Reconstruction:Proto-Austronesian/bahi

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This Proto-Austronesian entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Austronesian

[edit]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

*bahi

  1. female, woman

Descendants

[edit]

Usage notes

[edit]

This word shows a wide range of concurrent forms in various Austronesian languages. One of the most productive forms is PAN *babahi ("woman, lady, girl"), with CV- reduplication of the first syllable, which appears to convey a diminutive sense. In Proto-Philippine, this reduplicated form can be augmented by verbal affixes like PPh *ma- or PPh *-en. Finally, in Proto-Malayo-Polynesian this word is reconstructed either as Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *bahi (woman, female of animals) or as Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *babinahi (woman, female), with no apparent differences in meaning. The latter form probably gave rise to Proto-Oceanic *papine (woman), which is the only one attested for the term woman in Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Polynesian branches of the Austronesian language family, although the residual non-reduplicated form *pe- is still present as a prefix.

References

[edit]