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A Note on Monosyllabic Roots in Kavalan
- Oceanic Linguistics
- University of Hawai'i Press
- Volume 42, Number 1, June 2003
- pp. 239-243
- 10.1353/ol.2003.0003
- Article
- Additional Information
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The phenomenon of submorphemic sound-meaning association with a terminal -CVC is widely attested in the Austronesian languages of the Philippines and Indonesia (including Malagasy), but is absent in Oceanic languages, and until now has been attested only weakly in the Formosan languages. Evidence is presented that *-pit 'press, squeeze together; narrow', the most richly attested "root" in Malayo-Polynesian languages, is also well attested in Kavalan, one of the more endangered and underdescribed aboriginal languages of Taiwan.