Proto-Austronesian Language - Monosyllabic Roots

Monosyllabic Roots

The following are monosyllabic Proto-Austronesian roots reconstructed by John Wolff (Wolff 1999).

Forms which can be reconstructed as monosyllables with a great deal of certainty

• *baw 'up, above'
• *bay 'woman'
• *beg 'spool, wind'
• *bit 'carry in fingers'
• *buñ 'fontanelle'
• *but 'pluck out'
• *dem 'think, brood'
• *gem 'first, hold in fist'
• *ɣiq 'Imperata cylindrica'
• *kan 'eat'
  • *si-kan 'fish, what is eaten with staple'
  • *pa-kan 'feed, weft'
  • *paN-kan 'eat, feed'
• *kub
  • *kubkub 'cover over'
  • *takub 'cover over in a cupped way' (where *ta- is a fossilized prefix)
• *lid
  • *belit 'wind'
  • *bilid 'wind, twist, or fold s.t. over'
  • *pulid 'turn round'
• *luk 'concave bend'
• *lum 'ripe'
• *nem 'six'
• *ñam 'taste'
• *ñeŋ 'look, stare'
• *ŋa 'agape (mouth)'
  • *kaŋa 'be open (as mouth)'
  • *baŋa 'gap, stand open'
  • *binaŋa (< -in- + baŋa) / *minaŋa 'mouth of river'
  • *beŋa 'be agape'
  • *búŋa 'flower'
  • *paŋa 'forking'
  • *ʃaŋa 'branch'
• *pan 'bait'
• *pat 'four'
• *peʃ 'squeeze, deflate'
• *pit
  • *kepit 'pinched together'
• *pu 'grandparent/child'
• *put 'blow'
• *ʃaw 'wash, rinse off, dunk'
• *ʃay 'who?'
• *ʃek 'stuff, fill chock full'
• *ʃeŋ 'stop up'
• *ʃep 'suck'
• *ʃuk 'go in, throuɣ'
• *taw 'man'
• *tay 'bridge'
  • *matay 'die'
  • *patay 'dead, kill'
• *tuk 'strike, peck, beak'

Sequences which are likely (or nay have been) monosyllabic roots, but cannot be unequivocally reconstructed

• *baŋ 'fly'
• *bu 'fish trap'
• *buʃ 'puff, blow out' (not well attested; most monosyllables occur in Oceanic languages)
• *dañ 'old (of things)'
• *daŋ 'heat near a fire'
• *dem 'dark, cloudy'
  • *padem 'extinguish'
• *diʃ 'cut, lance'
• *ka 'elder sibling'
• *kid 'file, rasp'
• *lag 'spread out'
  • *belag 'spread out'
  • *pálag 'palm of hand'
  • *qelag 'wing'
• *laŋ 'placed lengthwise'
  • *galaŋ 'wedge, s.t. placed underneath to support'
  • *halaŋ 'lie athwart, bar, be an obstacle'
• *leb 'for water to come over s.t.'
• *lem – reflexes variously mean 'night' or 'darkness'
• *luñ
  • *luluñ 'roll up'
  • *baluñ 'fold over, wrap'
• *muɣuɣ 'gargle, einse out mouth' (monosyllabic status is weak)
• *pak 'make a sound of 'pak', wings (from the sound)'
• *tan 'set trap'
• *taʃ 'top'
• *tuk 'top, summit'
• *tun 'lead on a rope'

Reconstructed doubled monosyllables phonologically but which cannot be proven to be monosyllabic roots

