<Note>The origins of "up" and "down" in Atayalic languages

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  • <研究ノート>アタヤル語群の｢上り｣と｢下り｣の起源
  • アタヤル語群の「上り」と「下り」の起源
  • アタヤルゴグン ノ 「 ノボリ 」 ト 「 オリ 」 ノ キゲン

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Abstract

Two different words, hunats and rahuts, are used for the meaning of "down" in the Paran dialect of Seediq(Atayalic, Austronesian), which are reconstructed respectively as*hunat and*rahut in Proto-Seediq. The second form, *rahut, is a reflex of *lahud, the Proto-Austronesian form for "seaward." For the other word, this paper proposes that it derives from this reflex, *rahut, through the addition of a fossilized infix<na>that is inserted before a final consonant. The historical changes would be as follows:*rahud(Proto-Atayalic form)→*rahu<na>t→*hu<na>t. Atayalic languages, including Atayal and Seediq, are characterized by such special infixes and suffixes of unknown function, which this paper refers to as fossilized affixes. As for infixes, those inserted before a word-final consonant and possessing the syllable structure of CV, just as<na> bove, are referred to as "fossilized back infixes." Similar changes might also have happened in Atayal. Two different words, hugal and yahuʔ, are used for the meaning of "down" in Atayal. The second form, yahuʔ is a reflex of the Proto-Austronesian*lahud. For the other word, this paper proposes that it derives from this reflex through the addition of a fossilized back infix<ga>, i.e., *rahud→*rahu<ga>d→hu<ga>l. For a word with the opposite meaning, "up, " Atayal has two forms : yatux and raya. The second form is a reflex of the Proto-Austronesian*daya "landward." This paper proposes that the other form derives from this reflex by the addition of a fossilized suffix, -tux, i.e., *raya→*raya-tux→ya-tux.

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  • 京都大学言語学研究

    京都大学言語学研究 39 137-148, 2020-12-31

    Departmental of Linguistics, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University

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