PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Series C - No. 88 AUSTRONESIAN LINGUISTICS AT THE 15TH PACIFIC SCIENCE CONGRESS Andrew Pawley Lois Carrington eds Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Pawley, A. and Carrington, L. editors. Austronesian linguistics at the 15th Pacific Science Congress. C-88, vi + 362 pages. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1985. DOI:10.15144/PL-C88.cover ©1985 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s). Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL. A sealang.net/CRCL initiative. PACIFIC LINGUISTICS is issued through the Linguistic Circle of Canberra and consists of four series: SERIES A - Occasional Papers SERIES B - Monographs SERIES C - Books SERIES D - Special Publications EDITOR: S.A. Wurm ASSOCIATE EDITORS: D.C. Laycock, C.L. Voorhoeve, D.T. Tryon, T.E. Dutton EDITORIAL ADVISERS: B. W. Bender K.A. McElhanon University of Hawaii University of Texas David Bradley H.P. McKaughan La Trobe University University of Hawaii A. Capell P. MUhlhiiusler University of Sydney Linacre College, Oxford Michael G. Clyne G.N. O'Grady Monash University University of Victoria, B.C. S.H. Elbert A.K. Pawley University of Hawaii University of Auckland K.J. Franklin K.L. Pike University of Michigan; Summer Institute of Linguistics Summer Institute of Linguistics W.W. Glover E.C. Polom� Summer Institute of Linguistics University of Texas G.W. Grace Malcolm Ross University of Hawaii University of Papua New Guinea M.A.K. Halliday Gillian Sankoff University of Sydney University of Pennsylvania E. Haugen W.A.L. Stokhof National Center for Harvard University Language Development, Jakarta; A. Healey University of Leiden Summer Institute of Linguistics B.K. T'sou L.A. Hercus Murdoch University; Australian National University University of Hong Kong Nguy�n D!1ng LH�m E.M. Uhlenbeck University of Hawaii University of Leiden John Lynch J.W.M. Verhaar University of Papua New Guinea Gonzaga University, Spokane All correspondence concerning PACIFIC LINGUISTICS, including orders and subscriptions, should be addressed to: The Secretary PACIFIC LINGUISTICS Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies The Australian National University Canberra, A.C.T. Australia. 2601 Copyright © The Authors First Published 1985 Typeset by ,Ling Matsay Printed by A.N. U. Printing Service Bound by Adriatic Bookbinders Pty Ltd Maps drawn by Theo Baumann, Cartography, Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. The editors are indebted to the Australian National University for assistance in the production of this series. This publication was made possible by an initial grant from the Hunter Douglas Fund. National Library of Australia Card Number and ISBN 0 85883 329 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS page INTRODUCTION iv THE CONTRIBUTORS v A. RECONSTRUCTION AND SUBGROUPING Oceanic subgrouping: retrospect and prospect George W. GRACE 1-18 Assessing the typo logical evidence for New Guinea Oceanic Joel BRADSHAW 19-30 Central-Eastern Oceanic : a subgrouping hypothesis John LYNCH and D.T. TRYON 31-52 The status of Proto-Micronesian Byron W. BENDER and Judith W. WANG 53-9 2 Possessive constructions in Oceanic languages and in Proto-Oceanic Frantisek LICHTENBERK 93-140 Proto-Oceanic *qi Robin HOOPER 141-167 Rapid lexical change and aberrant Melanesian languages : Sengseng and its neighbours Ann CHOWN ING 169-198 Languages of north and central vanuatu : groups , chains , clusters and waves Ross CLARK 199-236 The status of flora and fauna glosses that have been reconstructed for Proto-Oceanic and for three sub-Oceanic proto-languages D.S . WALSH 237-256 The position of Atayal in the Austronesian family Paul Jen-kuei LI 257-280 Verbal inflection versus deverbal nominalisation in PAN : the evidence from Tsou Stanley STAROSTA 281-312 B. DICTIONARY MAKING The role of computers in dictionary_making at the University of Hawaii Robert HSU 313-328 The politics of dictionary making on Tanna (Vanuatu) Lamont LINDSTROM 329-341 Rapid lexical change and the problem of what to include in a new Tahitian dictionary Jack H. WARD 343-353 iii INTRODUCTION The 15th Pacific Science Congress was held in Dunedin , New Zealand , from February 1-11 , 1983. Papers submitted from the four Congress symposia dealing with Pacific Island languages are being pub lished by Pacific Linguistics . The present volume contains eleven papers from the symposium "Reconstruction and Classification in the Austronesian Language Family" , organised by Robert A. Blust and Andrew Pawley , together with three papers on Austronesian languages from the symposium "Dictionaries for Oceanic Peoples", organised by Lawrence A. Reid . Papers from the Congress which deal with Papuan languages are