Structural characteristics of Austronesian languages

Almost all Austronesian languages distinguish two forms of ‘we’: an inclusive form (listener included) and an exclusive form (listener excluded). Many languages in the Philippines have a special dual inclusive (‘you and me’). In addition to singular and plural numbers, some Oceanic languages distinguish a dual number (‘we two,’ ‘you two,’ ‘the two of them’). A few Oceanic languages distinguish a fourth number that is greater than two but smaller than a typical plural. Historically, this number derives from the Proto-Austronesian word for ‘three,’ but it may in fact apply to numbers up to five and so is sometimes called “paucal” (‘a few’). Gender is rarely if ever distinguished.

Probably the most spectacular pronominal feature in Austronesian languages is the expression of possessive-marking in Oceanic languages. In many of the languages of Melanesia, nouns are marked for one of two types of possessive relationship, generally called “inalienable” and “alienable.” Inalienable categories include body parts, certain kinship relationships, and such “spiritual” aspects of an individual as his shadow (often associated with the soul) and his name. Inalienable possession is marked by suffixing a possessive pronoun to the possessed noun, as in Fijian na mata-na ‘his eye’ (literally, ‘[article] eye-his’) or na tama-qu ‘my father.’ Alienable possession is expressed by suffixing the possessive pronoun to a generally preposed classifying particle that specifies any of several possible relationships between the possessed noun and the possessor, as in Fijian na no-na vale ‘his house’ (literally, ‘[article] neutral-his house’), na ke-na ika ‘his fish (to eat)’ (‘[article] edible-his fish’), and na me-na dovu ‘his sugarcane (to suck the juice from)’ (‘[article] drinkable-his sugarcane’). The distinction between neutral and edible possession is widespread in Oceanic languages, and it appears in a few languages of eastern Indonesia. The further distinction of drinkable possession has a more limited distribution.

The Polynesian languages have a somewhat different system of possessive marking. The most prominent feature of this system is the contrast between what are sometimes called “dominant” and “subordinate” possession. In dominant possession the possessor generally has a relationship of control, as with Hawaiian ka ki‘i a Lani ‘the picture taken or painted by Lani,’ while in subordinate possession this sense of control does not exist, as in ka ki‘i o Lani ‘the picture taken or painted of Lani.’

Numbers and number classifiers

Click Here to see full-size tableMost Austronesian languages have a decimal system of counting, as illustrated in the Table. Others, such as Ilongot of the northern Philippines and some of the languages of the Lesser Sunda Islands in eastern Indonesia, have quinary systems (i.e., systems based on five). In the New Guinea area several Austronesian languages have radically restructured number systems that probably result from intensive contact with neighbouring Papuan languages. An example is Gapapaiwa of Milne Bay, with sago ‘one,’ ruwa ‘two,’ aroba ‘three,’ ruwa ma ruwa ‘four’ (literally, ‘two and two’), miikovi ‘five’ (‘hand finished’), miikovi ma sago ‘six,’ miikovi ma ruwa ‘seven,’ and so on. In such systems counting is often limited to relatively small quantities.

A number of the languages of Indonesia and the Pacific use number classifiers in counting objects, as with Bahasa Indonesia se-buah rumah ‘a house’ (literally, ‘one-fruit house’), se-orang guru ‘a teacher’ (literally, ‘one-person teacher’), or se-batang rokok ‘a cigarette’ (literally, ‘one-trunk cigarette’). In some languages of Micronesia the traditional counting systems were highly complex, with upwards of 30 number classifiers that distinguished counted objects by their shape, animateness, and other features.

Spacial orientation

Some Austronesian languages have terms for the cardinal directions east, west, north, and south, but in most cases these appear to have developed after European contact and may sometimes be due to inaccurate reporting by Europeans.

The system of directional orientation found in many Austronesian languages is constructed on two axes, a land-sea axis and a monsoon axis. The land-sea axis is very widespread among Austronesian-speaking peoples. Two widely separated examples are Thao (central Taiwan) tana-saya ‘uphill, toward the mountains,’ tana-raus ‘downhill, toward the sea’ and Hawaiian mauka ‘toward the mountains,’ makai ‘toward the sea.’ The monsoon axis is geographically more restricted, but the earlier reconstructed terms *habaRat ‘west monsoon’ and *timuR ‘southeast monsoon’ have been preserved in languages outside the monsoon region, though with change of meaning (e.g., Samoan afā ‘storm, gale, hurricane,’ timu ‘be rainy’).

Demonstrative pronouns often distinguish two forms of ‘there.’ In some languages these correspond to second-person and third-person pronominal reference: ‘there (near the listener)’ versus ‘there (near a third person).’ In other languages a distinction is made between a referent that is visible versus a referent that is not visible.