< Reconstruction:Proto-Austronesian

Reconstruction:Proto-Austronesian/bahi

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bahi/

Noun

*bahi

  1. female, woman

Descendants

  • Formosan:
    • Amis: fafahi (“wife”), fafahiyan (“female, woman”); pafafahiyen (“get someone a wife”)
    • Papora: pai
    • Puyuma: babayan
    • Paiwan: vavayan
    • Rukai: ʔavai
  • Proto-Malayo-Polynesian: *bahi (“woman, wife, female of animals”), *babinahi

Usage notes

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

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