to be included in Papers in New Guinea linguistics No .24 (Pacific Linguistics , A- 70) ; papers from the symposium "Pidgin and Creole Languages in the Pacific" are to be published in Papers in pi dgin and creole linguistics No .4 (Paci fic Linguistics , A-72) , whilst those papers to do with Australian linguistics will appear in Papers in Australian linguistics No .17 (Pacific Linguistics, A- 71) . The editors wish to thank Stephen Wurm for his advice and guidance , and also , mo st especially , Ling Matsay , for her thoughtful typesetting . ANDREW PAWLEY Department of Anthropology University of Auckland LOIS CARRINGTON Department of Linguistics Research School of Pacific Studies Australian National University iv THE CONTRIBUTORS BYRON W. BENDER lived in Micronesia for ten years before joining , in 1963 , the faculty of the University of Hawaii , where he is Professor of Linguistics . He continues to work on the languages of Micronesia , and the development of a word and paradigm morphology . JOEL BRADSHAW 's main research interests are in language contact and language change , and the Austronesian languages of New Guinea . He has done field­ work in the Mo robe Province , Papua New Guinea . His address is Apt . 407 , 620 Sheridan Street, Honolulu , Hawaii 96814 . ANN CHOWN ING is Professor of Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington , New Zealand . She has carried out anthropological and linguistic research in four Austronesian-speaking societies , three in West New Britain (Lakalai , Sengseng and Kove ) and one in Milne Bay (Molima) , all in Papua New Guinea. Her interests include comparative linguistics with particular reference to the culture history of Melanesia. ROSS CLARK is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics in the Department of Anthropology , University of Auckland. In addition to the languages of North and Central Vanuatu , his main research interests are in comparative Polynesian linguistics and language contact. GEORGE W. GRACE is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii. His main research interests are historical Austronesian (especially Oceanic) linguistics , linguistic diachrony and the nature of language generally . ROB IN HOOPER is completing a do ctorate in linguistics in the Department of Anthropology , University of Auckland. Her research is concerned with comparative Polynesian grammar and the Tokelau language . She is an editor and advisor to the Tokelau Dictionary project. ROBERT W. HSU is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii. His main research areas are in computer applications in language data processing, the languages of Micronesia and phonology . PAUL JEN-KUEI LI is Research Fellow and Chairman of the Linguistics Section , Institute of History and Philology , Academia Sinica, Taipei. He is interested in the Austronesian and Sino -Tibetan language fami lies and has done extensive fieldwork on Formosan languages . v vi FRANTISEK LICHTENBERK is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Auckland . His research interests are in Oceanic descriptive linguistics , Oceanic historical syntax and language typology . LAMONT LINDSTROM is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma . His main field of research has been the island of Tanna (Vanuatu) . In addition to work on kava and a dictionary of the Kwamera language of the south-eastern coast of the island , he has recently completed a book , Knowl edge and power in a South Pacifi c society , which applies post-structuralist theory to island discourse . JOHN LYNCH is Professor of Language at the University of Papua New Guinea . His main research interests are in descriptive and comparative studies of the languages of Melanesia, particularly those of Southern Vanuatu . STANLEY STAROSTA is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii. He has done fieldwork on Austronesian languages in Taiwan and on Munda languages in South India. His main theoretical interests are in syntax . DARRELL TRYON is a Senior Fellow in Linguistics in the Research School of Pacific Studies , Australian National University . His main research interests are in the Austronesian languages of Oceania. He has done fieldwork in the Loyalty Islands , the Solomons , Vanuatu and Tahiti . DAVID WALSH is Senior Lecturer in Anthropological Linguistics in the Anthro­ pology Department, University of Sydney . His research interests are in Oceanic languages (lexicography , historically oriented comparison , ethno­ taxonomy ) and in Pacific pidgins and creoles . JUDE WANG is completing a doctorate in linguistics at the University of Hawaii . Her main research interests are in Oceanic linguistics (especially Micronesian) , artificial intelligence and computers . JACK H. WARD is Associate