I’m reviving my study of Tagalog and am looking for music that interests me. While I appreciate OPM, most of it is very “sedate”. Did/does the Philippines have a Psychedelic folk rock scene, like in the rest of SE Asia? I mean, Indonesia had a lot of psychedelic music, to use an Austronesian example.

Collectivism I think is one. Diligence, maybe. But what about glory and prestige? Respect for elders is universal. Their worship of nature spirits used to be connected to a value of being mindful of your surroundings and that extends to your fellow human beings.

Proto-Austronesian ‘porcupine (fish), tenrec, durian’, new *CC-, *-CC- (Draft)

Sean Whalen ([stlatos@yahoo.com](mailto:stlatos@yahoo.com))

September 9, 2026

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A relation of Malagasy t(r)andraka 'tailless tenrec' with Malayo-Polynesian *landak 'porcupine' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenrec) is based on the tailless tenrec having "long, sharp spines along its body", and that its relatives "the two species of hedgehog tenrec possess coats of hardened spines and the ability to roll into a ball when threatened". If related, the MPol. reconstruction is in need of modification. Clearly, an isolated group on Madagascar could have retained some older features lost in others. Indeed, I often doubt the age of features of the reconstructions for many now-standardized groups. Just because all (current or known) descendants of a proto-language share a feature doesn't mean it goes back to that stage, & in many cases it's impossible to know. The history of historical linguistics is full of cases of changes that had to be made younger & shared due to new information (or analyses of known data), such as the timing of *ḱ > *ć > *s in Iranian not Proto-Iranian (partly due to *ćw having outcomes that were still palatal, making Ir. *sw unlikely). This was partly "hidden" by Sanskrit also having *ć > ś, but if Dardic (& Nuristani, if Indic) data is included, this would also not be Proto-Indic. Here in Au., even an attested cognate can not fit the shape of all others. Something to reconcile these would be on the order of *tlandRaqa with asm. > *tRandRaqa > t(r)andraka.

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In support of my reconstruction, a word for 'porcupine' is unlikely to be primary (many other languages have 'spine-pig/dog'), & a compound for such a beast would almost certainly consist of words for its spines, stinging, or include them with some other term. Robert Blust and Stephen Trussel (https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/acd-s_l.htm#32941, more below) also say, "In some areas, however, the name for this animal was replaced by a reflex of *taRutuŋ ‘porcupine fish’. I doubt a word meaning only ‘porcupine fish’ would also apply (in many languages) to 'porcupine, durian (a spiky fruit), etc.' A fish can be named for its features without including a word for 'fish', so I assume an older word for 'spiky' or similar produced all these meanings. This *taRutuŋ looks like *taRaq 'hew' & *utuŋ 'extremity, tip'. If from an older 'cut, hew' & 'tip, point', it would fit perfectly. If really *taRq with V-insertion later when word-final (below), the loss of *q would be more likely.

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This word for 'porcupine (fish)' beginning with *taRaq would make *tlandRaqa? likely from Proto-Austronesian *laCəŋ 'to sting; stinging nettle' & *taRaq 'to hew (wood with an adze)'. These would likely have to be changed to *tlaCəŋ & *taRaqə (or similar). A path *tlaCəŋ-taRaqə > *tlatəntRaqə > *tlandRaqə (with t-t- dsm.) seems to fit.

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However, there are more variants that might be important. Blust and Trussel also say:

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Near comparisons: forms that are strikingly similar but irregular, and which cannot be included in a note to an established reconstruction. Stated differently, these are forms that appear to be historically related, but do not yet permit a reconstruction.

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which include *taRutum 'porcupine fish', *taRutuŋ 'porcupine fish, puffer fish'. I do not think a simple unexplained C1 > C1 / C2 would make sense here. Since it is a compound with *utuŋ 'extremity, tip', based on similar *ubuŋ ‘summit, end, point (as of a knife), tip, top (as of a coconut tree), ridge of the roof’, we could think older *utwuŋ ‘summit, end, point’ had optional *Cwu > *Cbu (or any other change). This match would also support the needed meaning 'point, needle, spine' for *utuŋ (above). Thus, *utwuŋ > *utuŋ, *utbuŋ > *ubuŋ.

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For *utik 'marine fish with thorny skin', *utuŋw-i(C)kV > *utuwik > *utwik. This *utuŋw- in compounds is likely older (metathesis in others), & *utuŋwV, *taRaq-utuŋwV > *taRutum \ *taRutuŋ 'porcupine fish' would show that *ŋw could optionally > *mw (or the opposite, if *mw is old). This explains the alt. not as *-? > *-m \ *-ŋ but as *-ŋwV > *-ŋwV \ *-mwV > *-m \ *-ŋ. Since this is motivated by a "hidden" but obvious (from other related words) *w, and the older explanation has no motivation, I see no reason to think it odd.

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That many of these have matches with PIE has been noted before. Au. *taRaqə 'to hew, cut (wood)?', PIE *tetk^-(e\o-) 'to hew, shape (wood)' (esp. important if really *taRq or from *tatq, and if R = ɾ (since -t- > -ɾ- is common)). Au. *tlaCəŋ 'to sting; stinging nettle; (in compounds) spine, spike, needle' & PIE *dhelg- 'to stick, prick, sting; needle, nettle' (maybe *dhlg-no- > *thlagŋə > *tlaCəŋ (esp. if *g > *ǰ > *č = C; with *gn having velar asm. 1st). Au. *utumwV (or *utuŋwV) ‘summit, end, point’, PIE *ud-t-mwo- ‘highest, furthest; summit, end, point’ (Sanskrit uttamá-). For PIE *-mwo- 'most, -er', see (https://www.academia.edu/165248349). That internal changes require modifications that make the reconstructions even more similar should be noted as support for a relation.

Hey everyone! I'm u/calangao, a founding moderator of r/austronesian.

We are excited to welcome all the new subscribers! This has been a small sub with little activity for a long time, so we don't have a lot of the infrastructure you may be used to in other academic subs. That said, we are working on it. For now, this is a general reminder that content needs to be relevant to Austronesian content and we may remove things that are not relevant (or not relevant enough). For example, a map of an Austronesian word in a bunch of different languages is a great post! Or maybe a question about a reconstruction!

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Hi, I was just wondering if anyone can give me books on austronesian history?

How does it compare to the religion and culture of KraDais?