba: Description of a South Halmahera Austronesian Language. (
PL 521.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Bulbeck, David
2008 An integrated perspective on the Austronesian diaspora: the switch from cereal agriculture to maritime foraging in the colonisation of island Southeast Asia.
Australian Archaeology 671: 31–51.
Cauquelin, Josiane
2015 Nanwang Puyuma-English Dictionary. (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series 56.) Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Chang, Henry Y.
2006 Rethinking the Tsouic subgroup hypothesis: a morphosyntactic perspective.
Streams Converging into an Ocean: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Jen-kuei Li on His 70th Birthday. (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series W-5), ed. by
Henry Y. Chang,
Lillian M. Huang &
Dah-an Ho, 565–584. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Chen, Victoria
n.d.
Fieldnotes on Nanwang Puyuma and Tgdaya Seediq.
Clark, Ross
1991 Fingota/fangota: shellfish and fishing in Polynesia.
Man and a Half: Essays in Pacific Anthropology and Ethnobiology in Honour of Ralph Bulmer, ed. by
Andrew Pawley, 78–83. Auckland: The Polynesian Society.
Codrington, R. H., & J. Palmer
1896 A Dictionary of the Language of Mota, Sugarloaf Island, Banks’ Islands. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Davis, Karen
2003 A Grammar of the Hoava Language, Western Solomons. (
Pacific Linguistics 535.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Dyen, Isidore
1990 Homomeric lexical classification.
Linguistic Change and Reconstruction Methodology. (
Trends in Linguistics Studies and Monographs 45), ed. by
Philip Baldi, 211–230. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Edwards, Owen
2015 The position of Enggano within Austronesian.
Oceanic Linguistics 54.11: 54–109.
English, Leo James
1986 Tagalog-English Dictionary. Quezon City: Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
English-Tagalog Online Translator
Available at
[URL] (accessed 15 September 2016).
Ferrell, Raleigh
1969 Taiwan Aboriginal Groups: Problems in Cultural and Linguistic Classification. (
Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, Monograph No. 17.) Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Greenberg, Joseph H.
1957 Essays in Linguistics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Huang, Lillian M.
2000 Beinanyu Cankao Yufa [
A Reference Grammar of Puyuma
]. Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Co., Ltd.
Jensen, John Thayer
1977a Yapese Reference Grammar. (PALI Language Texts: Micronesia.) Honolulu: University Press of Hawai‘i.
Jensen, John Thayer
1977b Yapese-English Dictionary. (PALI Language Texts: Micronesia.) Honolulu: University Press of Hawai‘i.
Kähler, Hans
1987 Enggano-Deutsches Wörterbuch [
Enggano-German Dictionary
]. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer.
Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, & Charles D. Fennig
(eds.) 2016 Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 19th edition. Dallas: SIL International. Available at
[URL] (accessed 15 September 2016).
Li, Paul Jen-kuei
1973 Rukai Structure. (
Special Publications No. 64.) Taipei: Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.
Li, Paul Jen-kuei
2004 The internal relationships of Rukai.
Selected Papers on Formosan Languages, Vol. 11, ed. by
Paul Jen-kuei Li, 559–624. (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series C-3.) Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Li, Paul Jen-kuei, & Shigeru Tsuchida
2006 Kavalan Dictionary. (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series A-19). Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Lin, Dong-yi
2011 A syntactic account of interrogative verbs in Kavalan. Paper Presented at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Chicago Linguistic Society, April 7–9, 2011. Illinois: University of Chicago.
Ogawa, Naoyoshi, & Erin Asai
1935 Gengo ni Yoru Taiwan Takasago Zoku Densetsu Shū [
The Myths and Traditions of the Formosan Native Tribes (Texts and Notes)
]. Taipei: Taihoku Imperial University Institute of Linguistics.
Online Dictionary of Formosan languages (ODFL)
Available at
[URL] (accessed 15 September 2016).
Pan, Chia-jung
2012 A Grammar of Lha’alua, an Austronesian Language of Taiwan. Cairns: James Cook University dissertation.
Pawley, Andrew, & Lawrence A. Reid
1979 The evolution of transitive constructions in Austronesian.
Austronesian Studies: Papers from the Second Eastern Conference on Austronesian Languages, ed. by
Paz Buenaventura Naylor, 103–130. Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan.
Ross, Malcolm
1996 Is Yapese Oceanic? Reconstruction, Classification, Description: Festschrift in Honor of Isidore Dyen. (
Abera Network Asia-Pacific 3), ed. by
Bernd Nothofer, 121–166. Hamburg: Abera Verlag Meyer & Co.
Ross, Malcolm
2002 The history and transitivity of Western Austronesian voice and voice-marking.
The History and Typology of Western Austronesian Voice Systems, ed. by
Fay Wouk &
Malcolm Ross, 17–62. (
Pacific Linguistics 518.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Ross, Malcolm
2006 Reconstructing the case-marking and personal pronoun systems of Proto Austronesian.
Streams Converging into an Ocean: Festschrift in Honor of Professor Paul Jen-kuei Li on His 70th Birthday, ed. by
Henry Y. Chang,
Lillian M. Huang &
Dah-an Ho, 521–564. (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series W-5.) Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Ross, Malcolm
2009 Proto Austronesian verbal morphology: a reappraisal.
Austronesian Historical Linguistics and Culture History: A Festschrift for Robert Blust, ed. by
Alexander Adelaar &
Andrew Pawley, 295–326. (
Pacific Linguistics 601.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Ross, Malcolm
2012 In defense of Nuclear Austronesian (and against Tsouic).
Language and Linguistics 13.61: 1253–1330.
