What is Austronesian?

Summary

This video explores the term 'Austronesian,' derived from Latin and Greek, referring to the South Islands. It discusses the linguistic family spanning from Madagascar to Rapa Nui, with 1,000-1,500 languages spoken by around 400 million people. The script covers the history of the term, the geographical distribution of these languages, and the 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis for their origin. It also touches on the cultural and genetic connections of Austronesian-speaking peoples, emphasizing their shared heritage despite diversity.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The term 'Austronesian' refers to a vast language family that spans approximately 12,500 miles from Madagascar to Rapa Nui, encompassing around 1,000 to 1,500 languages spoken by approximately 400 million people.
• 🏝️ 'Austronesian' is derived from 'Auster' (meaning 'south' in Latin) and 'nesos' (meaning 'islands' in Greek), indicating the southern island locations where these languages are predominantly spoken.
• 🗣️ The concept of 'Austronesian' was introduced by Austrian linguist Wilhelm Schmidt in 1899 to replace the term 'Malayo-Polynesian', which was deemed a misnomer as research revealed the distinct linguistic order of Polynesian languages.
• 🌱 The ancestral homeland of the Austronesian language family is believed to be Taiwan, with the common ancestral language referred to as 'Proto-Austronesian'.
• 🌟 The Austronesian language family is the second largest in the world in terms of geographic distribution, following the Indo-European family.
• 🌍 Austronesian languages are spoken across a wide range of regions including Madagascar, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, parts of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Pacific Islands.
• 🏞️ The majority of Austronesian languages are spoken by island communities, with a few, like Malay, also indigenous to mainland Asia.
• 🌡️ The Austronesian world is largely located within 10 degrees of the Equator, resulting in tropical or subtropical climates.
• 👥 Despite the vast number of Austronesian languages, some, like Bahasa Indonesia, are spoken by millions, with Bahasa Indonesia alone having around 200 million speakers as of 2023.
• 🔍 The 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis is the prevailing theory explaining the origin and spread of Austronesian languages, supported by research in linguistics, genetics, and archaeology.

Q & A

What does the term 'Austronesian' refer to?

The term 'Austronesian' refers to a large family of languages spoken primarily on islands in the Southern Hemisphere, as well as shared ancestry, cultural traits, and historical connections of peoples across a vast geographical expanse.

Where does the word 'Austronesian' originate from?

The word 'Austronesian' is derived from the Latin and Greek words 'Oster' and 'nesos', meaning 'South Islands', and was coined by Austrian linguist and priest Wilhelm Schmidt in 1899.

What is the estimated number of Austronesian languages spoken today?

It is currently estimated that there are between a thousand and 1500 Austronesian languages spoken by approximately 400 million people as of 2023.

Which regions are predominantly Austronesian speaking communities?

Austronesian speaking communities constitute the majority, if not all, of the Native populations in Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. They can also be found in Taiwan, Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, and other regions across the Pacific.

What is the significance of the 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis in Austronesian studies?

The 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis is a widely accepted theory that suggests the Austronesian languages originated from an ancestral language spoken in Taiwan around 5000 years ago and spread throughout the world by human expansion.

How does the Austronesian language family compare to others in terms of geographic expanse?

The Austronesian language family is the second largest language family in the world in terms of geographic expanse, following the Indo-European family.

What is the common ancestral language of the Austronesian language family called?

The common ancestral language of the Austronesian language family is referred to as Proto-Austronesian.

Which Austronesian language has the largest number of speakers?

Bahasa Indonesia, the national language of Indonesia, has around 200 million speakers as of 2023.

What are some cultural traits commonly attributed to the shared Austronesian heritage?

Cultural traits commonly attributed to the shared Austronesian heritage include the use of outrigger canoes, stilt housing, tattooing, domestication of plants and animals, and distinctive art styles.

How has the term 'Austronesian' evolved in its usage over time?

The term 'Austronesian' has expanded beyond its original linguistic meaning to broadly refer to not only languages but also shared ancestry, cultural traits, and historical connections of peoples in the Austronesian world spanning the past 6000 years.

What is the significance of the haplogroup B4a1 in the Austronesian expansion?

The haplogroup B4a1 and its subsequent lineages are linked to the dispersion of Austronesian peoples, playing a significant role in the expansion throughout Oceania.

Outlines

00:00

🌊 Introduction to Austronesian Languages

The paragraph introduces the term 'Austronesian', which refers to a language family that spans a vast geographical area from Madagascar to Rapa Nui. Originating from the Latin and Greek words for 'South Islands', the term was coined by Austrian linguist Wilhelm Schmidt in 1899. It replaced the term 'Malayo-Polynesian'. The Austronesian language family is considered the second-largest in the world in terms of geographic distribution, with estimates ranging from 1,000 to 1,500 languages spoken by approximately 400 million people. The paragraph also discusses the linguistic connections between these languages and their prevalence in island regions, including Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and various parts of Oceania.

