Sila[ ]

[Laurent Sagart]

Tsuchida, S. (1977) Some plant names in Formosan languages. CAAAL 7,
79-119.) reconstructed "Proto-Hesperonesian" *z at lay 'Coix Lachryma-jobi',
with Formosan reflexes. Verheijen (1984: 14, 48) identifies this item as
Coix lacrima Jobi var. Ma-Yuen., citing further reflexes in Bisayan, Roti,
Tana-Ai, Maranao and Sika.

L. Sagart
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Waruno Mahdi" <mahdi at fhi-berlin.mpg.de>
To: " AUSTRONESIAN LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS" <AN-LANG at anu.edu.au>
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2003 11:29 AM
Subject: Re: Sila[ ]


> > Paul Geraghty and I are looking for possible cognates of Fijian /silaa/
> > 'Job's tears, Coix lachryma-jobi', which has also taken on the meaning
>
> The formally PMP form, with numerous attested reflexes in WMP and CMP
> languages of Indonesia, seems to be *qa[n]zel[a]i,  but the *z calls for
> caution, suggesting possible post-PMP horizontal propagation. In other
> words, this is a post-factum reconstruction on the base of what a
> somewhat mixed process of inheriting and borrowing has left behind,
> and must not necessarily be an accurate representation of the original
> form. So, Fiji silaa and Anejom nadej might perhaps well prove to be
> ultimately related after all.
>
> The reflexes I have (Mahdi 1994:471 n. 113) are:
> WMP:
> Malay h at nj@lay, Sundanese hanj at li, Old Javanese jah at li,
> Madurese jhAnglE(h), Balinese jali-jali, Ngaju j at lEy.
> CMP:
> Roti dele, Haruku sale.
> (@ = schwa, A = v-rotated, E = epsilon)
>
> That's all I have.
>
> Aloha,  Waruno
>
>