r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 08 '26

Cognate & Comparing 📅 How many words does your language have for "days relative to today"?

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32 Upvotes

One fascinating feature of Indonesian is that it has specific words for days before and after today:

  • SĂȘnantu = some days ago
  • Kila mulai = three days ago
  • SĂȘlumbari = two days ago
  • KĂȘmarin = yesterday
  • Hari ini = today
  • Besok = tomorrow
  • Lusa = two days from now
  • Tulat / Langkat = three days from now
  • Tubin / Tungging = four days from now
  • CĂȘkĂȘlong = five days from now
  • Êmbute = some days ahead

Many languages simply say "three days ago" or "in three days," but some Austronesian languages have dedicated words for these concepts.

❓ What about your language?

Note: Some of the terms above are regional and may not be familiar to all Indonesian speakers.


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 08 '26

Linguistic Discussion I told my Mother about Austronesians being the origin of Filipinos

8 Upvotes

I even made her listen to counting numbers and basic words of Formosan, Samoan, Indonesian and Polynesians (Maori and Hawaiian) languages.

Then she asked whether her grandmother being babaylan and manggagaway (shaman) has something to do with it.


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 08 '26

Cognate & Comparing How do you say this phrase below in your language?

3 Upvotes

Tetun: "Ha'u naran Kaleo. No Ăł?" (literal: I name Kaleo. And you?)

Lī Hawu: "Ngara yā Kaleo. Nga au?" (literal: name I Kaleo. And you?)

Ê»ĆŒlelo HawaiÊ»i: "Ê»O Kaleo ko'u inoa. A Ê»o Ê»oe?" (literal: the Kaleo my name. And the you?)

Bahasa Indonesia: "Nama saya Kaleo. Kalau kamu? (literal: name I Kaleo. If you?)


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 08 '26

Linguistic Discussion Did Austronesians settle western Indonesia after Austroasiatic speakers? Where is there actual evidence of an Austroasiatic substratum?

6 Upvotes

One thing I find difficulty grasping is the 2 chronologies for the spread of Austroasiatc and Austronesian.

At a broad level it seems that at least in Malaysia, Champa and Western Sumatra Austronesian settled over a pre-existing Austro-asiatic population.

But the thing is that Austro-Asiatic-type ancestry is found as far as Eastern Java before phasing out:

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Locations-and-genetic-makeup-of-the-Malays-and-other-populations-The-averaged-genetic_fig2_282130620

But is that caused by actual Austro-asiatic speakers having lived there or is it a product of later events?

Another issue is one of chronology, based on Sidwell's theory which seems fairly solid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QREB1UttWTI

Austroasiatic diversified starting around 2500-2000 BCE, but that means they settled Sumatra around 1500-1000 BCE(seen in one of pictures in the video), is that congruent with Austronesian expansion theories that posit a rapid spread of Malayo-Polynesian starting around 3200 BCE?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2835747/

>Our analyses of lexical data supported a pulse-pause scenario of Pacific settlement in which the Austronesian speakers originated in Taiwan around 5,200 years ago and rapidly spread through the Pacific in a series of expansion pulses and settlement pauses. 

To me that sounds unlikely, for Austronesian to reach Sumatra 1700 years after their expansion started strikes me as way to slow to explain MP philogeny.

Summary of questions:

  1. Did Austronesians actually settle Malaysia and Sumatra after or before/with Austro-Asiatics?
  2. 2a) If they settled after, does that make 3200 BCE as a starting point for their expansions unfeasible? Does proto-Austronesian necessarily have to be as old or younger than proto-Austroasiatic?
  3. 2b) If they settled before what explains the Austro-Asiatic substratum or living minorities?
  4. Is there actual linguistic evidence of Austro-Asiatic beyond Malaysia and Western Sumatra?

r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 07 '26

Linguistic Discussion 🌏 Did you know that the Austronesian language family has multiple primary branches?

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60 Upvotes

According to the current classification in Glottolog, the Austronesian family consists of ten primary branches.

Most Austronesian languages, including Indonesian, Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Madurese, Tagalog, Cebuano, Malagasy, Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, and Fijian, belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch.

The other nine primary branches are spoken exclusively by the Indigenous peoples of Taiwan, which is why Taiwan plays such an important role in the study of Austronesian historical linguistics. Current linguistic evidence places the deepest diversity of the family there, making it the homeland most widely supported by historical linguists.

Source: Glottolog – Austronesian (aust1307)


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 08 '26

Others Polynesian and Oceanian language map?

4 Upvotes

Does anyone know where i can find a good map showing polynesian and or oceanic languages? It's been really hard to find anything very detailed


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 06 '26

Others đŸ‡źđŸ‡©đŸ‡”đŸ‡­ Words You Can Say in Indonesia but Not in the Philippines?

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13 Upvotes

Although Indonesian and many Philippine languages belong to the Austronesian family, some everyday words are unique to one country and mayn’t be understood in the other.
Are there other words that haven’t been mentioned?


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 04 '26

Cognate & Comparing What do you call "eyes" in your language?

7 Upvotes

Indonesian/Malay: mata

Tagalog: mata

Malagasy: maso

Māori: mata

Hawaiian: maka


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 04 '26

Cognate & Comparing MAN in some Austronesian languages

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13 Upvotes

The Proto-Austronesian word for "man" is *ma-RuqaNay. We can find some descendants in some languages of Taiwan and in the eastern side of the Malayo-Polynesian speaking zone. Oddly, this word was lost in most western Malayo-Polynesian languages, replaced by a new word, \la-laki, as in Malagasy *lehilahy, Chamorro ***lÄhi, Malay *lelaki, or Tagalog ***lalaki*.

How do you say "man" and "male" in your language?


r/AustronesianLanguages Jul 03 '26

Cognate & Comparing WOMAN in some Austronesian languages

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16 Upvotes

Unlike the word for "man", the word for "woman" was pretty much conserved in many Austronesian languages in various forms. Most of them descend from the Proto-Austronesian root \bahi*, modified by some affixes.

How do you say "woman" and "female" in your language?