05:02

🔍 Historical Linguistic Developments

This paragraph delves into the historical development and recognition of the Austronesian language family. It discusses the early observations of linguistic similarities by European explorers like Cornelis de Houtman and Adrian Rayland. It also covers the contributions of scholars such as William Marston, Lorenzo Hervas y Panduro, and George Van Der Gabelent, who helped establish the linguistic connections across the regions. The paragraph highlights the shift from the term 'Malayo-Polynesian' to 'Austronesian', with Wilhelm Schmidt's introduction of the term in 1899, aiming to correct the exclusion of Micronesian and Melanesian languages.

10:03

🗺️ The Austronesian Homeland and Expansion

The third paragraph focuses on the debate surrounding the Austronesian Homeland and the spread of Austronesian languages. It mentions early theories by linguists like Hendrick Curd and Isidor Dyen, who proposed different regions as the homeland. The paragraph then discusses the 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis, which gained traction in the mid-1980s with research by Robert Blust and Peter Bellwood. This hypothesis suggests that all Austronesian languages originated from a common ancestral language spoken in Taiwan over 5,000 years ago. The paragraph also addresses criticisms of this hypothesis and the subsequent research that has supported it.

15:04

🌐 Austronesian Beyond Language

The final paragraph expands the concept of Austronesian beyond language to include shared ancestry, cultural traits, and historical connections among the peoples across the Austronesian world. It discusses the cultural and genetic connections, such as the use of outrigger canoes, stilt housing, tattooing, and distinctive art styles. The paragraph also mentions the genetic evidence, like the dispersal of the mtDNA haplogroup B4a1, which supports the idea of a common Austronesian heritage. It concludes by emphasizing that while modern Austronesian populations are diverse, they share a common linguistic, cultural, and biological heritage.

Keywords

💡Austronesian

Austronesian refers to a large language family that includes over a thousand languages spoken across a vast geographical area, primarily in the islands of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The term is derived from 'Auster' (meaning south) and 'nesos' (meaning islands), reflecting the southern island locations where these languages are predominantly found. In the video, Austronesian is central to the discussion of linguistic, cultural, and genetic connections among the peoples of the Pacific and Southeast Asia, illustrating the broad reach and influence of this language family.

💡Proto-Austronesian

Proto-Austronesian is the hypothetical common ancestral language from which all Austronesian languages are believed to have descended. It represents the linguistic 'root' of this family, and the video discusses how all Austronesian languages trace their lineage back to this proto-language. The concept is crucial for understanding the linguistic relationships and the spread of languages across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

💡Out of Taiwan Hypothesis

The Out of Taiwan Hypothesis is a widely accepted theory that suggests the Austronesian languages originated from Taiwan and spread outwards through human migration. This hypothesis is supported by linguistic, archaeological, and genetic evidence, as mentioned in the video, and it challenges earlier theories that proposed alternative homelands for the Austronesian language family.

💡Malayo-Polynesian

Malayo-Polynesian is a term that was historically used to describe a subgroup of Austronesian languages, particularly those spoken in the Malay Archipelago and the Polynesian Islands. The video discusses how this term was eventually replaced by 'Austronesian' to more accurately reflect the linguistic diversity and to avoid excluding certain language groups, such as those in Melanesia.

💡Linguistic Geography

Linguistic geography is the study of the spatial distribution of languages and dialects. In the context of the video, it is used to describe the vast geographical spread of Austronesian languages, which stretch from Madagascar to Rapa Nui (Easter Island), highlighting the significant reach of this language family.

💡Occeanic Languages

Oceanic languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in Remote Oceania, including parts of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. The term is used in the video to discuss the linguistic connections and the broader classification of languages within the Austronesian family.

💡Austronesian Homeland

The Austronesian Homeland refers to the geographic area where the Austronesian languages are believed to have originated. The video discusses the historical debates and research that led to the current consensus that Taiwan is the likely homeland, from where the languages spread across the Pacific and Southeast Asia.

💡Linguistic Exclusion

Linguistic exclusion refers to the historical oversight or deliberate exclusion of certain language groups from broader linguistic classifications. The video mentions how earlier terms like 'Malayo-Polynesian' excluded Micronesian and Melanesian languages, and how later scholars worked to correct this by including all related languages under the Austronesian umbrella.

