Page 158 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

Although the Holle list is incomplete, it still has enough data in many cases to reveal the
existence of Austronesian loan words in Non-Austronesian languages. A comprehensive
treatment of this can be found in Lauder and Ayatrohaedi (2006) The Distribution of
Austronesian and Non-Austronesian Languages in Indonesia: Evidence and Issues. A total of
39 Austronesian lexemes are found in a number of Non-Austronesian languages. The scale
of distribution of Austronesian lexical is uneven. Details of it are described below.

Loans by Semantic Field
The lexical loans from Austronesian language can be categorized into several semantic
fields: (a) Family Relationships, (b) Clothing, (c) Metals, (d) Animals, (e) Numerals, (f)
Plants, (g) Tools, and (h) Other. The tables below provide, for loan words in each of these
semantic fields, the Austronesian source word, an English translation, the forms it was
borrowed in and the Non-Austronesian languages which borrowed it.

(a) Family Relationships
Austronesian Word English Translation Borrowed in Form By Non-Austronesian Languages
ANAK child [ana] Erai
AYAH father [mama] Abui
LELAKI man, male [anak] Tomayo
IBU mother [mama] Kwime, Sawia
[ina] Erai
[mamme] Away
[mamah] Arzo-Tami
[amei] Kapauku Lembah Pania
[ama] Dem

The lexeme anak ‘child’ is borrowed in the Erai language in the form ‘ana’. The lexeme
ayah ‘father’ appears in the Abui language in form ‘mama’. Next, the lexeme lelaki
‘man’ is borrowed in the Tomayo language in form ‘anak’. Lastly, the lexeme ibu ‘mother’
is borrowed by the Dem Language in form of ‘ama’; by the Kwime and Sawia Language
in form ‘mama’; by Arzo-Tami in the form ‘mamah’; by the Away language in the form
‘mamme’; by the Kapauku Lembah Pania language in form ‘amei’; and by the Erai language
in the form ‘ina’. It is possible that these lexemes were borrowed to ease communication
between the Austronesian and Non-Austronesian groups.

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