The Austronesian Settlement of Mainland Southeast Asia
Author(s):
Blust, Robert
Format:
Conference presentation
Citation:
Papers From The Second Annual Meeting Of The Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 1992
Language:
English
Abstract:
The subgrouping & historical geographic distribution of the attested language families of mainland Southeast Asia are discussed, proposing Austroasiatic to have been longest in the area with a possible original homeland in the Assam-Burma border region, & sketching a chronology of successive migrations of Sino-Tibetan from the eastern Himalayas, Austronesian (Chamic, Malay, & Moken-Moklen), Tai-Kadai from southern China, & Hmong-Mien (also termed Miao-Yao) from southern China. The original homeland & expansion of the Austronesian languages is then examined in greater detail. Based on a comparative analysis of phonological, morphological, & lexical innovations, a Malayo-Chamic (including Acehnese) subgroup is proposed, & an examination of the documentary history of this subgroup is argued to indicate their expansion to southeast Asia's eastern coastline from southwest Borneo, & later to northern Sumatra (the Acehnese), possibly driving the Moken-Moklen from their homeland. An examination of the distribution of the longhouse & the outrigger as ethnohistorical markers, & the archaeological record (material culture, physical types, & burial practices) is found to support the hypotheses offered. 3 Tables, 94 References. S. Novak