Proto-Austronesian and the Major Austronesian Subgroups

Abstract

The discovery of the existence of the Austronesian language family goes back to the seventeenth century, when members of the Schouten and Lemaire expedition collected a vocabulary from East Futuna (Wallis and Futuna) in the South Pacific, some of which was found later to bear a striking resemblance to Malay. However, it was not until the nineteenth century that Austronesian studies really took on a systematic flavour, particularly with the work of Dutch linguists in what is today Indonesia and that of a number of missionaries in the South Pacific. A discussion of the history of research in Austronesian linguistics is not called for here. Suffice it to say that the major advances in Austronesian studies have been made this century, beginning with the systematic comparative work of such linguists as Stresemann (1927) and Dempwolff (1934-38). Since that time there has been a great deal of systematic research carried out right throughout the vast region where Austronesian languages are spoken. In the past twenty-five years or so there have been a number of subgrouping hypotheses advanced by scholars of Austronesian languages. Only the most recent will be considered in any detail in this overview, for the major purpose of this paper is to present current and recent Austronesian subgrouping hypotheses, to look at what may be regarded as secure and what remains the subject of ongoing research. But before undertaking this review, it is necessary to insert a couple of preliminary remarks, one on the make-up of the Austronesian language family and the other on methodological considerations, in particular the methodology of linguistic subgrouping.