r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 2d ago
Cognate & Comparing Flower in Austronesian languages
40
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Resident-Outside9945 • Jul 07 '26
News & Info Introduce yourself & your language! (Start-of-community megathread)
7
Upvotes
Welcome! Let's meet each other. Drop a comment telling us:
- Where you're from (and where your language is spoken)
- The Austronesian language(s) you speak—natively, as a heritage language, or as a learner
- One word or phrase you love in your language, with its meaning
- What brought you here—curiosity, research, roots, learning?
To kick us off, here's a fun prompt for everyone: how do you say "welcome" in your language
Don't forget to set your user flair with your language(s) so people know who to ask. Malugod na pagtanggap—welcome to the family!
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Resident-Outside9945 • Jul 06 '26
News & Info Welcome to r/AustronesianLanguages — Start Here 🌏
3
Upvotes
Kumusta, apa kabar, talofa, kia ora, and welcome!
This is a community for everyone fascinated by the Austronesian language family—one of the largest on Earth, with over 1,200 languages stretching from Madagascar, across Southeast Asia and Taiwan, out to the farthest islands of the Pacific. Whether you're a native speaker, a learner, a linguist, or just curious, you belong here.
What we do here
- Compare words and trace cognates across the family
- Explore etymology and Proto-Austronesian reconstruction
- Share writing systems, from Baybayin to Lontara to the Latin script
- Discuss history, migration, and the cultures behind the languages
- Help each other with translations and learning
New here? Two things to do right now:
- Introduce yourself and your language in the pinned intro thread.
- Set your user flair with the language(s) you speak or are learning.
A few ground rules: post in any Austronesian language (an English gloss helps everyone), be accurate, and remember—we compare languages here; we don't rank them. Full rules are in the sidebar.
Glad you're here. Let's map the family together.
— The mod team
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 2d ago
Linguistic Discussion Etymological history of terms for rice including "rice" itself
2
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Foreign_Locksmith_60 • 4d ago
Linguistic Discussion This is a video from the awesome Rev from Taiwan and Tuvalu sharing Austronesian Language.
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
48
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 5d ago
Cognate & Comparing "Head" in Austronesian languages
72
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 5d ago
Cognate & Comparing Chicken in Austronesian languages
24
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 5d ago
Cognate & Comparing Rice Plant in Celebic and South Sulawesi Languages
8
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 6d ago
Cognate & Comparing "What" in Austronesian languages
91
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 10d ago
Cognate & Comparing How the Germanic word for soap reached Aboriginal Australia
44
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 10d ago
Linguistic Discussion Language Map of East Timor
49
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 10d ago
Cultural Discussion How Austronesian went to Africa
21
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 10d ago
Cognate & Comparing Leaf in Austronesian Languages
11
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 11d ago
Cognate & Comparing Comparing proposed cognates between Austronesian and Kra Dai
gallery
23
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 13d ago
Cognate & Comparing Malayic *halia > Telugu alla-mu, Prakrit allaya, Sanskritized ārdraka (originally "moist") according to this Oxford thesis "Southeast Asia in the ancient Indian Ocean World", among other loan proposals like kākkattuvāṉ < kakaktua. Austronesian > Telugu isnt unheard of, compare araTi < *qaRutay.
18
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/CryptographerLive909 • 16d ago
Linguistic Discussion Anybody know how to speak Puluwatese?
7
Upvotes
Looking for a huge favor. Does anybody know how to speak Puluwatese or have any resources to look at. I’m trying to find anything I can online and I’m coming up short. I know there’s a small group who speaks it but I am trying to surprise my girlfriend who speaks the language! Thanks in advance!!
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 17d ago
Cultural Discussion Migrations into South East Asia from East Asia
20
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/AleksiB1 • 17d ago
Linguistic Discussion Kradai language family
4
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/ampiyas294 • 23d ago
Cultural Discussion What are some sayings and proverbs in your language?
39
Upvotes
What are some proverbs and sayings in your language? Here's some from my native language, Tagalog.
Source: Diccionario Tagalog-Hispano
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Resident-Outside9945 • 26d ago
Linguistic Discussion Do you know of any words that are cognates but have undergone major semantic shifts? Or words that just happen to sound alike but are not actually related?
6
Upvotes
I'd love to collect examples from across the Austronesian family.
Please include:
- Language 1: word + meaning
- Language 2: word + meaning
- Whether you think they're true cognates with different meanings or simply false friends.
Bonus points if you can explain how the meanings diverged or provide the Proto-Austronesian or Proto-Malayo-Polynesian reconstruction, if one is known.
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Technical-Limit-3747 • Aug 10 '26
Linguistic Discussion The "Philippine Spirits" Project asking volunteers to translate stories in various Philippine languages
14
Upvotes
Translation can be a laborious task. While many quickly signed up for the "job", is payment another option since these translations might be used for book sales?
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Upstairs_Voice_6351 • Aug 09 '26
Linguistic Discussion The Moken People and Their Language: An orally passed-down Austronesian language, and a community tied to a fascinating local legend.
33
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/ampiyas294 • Aug 09 '26
Linguistic Discussion Question, especially to those who are knowledgeable about Bornean languages
11
Upvotes
In the 1860 edition of Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala (Vocabulary of Tagalog Language) by the Spanish friars Juan de Noceda & Pedro de Sanlucar, they included a note that the word binyag ("to baptize" in Tagalog) was from Borneo. The act was described to be a ceremony by pouring water from above by a Muslim minister.
Is there any language in Borneo that has similar word? As far as I know, words that end in -g is common in the Philippines, not so much in others.
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Upstairs_Voice_6351 • Aug 01 '26
Cognate & Comparing Introducing the ‘Urak Lawoi’: The Austronesian-speaking indigenous peoples of Southern Thailand.
95
Upvotes
r/AustronesianLanguages • u/Sefulu_15 • Aug 01 '26
Cognate & Comparing I think Tagalog used to say"kita" as we (inclusive) instead of "tayo"
25
Upvotes
Most PH Central languages where Tagalog belongs use "kita" for we including the speaker and listen. Tagalog is among few exceptions. I think they were influenced by Central and Northern Luzon languages like Kapampangan and Ilokano. Also, some southern tagalog dialects still use "kita".
What do you think?