Thursday, November 22, 2012

Malayo-Polynesian word correspondences

Comparing Different and Related Words of Malayo-Polynesian Languages

Through writing this text I am to explore relationships between related words ( cognates) of Malayo-Polynesian (M-P) languages such as Malagasy, Malay/Indonesian(Ind.) and Maori.

God in M-P Languages


Maori - Atua
Malagasy - Zanahary
Malay/Ind. - Tuan (lord, earthly), Tuhan (divine lord)

According to Blust's Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2012), the origin of these two words is qatuan. The Malagasy word used is not stated and I cannot truly say whether it is related or not. Whereas, hamba and andria (Andriamanitra - God - Malagasy) are related, both meaning slave.

Child or Children in M-P Languages

Malagasy - Zanaka/Anaka.
Malay/Ind.- Anak
Maori - Tamaiti
Notice how the Maori word, stands out from the others? Tamaiti has a different root, the only root I could find in Blust's (2012) actually led me to *t-amai which relates to the words for father.

I  in M-P Languages

Malagasy - Aho
          Indonesian  -  Aku/Saya
    Maori    -    Au
Note: All these languages share a common root, Aku is a loan word (borrowed) from Javanese (the language used on most of Java), Saya is the Malay word coming from sahaya meaning slave (Babylon).


Sources:

http://www.trussel2.com/acd/acd-hw_a1.htm
http://thesaurus.babylon.com/sahaya