💡Austronesian Peoples

Austronesian Peoples is a term used to broadly refer to the ethnic groups that speak Austronesian languages. The video explains how this term has expanded beyond linguistic categorization to include shared ancestry, cultural traits, and historical connections among these diverse groups, despite the vast differences in their current cultures and societies.

💡Cultural Traits

Cultural traits refer to the shared customs, practices, and artifacts that are characteristic of a particular group of people. In the video, cultural traits such as the use of outrigger canoes, stilt housing, tattooing, and distinctive art styles are mentioned as examples of the shared Austronesian heritage that extends beyond language.

Highlights

The term 'Austronesian' is derived from Latin and Greek words 'Oster' and 'nesos', meaning 'South Islands'.

Austronesian languages are spoken primarily on islands in the Southern Hemisphere.

The common ancestral language of Austronesian languages is called Proto-Austronesian.

There are between 1,000 and 1,500 Austronesian languages spoken by approximately 400 million people.

Austronesian speaking communities are the majority in Madagascar, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Taiwan is believed to be the ancestral homeland of Proto-Austronesian.

Austronesian languages are also found in parts of Near Oceania, including Papua New Guinea, New Britain, and New Ireland.

The Austronesian language family is the second largest in the world in terms of geographic expanse.

Some Austronesian languages, like Bahasa Indonesia, are spoken by millions of people.

The linguistic connection between Madagascar, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands was recognized by European explorers as early as the 17th century.

The term 'Austronesian' was introduced by Austrian linguist Wilhelm Schmidt in 1899 to replace 'Malayo-Polynesian'.

The 'Out of Taiwan' hypothesis suggests that all Austronesian languages originated from Taiwan.

The expansion of Austronesian languages is supported by linguistic, genetic, and archaeological evidence.

The term 'Austronesian' now broadly refers to shared ancestry, cultural traits, and historical connections of peoples across the Austronesian world.

Despite cultural and phenotypic diversity, Austronesian speakers share a common linguistic, cultural, and biological heritage.

Cultural traits such as outrigger canoes, stilt housing, and tattooing are attributed to the shared Austronesian heritage.

