Problematic Protoforms: Some “Hidden” Indic Loans in Western Malayo-Polynesian Languages

This paper (re)examines a number of phonologically regular lexical reconstructions assigned to different Austronesian protolanguages. I will postulate a number of alternative scenarios involving early borrowing from Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. The loanwords proposed here encompass the domains of metallurgy and weaponry, structures and construction techniques, and other objects of practical use. While most of the data in this paper are linguistic, evidence from philology, archaeology, and archaeobotany is occasionally invoked as a control mechanism for lexical reconstruction. Doing so adds a novel dimension to our understanding of language contact and the nature of early Austronesian speech communities. Attention is also given to the geographical distribution and phonological integration of “Indic” loans in Austronesian-speaking Maritime Southeast Asia.