Adelaar K. Alexander. Proto Malayic: the reconstruction of its phonology and parts of its lexicon and morphology

The Australian National University, Canberra, 1992. — 266 p.In this study I compare the Malayic isolects, and attempt to reconstruct their common ancestor, Proto Malayic. There are several motives for this study. First, little is known about the linguistic evolution of the Malayic isolects, or the nature of Proto Malayic (PM). The reconstruction of PM may also provide more insight into the relative position of the Malayic isolects within the Austronesian (AN) language family, and more particularly, within the loosely defined branch of Western-Malayo-Polynesian (WMP) languages belonging to this family.5 An internal classification of Malayic isolects may give some indication as to the homeland of the PM speakers. The PM lexicon will ultimately yield more insight into PM culture and social organisation.