Transcripts

in Pacific studies as well as general

conversations about the Pacific the term

austronesian is often used but what does

this term actually mean

and in this video we will explore the

term ocean from its linguistic geography

academic developments Homeland and usage

Beyond its linguistic conception the

word austronesian is derived from the

Latin and Greek words Oster and yesos

meaning South Islands this word was

invented by Austrian linguists and

Priests Wilhelm Schmidt in 1899 to be

the linguistic replacement for the group

of languages referred to as malayo

Polynesian as the name suggests

oceanician languages are spoken

primarily on islands in the Southern

Hemisphere by the 1970s auctionesian was

the accepted name for the language

family that stretches about 12 500 miles

or twenty thousand kilometers from

Madagascar to the west to rapandui in

the east

a language family is a group of related

languages because they descend from a

single parent language or common

ancestral language in the case of the

Ocean Asian language family the common

ancestral language is referred to as

proto-austronesian hence all languages

that Trace their descent to

proto-oschinesian are parts of the

oceanician language family and therefore

considered as ashinesian languages

depending on the criteria used to

differentiate between languages and

dialects it is currently estimated that

there are between a thousand and 1500

ashonesian languages spoken by

approximately 400 million people as of

2023. austronesian speaking communities

constitute the majority if not all of

the Native populations in Madagascar

Indonesia Malaysia and the Philippines

austronesian languages can also be found

in Taiwan which is believed to be the

ancestral homeland of

proto-oschinesian as well as in certain

regions of Southern Vietnam and Cambodia

the mergue archipelago of the coast of

Burma and Hainan island in southern

China

moving further east austronesian

languages are spoken in parts of near

Oceania including coastal areas of Papua

New Guinea New Britain and New Ireland

ocean languages are spoken throughout

the entirety of remotes Oceania which

includes the rest of melanesia

Micronesia and Polynesia this vast

geographical distribution places the

ashonesian language family as the second

largest language family in the world in

terms of geographic expanse following

ODI the Indo-European family

the majority of austronesian languages

are spoken by people who reside on

Islands while Oda limited number of

austronesian languages such as Malay and

the chamic languages are indigenous to

Mainland Asia much of this Ocean Asian

world is located within 10 degrees of

the Equator making their climates

exclusively tropical or subtropical

although the majority of auschinesian

languages have only a small number of

speakers there are a few spoken by

millions of people for instance Bahasa

Indonesia which is the national language

of Indonesia has around 200 million

speakers as of 2023. the linguistic

connection between the languages in

Madagascar southeast Asia and the

Pacific Islands were recognized by

European explorers throughout the 17th

through 19th century as early as 1603

Dutch explorer cornelis de hautmann had

already observed linguistic similarities

between malagasy and Malay Dutch

orientalists Adrian Rayland was the

first to publish a formal account of

these Connections in 1708 noting a

common language that extended from

Madagascar to Western Polynesia the true

geographical extents of this still

unnamed language family was however ODI

suspected in 1778 German naturalist

Johann Reinhard Foster who accompanied

James Cook on his second Expedition

published the influential book

observations made during a voyage around

the world which popularized the

erroneous connection between race and

language in the Pacific he reduced

Pacific Islanders into two ratio

categories based primarily on skin color

a fair-skinned race and a dark-skinned

race the Bearskin race of Pacific

Islanders inhabited much of modern day

Polynesia and we're United by language

and culture in contrast the darker skin

race of Pacific Islanders inhabits in

parts of modern melanesia and that they

come in language and culture Foster

acknowledged the similarities between

Polynesian languages and Malay but

concluded that the languages of

melanesia were not related to Polynesian

languages or Malay due to the dark skin

of melanesians he suggested that the

Polynesian Origins could possibly be

traced back to Southeast Asia which

explained the perceived racial

differences between Polynesians and

melanesians later Scholars both William

Marston and his Spanish contemporary

Lorenzo hervas e pandoro affirm the

linguistic connection between various

regions including Madagascar Malay

Peninsula Indonesia Philippines and the

Pacific Islands extended to rapanui but

excluded Micronesia and melanesia this

expansive group of related languages

eventually became known as malayo

Polynesian a term first introduced by

German English friends but in 1841 the

term signified the linguistic connection

between the Malay archipelago and the

Polynesian Islands unfortunately the

term baleo Polynesian ignored Micronesia

languages and excluded all melanesian

languages due to the perceived racial

differences between peoples of melanesia

and those considered malayo Polynesian

speakers

however as Scholars delved deeper into

the study of melanesian languages a

growing body of evidence emerged

highlighting the linguistic relationship

between certain melanesian languages and

The Wider malayal Polynesian languages

linguists such as George Van Der gabilis

Robert Henry Coddington and Cindy

Herbert Ray played crucial roles in this

discovery their extensive research

revealed that several melodicia

languages were indeed parts of the

expansive malayo Polynesian language

group which spanned from Madagascar to

East Polynesia in 1885 Coddington

introduced the term ocean languages as

an alternative to malayo Polynesian

specifically to counter the exclusion of

melanesian languages this term gained

acceptance and Rey further developed the

concepts by defining the oceanic

language family encompassing the diverse

languages found in Indonesia which

consisted of Madagascar and Southeast

Asia Micronesia balodesia and Polynesia

he sought to emphasize the linguistic

connections across these regions while

recognition of linguistic similarities

was clear the exact nature of the

relationship between the languages of

these regions was still unclear in 1899

Austrian linguists and Priests Wilhelm

Schmitz introduced the term ashtynesian

Schmitz created the term for three

reasons first as a replacement for the

linguistic term malayo Polynesian

because research at the time was showing

that the malayo Polynesian term was a

misnomer the research showed that

Polynesian languages were of a lower

order than Malay rather than in the same

linguistic order the second reason was

