Austronesian origins

[Thomas H. Slone]

I was recently able to borrow a copy of the massive Comparative 
Austronesian Dictionary, edited by Darrell T. Tryon, published in 5 
books of 4 volumes.  The book has word glosses for 80 representative 
Austronesian languages.  For PNG, there are 14 languages that are 
represented.  Unfortunately for Tok Pisin etymology, only Tolai 
(Kuanua language) is represented for East New Britain, and no 
languages are represented for New Ireland or New Hannover. 
Consequently, it is difficult to rule out other closely-related 
languages as etymological sources of Tok Pisin words based on this 
data alone.

Below is a summary of my comparison of Mihalic reported for 
Austronesian etymology vs. what I found in Tryon, as well as a few 
other bits of information.  I do not list words where there is 
complete agreement.  The Tryon citation is volume then page number. 
E.g. "(Tryon, 1995, 3: 195)" means page 195 of volume 3. I do not 
reproduce the vowels faithfully below, since phonetic characters are 
difficult to represent on the Web anyway.

Tok Pisin / English gloss / Mihalic etymology / Tryon
baira / hoe / Gaz / Tolai "bair" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 195)

balus / dove, pidgin / Gaz / Tolai "belu" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 327)

bembe / bee / Gaz / Tolai "bebe" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 389)

binatang / bee / Mal / note: Indonesian "binatang" means animal, not 
insect specifically (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 80-81)

buai / betel nut / Gaz / Tolai "vuei" meaning "fruit" (Tryon, 1995, 
2: 727), proto-Austronesian *buáq (1: 1114) meaning "fruit", and 
proto-Malayopolynesian *buáq (Tryon, 1995, 1: 1114) meaning "betel 
nut"

dinau, dina / debt / Fiji / Eastern Fijian "dinau" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 591)

galip / galip nut / Gaz / Tolai "galip" meaning "nut" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 1)

garamut / signal drum / Gaz / Tolai "garamut" meaning "long drum" 
(Tryon, 1995, 4: 519)

kais / left side / New Hannover / Buang (Morobe Province) "kez" 
(Tryon, 1995, 3: 689); do we have confirmation of "kais" from New 
Hannover?

kalangar / parakeet / Gaz / Tolai "kelenger"  meaning "parrot" 
(Tryon, 1995, 2: 323)

kanai / seagull / Gaz / Motu "kanaie", Takia (Karkar Island, Madang 
Province) "kanai", Dami (coastal Madang Province) "kanae" (Tryon, 
1995, 2: 315)

kasang / peanut / Mal / Indonesian "kacang" (pronounced "kachang") 
(Echols & Shadily, 1989: 252)

kaukau / sweet potato / New Hannover / Tolai "keukeu" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 261)

kiau / egg / New Hannover / Tolai "kiau" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 24), since 
Tolai has the exact meaning (egg), the Tok Pisin word is probably not 
from New Hannover (meaning "bush hen" according to Mihalic)

kundu / hand drum / Gaz / Tolai "kudu" meaning "a long, small drum" 
(Tryon, 1995, 4: 518-519)

lang / fly (insect) / Gaz / Tolai "lange" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 381; 
Tryon, 1995, 1: 1165)

liklik / small / New Hannover (lik) / Tolai ikilik (Tryon, 1995, 3: 710)

lim, lima / coconut palm flower sheath / Mel / Tolai "lem" meaning 
"coconut" or "palm" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 246, 249)

lombo / chilli / Mal / Indonesian "lombok" (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 348)

mambu / bamboo / Mal / Indonesian "bambu" (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 47)

mandor / foreman / Mal / Indonesian "mandur" (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 360)

matakiau / blind in one eye / Gaz / "Mata" is a widespread 
Austronesian word for "eye": e.g., Indonesian "mata", Manam "mata", 
Dami "mata", Mbula "mata-", Yabem "mata", Kaulong "mata-n" and Tolai 
"meta-" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 435-436) and proto-Malayopolynesian "*maCá" 
(Tryon, 1995, 1: 1162).  Hence "matakiau" = "egg-eyed" or "blind" 
(Slone, 1995: 92).

meme / goat / Gaz / Mihalic seems to be wrong here.  This is probably 
from the German "mäh", the sound made by a goat (Tryon, 1995, 2: 
293-294)

muli / citrus / Gaz / Tolai "muli" and Manam "muli" (Tryon, 1995, 3: 250)

natnat / mosquito / Gaz / Tolai "ngetingat" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 383)

ninik / bee, wasp / Mel /  Adzera "¢ining" meaning "wasp" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 379)

pui / naked / Gaz / Mihalic is probably wrong here.  This is likely 
from the German "Pfui!" meaning "For shame!" (Slone, 1995: 96)

sayor / vegetables / Mal / Indonesian "sayur" (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 486)

susu / breast, milk / Mal /  Indonesian "susu" meaning "breast" or 
"milk" (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 536); Kaulong (West New Britain 
Province) "susu-n" meaning "breast" (Tryon, 1995, 2: 499) and 
proto-Austronesian "*súsu" meaning "breast" (Tryon, 1995, 1: 1154)

tambaran / ancestral spirits / Gaz / Tolai "teberan" meaning "demon" 
(Tryon, 1995, 4: 735)

tiang / crotch, forked post / Mal / Indonesian "tiang" meaning "post" 
or "mast" (Echols & Shadily, 1989: 574)

umben / fishnet / Gaz / Tolai "umbene" (Tryon, 1995, 4: 642)

Mihalic's language codes: Gaz = Gazelle Peninsula; Mal = Malay, Mel = 
Melanesian

Note: The modern Indonesian language did not exist at the time of Tok 
Pisin's formative years, rather a precursor to Indonesian, Pasar 
Melayu ("Market Malay"), was probably what was transmitted to Tok 
Pisin.

References
Echols, John M. & Shadily, Hassan (1989). An Indonesian-English 
Dictionary. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 3rd edition.

Slone, Thomas H. (1995). "Tok Nogut: An Introduction to Malediction 
in Papua New Guinea." Maledicta: The International Journal of Verbal 
Aggression 11: 75-104.

Tryon, Darrell T. (1995). Comparative Austronesian Dictionary: An 
Introduction to Austronesian Studies. Trends in Linguistics 
Documentation 10. Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter.

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