Reconstruction of “one” in Proto-Atayalic : In connection with “ten” in some Formosan languages

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This study discusses a newly discovered form of the numeral “one” in the Atayalic subgroup (Atayal and Seediq) of the Austronesian language family. The form of this bound numeral “one” is xa (e.g., taxa “alone” in Seediq and saxa “alone” in Atayal). This study found more than ten words derived from the bound numeral xa in Seediq and Atayal. In these words, the bound numeral xa accompanies a prefix or both a prefix and a suffix. Various prefixes attach to xa in both Seediq and Atayal. As a suffix, only -l is used, which is a reflex of *-N “recurrence” in Proto-Austronesian. Based on the Seediq and Atayal forms of this bound numeral “one,” the Proto-Atayalic form can be reconstructed as *xa. Furthermore, another Formosan language, Saisiyat, is found to have cognates with these words derived from the bound numeral xa in Seediq and/or Atayal. In Saisiyat, the bound form of the numeral “one” is ha, which is suggestive of the numeral “one” in Proto-Austronesian, *əsa. This study proposes that the Proto-Atayalic *xa is a reflex of *əsa (or its shortened form *sa), the Proto- Austronesian numeral “one,” although the expected reflex in Proto-Austronesian would be *ha according to regular sound correspondences. There are three pieces of evidence. First, only one particular suffix *-N attaches to *xa. This suffix attaches to numerals in Austronesian languages. Second, the reflex of *sa would be ha in Saisiyat, and this is the actual morpheme obtained in the cognates of Atayalic languages. Third, some Formosan languages including Seediq have a numeral “ten” originating in a proto-form reconstructed as *ma-sa-N.

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  • 北方人文研究

    北方人文研究 14 55-70, 2021-03-25

    北海道大学大学院文学研究院北方研究教育センター

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