to match with the already established

Navy Convention of the island groupings

of Indonesian melanesian micronesian and

Polynesian and the third and last reason

was because as the name suggests the

Islands are located in the Oster the

South specifically in the southeast of

Asia Schmidt shared the same motivations

as Covington and proposed a term as a

substitute for malayo Polynesian to

avoid implying the exclusion of

melanesian and micronesian languages

Schmidt's Innovative terminology was

embraced by Scholars such as Johann

Kristoff Gerhard Yonker Charles also

black did and particularly

Otto demp wolf who extensively utilized

the term ashenesian in early works and

in his comprehensive three-volume work

comparative phonology of arch Nation

vocabularies devoff's contribution to

the field of auschinesian linguistics

was instrumental in establishing the

foundation for the modern comparative

study of ocean Asian languages his

groundbreaking work played a pivotal

role in shaping key Concepts including

the formulation of the oceanic

hypothesis

some Scholars like Erwin stressimon and

Isidor Dien maintained a preference for

the order terminology however by the

1970s the term auschinesian had largely

replaced malayo Polynesian in the

mid-1970s RF Mills and Robert Blues

independently suggested that the term

malayo Polynesian be used for all

austronesia languages spoken outside of

Taiwan this proposal gained traction

among scholars in the field and has

since been widely embraced during this

period there was considerable debates

about the Ocean Asian Homeland and the

spread of Ocean Asian languages across a

widespread area of the world the

earliest attempts to determine the

proto-oschinesian Homeland was in 1889

by Dutch linguist Hendrick curd he

argued that the homeland of this huge

language family was in the coastal zone

stretching from Cambodia to the central

part of Vietnam the next linguist to

propose a Homeland was American

linguists isindor Dien who in the 1960s

concluded that the austenation Homeland

was in melanesia however growing

linguistic research and archaeological

findings in the Pacific throughout the

1970s and 1980s pointed to another

Direction entirely during the mid-1980s

Robert bluest and Peter Bellwood

independently published papers in the

same issue of the journal Asian

perspectives presenting their arguments

that pointed to Taiwan as a probable

homeland of proto-oshnesian the

ancestral language from which all

austration languages are believed to

have originated

the spread of auschinesia languages was

hypothesized as a result of a human

expansion of austronesian speakers out

of Taiwan within a few years this idea

became known to some as the Bellwood

Blues hypothesis and later it evolved

into what is now commonly referred to as

the out of Taiwan hypothesis early

critics of this new out of Taiwan

hypothesis argued that austronesian

language Origins and spread were local

evolutionary developments through

processes of diffusion borrowing and

structured interaction across

pre-existing indigenous populations that

have inhabited Island Southeast Asia and

near Oceania for more than 40 000 years

rather than from a relatively recent

expansion of auctionesian speakers out

of Taiwan

however since the introduction of the

out of Taiwan hypothesis in the

mid-1980s a substantial body of research

in the fields of linguistics genetics

and Archeology has emerged providing

compelling evidence in supports of the

out of Taiwan model which has now become

the prevailing and widely accepted

Theory regarding the Homeland and

dispersal of oceanisian languages

today the term austronesian has expanded

its scope Beyond its original linguistic

meaning to broadly refer to not only

languages but to Shared ancestry

cultural traits and historical

connections of peoples in the ash Nation

world spanning the past 6 000 years this

broader usage is reflected in terms such

as ashonesian peoples auctionesian

societies and oceanician cultures

however some Scholars criticize the

extension of ashonesian Beyond a

linguistic category arguing that

language does not necessarily align with

genetics and culture they point to the

significant cultural and phenotypic and

diversity among the approximately 400

million ashonesian language speakers for

instance it would be easy to visually

distinguish individuals of Javanese

Fijian and Tahitian Origins based on

their distinct appearances similar

rarely there are vast socio-economic

cultural and religious differences among

austronesian speakers such as between

urbanized Muslim malays of Kuala Lumpur

and are told dwellers of the Caroline

Islands yet pointing out the differences

among modern austronesian populations

misses the crucial points if according

to the out of Taiwan model auctionesian

languages are considered to derive from

an ancestral language probably spoken on

Taiwan something over 5 000 years ago

and spread throughout the world

primarily by a human expansion therefore

austronesian speakers must all be late

albeits by diffused Comet ancestry

furthermore despite Millennia of

biological and cultural changes to the

oceanisians traces of the Ocean Asian

Heritage Beyond Linguistics can be

identified the expansion of Ocean Asian

peoples is linked to the dispersion of

Mt DNA HAPO Group B specifically

hoplogroup b4a1 and its subsequent

lineages across Island Southeast Asia

Oceania and even Richie Madagascar in

the western region notably the lineage

known as haplogroup

b4a1a1a characterized by the Polynesian

Motif and its descendants played a

significant role in the Australian

expansion throughout Oceania

additionally cultural traits commonly

attributed to the shared austronesian

Heritage that goes beyond language

include use of Outrigger canoes stilt

housing tattooing domestication of

plants and animals and distinctive art

styles among others these cultural and

genetic connections support the idea

that ocean lesion can function Beyond a

linguistic category and why many

scholars concerning ocean and Pacific

studies such as Robert Bluestem Peter

Bellwood have at one point in another

treated auctionesians as such this is by

no means saying that austronesians are a

modern ethnic group or that the 400

million austronesian speakers living in

2023 are the same as the founding

proto-oschinesian speakers of Taiwan

more than 5 000 years ago rather it

highlights that modern auctionesian

populations share a common linguistic

cultural and biological Heritage that

has evolved and diversified across a

vast geographical expanse

if you liked and enjoy the video

consider supporting me on patreon so I

can continue to produce more specific

studies content like this video

subscribe to the channel turn on all

notifications follow me on social media

at Poland speaks and a special susmasi

to patreon supporters Boutique

and Dylan some blonde seduce masi for

watching guajusipul and amplen has

spoken esta