Ross, Malcolm
2014 Major morphosyntactic changes in early Austronesian. Lecture at the Advanced Linguistics Workshop on Language Change, July 14–24. Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Sagart, Laurent
2010 Is Puyuma a primary branch of Austronesian? Oceanic Linguistics 49.11: 194–204.
Sagart, Laurent
2013 Is Puyuma a primary branch of Austronesian?: a rejoinder.
Oceanic Linguistics 52.21: 481–492.
Sagart, Laurent
2014 In defense of the numeral-based model of Austronesian phylogeny, and of Tsouic.
Language and Linguistics 15.61: 859–882.
Sagart, Laurent, Roger Blench, & Alicia Sanchez-Mazas
(eds.) 2005 The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. London and New York: Routledge Curzon.
Sapir, Edward
1921 Language: an Introduction to the Study of Speech. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company.
Schachter, Paul, & Fe T. Otanes
1972 Tagalog Reference Grammar. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Starosta, Stanley
1995 A grammatical subgrouping of Formosan languages.
Austronesian Studies Relating to Taiwan, ed. by
Paul Jen-kuei Li,
Cheng-hwa Tsang,
Ying-kuei Huang,
Dah-an Ho &
Chiu-yu Tseng, 683–726. (
Symposium Series of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, No. 3.) Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Starosta, Stanley, Andrew Pawley, & Lawrence A. Reid
1982 The evolution of focus in Austronesian.
Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 21, ed. by
Amran Halim,
Lois Carrington &
Stephen A. Wurm, 145–170. (
PL C-75). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Teng, Stacy Fang-ching
2007 A Reference Grammar of Puyuma, an Austronesian Language of Taiwan. Canberra: The Australian National University dissertation.
Teng, Stacy Fang-ching
2009 Case syncretism in Puyuma.
Language and Linguistics 10.41: 819–844.
Teng, Stacy Fang-ching, & Malcolm Ross
2010 Is Puyuma a primary branch of Austronesian? A reply to Sagart.
Oceanic Linguistics 49.21: 543–558.
Teng, Stacy Fang-ching, & Elizabeth Zeitoun
2016 The noun-verb distinction in Kanakanavu and Saaroa: evidence from pronouns.
Oceanic Linguistics 55.11: 134–161.
Thurgood, Graham
1999 From Ancient Cham to Modern Dialects: Two Thousand Years of Language Contact and Change. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Topping, Donald M. (with the assistance of Bernadita C. Dungca)
1973 Chamorro Reference Grammar. (PALI Language Texts: Micronesia.) Honolulu: University Press of Hawai‘i.
Tryon, D. T. & B. D. Hackman
1983 Solomon Islands Languages: an Internal Classification. (
Pacific Linguistics C-72.) Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
Tsang, Cheng-hwa
2005 Recent discoveries at a Tapenkeng culture site in Taiwan: implications for the problem of Austronesian origins.
The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics, ed. by
Laurent Sagart,
Roger Blench &
Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, 63–73. London & New York: Routledge Curzon.
Tsuchida, Shigeru
1976 Reconstruction of Proto-Tsouic Phonology. (
Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa Monograph Series, 5.) Tokyo: Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
Tsuchida, Shigeru
1980 Puyuma (Tamalakaw dialect) vocabulary, with grammatical notes and texts.
Kuroshio no Minzoku, Bunka, Gengo [
Ethnology, Cultures and Languages Along the Black Current
], ed. by
Kuroshio Bunka no Kai (Black Current Cultures Committee), 183–307. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten. (In Japanese)
Tuuk, H. N. van der
1971[1864–1867] Tobasche Spraakunst. [
A Grammar of Toba Batak
]. (
KITLV Translation Seires 13), translated by
Miss Jeune Scott-Kemball, ed. by
A. Teeuw &
R. Roolvink. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Verheijen, Jilis A. J.
1977 The lack of formative IN affixes in the Manggarai language.
NUSA 51: 35–37.
Wolff, John U.
1973 Verbal inflection in Proto-Austronesian.
Parangal kay Cecilio Lopez: Essays in Honor of Cecilio Lopez on His Seventy-fifth Birthday. (
Special Monograph Issue No. 4), ed. by
Andrew B. Gonzalez, 71–91. Quezon City: Linguistic Society of the Philippines.
Wu, Ming-Yi
2013 Ameizuyu Cidian [
Amis Dictionary
]. Taipei: San Min Book Co., Ltd.
Yeh, Marie M.
2000 Saixiayu Cankao Yufa [
A Reference Grammar of Saisiyat
]. Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Co., Ltd.
Zeitoun, Elizabeth
2000 Lukaiyu Cankao Yufa [
A Reference Grammar of Rukai
]. Taipei: Yuan-Liou Publishing Co., Ltd.
Zeitoun, Elizabeth
2007 A Grammar of Mantauran (Rukai). (
Language and Linguistics Monograph Series A4–2). Taipei: Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.
Zeitoun, Elizabeth
2016 A comparative study of nominalization in Rukai. Paper Read at the 11th International Symposium on Taiwanese Languages and Teaching, July 12–13, 2016. Taipei: Academia Sinica.
Zeitoun, Elizabeth, Tai-hwa Chu, & Lalo a Tahesh Kaybaybaw
2015 A Study of Saisiyat Morphology. (
Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 40). Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Zeitoun, Elizabeth, & Stacy Fang-ching Teng
2016 Reassessing the position of Kanakanavu and Saaroa among the Formosan languages.
Oceanic Linguistics 55.11: 162–198.
Zoetmulder, P. J. (with the collaboration of S. O. Robson)
1982 Old Javanese-English Dictionary. (21 vols).
KITLV. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
Cited by
Cited by 1 other publications
Blust, Robert
2019.
The Austronesian Homeland and Dispersal.
Annual Review of Linguistics 5:1
► pp. 417 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 march 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.