%0 Journal Article
%A Chen, Victoria
%A Kuo, Jonathan
%A Gallego, Maria Kristina S.
%A Stead, Isaac
%+ Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society
%T Is Malayo-Polynesian a primary branch of Austronesian? A view from morphosyntax  : 
%G eng
%U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-000A-7A43-2
%R 10.1075/dia.21019.che
%7 2022-05-16
%D 2022
%8 04.08.2022
%* Review method: peer-reviewed
%X An understudied morphosyntactic innovation, reanalysis of the Proto-Austronesian (PAn) stative intransitive prefix *ma- as a transitive affix, offers new insights into Austronesian higher-order subgrouping. Malayo-Polynesian is currently considered a primary branch of Austronesian, with no identifiably closer relationship with any linguistic subgroup in the homeland ( Blust 1999 , 2009/2013 ; Ross 2005 ). However, the fact that it displays the same innovative use of ma- with Amis, Siraya, Kavalan and Basay-Trobiawan and shares the merger of PAn *C/t with this group suggests that Malayo-Polynesian and East Formosan may share a common origin – the subgroup that comprises the four languages noted above. This observation points to a revised subgrouping more consistent with a socio-historical picture where the out-of-Taiwan population descended from a seafaring community expanding to the Batanes and Luzon after having developed a seafaring tradition. It also aligns with recent findings in archaeology and genetics that (i) eastern Taiwan is the most likely starting point of Austronesian dispersal ( Hung 2005 , 2008 , 2019 ; Bellwood 2017 ; Bellwood & Dizon 2008 ; Carson & Hung 2018 ) and (ii) that the Amis bear a significantly closer relationship with Austronesian communities outside Taiwan ( Capelli et al. 2001 ; Trejaut et al. 2005 ; McColl et al. 2018 ; Pugach et al. 2021 ; Tätte et al. 2021 ). Future investigation of additional shared innovations between Malayo-Polynesian and East Formosan could shed further light on their interrelationships.
%K Austronesian higher-order subgrouping, Malayo-Polynesian, East Formosan, syntactic reanalysis, Austronesian diaspora, Out-of-Taiwan
Hypothesis, triangulation
%J Diachronica
%V 39
%N 4
%& 449
%P 449 - 489
%I John Benjamins Publishing
%C Amsterdam
%@ 0176-42251569-9714