• *baba 'carry on back'
• *bakbak 'remove outer layer of skin, bark'
• *baqbaq 'mouth'
• *bañbañ 'kind of reed used for mats, Donax canniformis'
• *bekbek 'pulverize'
• *biɣbiɣ 'lips (lip-like growth)'
• *biŋbiŋ 'hold, guide'
• *biʃbiʃ 'sprinkle'
• *buɣ(buɣ) 'broken into small pieces'
• *buñbuñ 'down, body hair' (only in Taiwan and the Philippines; probably not PAn)
• *dabdab 'set fire to'
• *dakdak 'slam s.t. down' (only in the Philippines)
• *dasdas 'chest'
• *debdeb 'chest'
• *diŋdiŋ 'wall'
• *diqdiq 'boil'
• *gapgap 'feel, grope'
• *ɣaʃɣaʃ 'scratched'
• *idid 'move rapidly in small motions' (e.g., 'fan')
• *jutjut 'pull at'
• *kaŋkaŋ 'spread the legs' (only in the Philippines and western Indonesia)
  • *bakaŋ 'bow-legged'
  • *kaqkaq 'split, torn, with intestines'
  • *keŋkeŋ 'rigid, tight'
• *kepkep 'clasp'
  • *dakep 'catch'
  • *ʃikep 'catch s.t. moving, tight'
• *kiskis 'scrape off'
• *kiʃkiʃ 'grate, file'
• *kudkud 'grate, rasp, scratch out'
• *kañuskus 'fingernail'
• *kuʃkuʃ 'rub, scrape'
• *laplap 'flapping, loose (like skin on newborn)' (only in Paiwan and Philippine languages)
• *mekmek 'fragments'
• *neknek 'gnat, fruit fly'
• *nemnem 'think'
• *palaqpaq 'frond'
• *pejpej 'press together'
• *ququ 'crab'
• *sapsap 'grope'
• *ʃaʃa 'collect palm leaves for thatching'
• *ʃakʃak 'beat, chop'
• *ʃelʃel 'regret'
• *ʃelʃel 'insert, cram in'
• *ʃiʃi 'kind of mollusk'
• *ʃikʃik 'search through thoroughly (as for lice)'
• *ʃuʃu 'breast, teat'
• *ʃuɣʃuɣ 'follow behind'
• *ʃuŋʃuŋ 'go against' (only in the Philippines and western Indonesia)
• *taktak 'fall, drop'
• *tamtam 'smack lips' or taste'
• *taʃtaʃ 'rent, break thread'
  • *bútaʃ 'hole'
  • *ɣetaʃ 'break through, break open'
  • *teʃteʃ 'rip open'
• *tutu 'strike'
• *waqwaq 'channel'
• *witwit 'swinging to and fro'

Sequences which occur as final syllables over a wide area but which cannot be reconstructed as a monosyllabic root

• *buk
  • *dabuk 'ashes'
  • *dábuk 'beat to pulp'
  • *ɣabuk 'pulverized'
  • *qabuk 'dust'
  • *bun 'heap, stack'
  • *subun 'heap, pile'
  • *timbun / *tábun (?) 'heap'
• *bun 'dew mist'
  • *ɣábun 'fog'
• *buq 'add, increase'
  • *tubuq 'grow, shoot'
• *duŋ 'protect, shelter'
• *ket
  • *deket 'near'
  • *jeket 'stick'
  • *ñiket / ñaŋket 'sticky'
  • *ñiket 'sticky substance'
  • *siket 'tie'
• *kuŋ
  • *bekuŋ 'arch'
  • *dekuŋ 'bent'
  • *leŋkuŋ 'bent'
• *kup
  • *aŋkup 'put in cupped hands'
  • *tukup 'cover'
• *kut
  • *dakut 'take in hand'
  • *ɣakut 'tie together'
  • *ʃaŋkut 'caught on a hook'
• *laq
  • *telaq / *kelaq 'crack' or 'split'
  • *belaq 'cleft'
• *liŋ
  • *baliŋ 'wind around, turn s.t. around'
  • *biliŋ 'turning round'
  • *giliŋ 'roll over s.t.'
  • *guliŋ 'roll up'
  • *paliŋ 'wind around' or 'turn body'
• *liw
  • *baliw 'return, go back'
  • *ʃaliw 'give in exchange'
• *luʃ 'slip' or 'slippery' or 'smooth'
• *naw
  • *línaw 'calm, unroiled'
  • *tiqenaw 'clear'
• *ŋaw
  • *baŋaw 'bedbug'
  • *láŋaw 'fly'
  • *tuŋaw 'kind of mite causing itch'
• *ŋet
  • *qaŋet 'warm'
  • *ʃeŋet 'sharp, stinger'
  • *ʃeŋet 'acrid in smell'
• *paɣ 'be flat'
  • *dampaɣ / *lampaɣ / *dapaɣ / *lapaɣ 'be flat'
  • *sampaɣ 'mat, spread out'
• *puŋ 'cluster, bunch'
• *taɣ
  • *dataɣ 'flat area'