rat and buffalo

[Waruno Mahdi]

> Could the root for rat have been also "promoted" and used for buffalo?
> From this point my imagination is running wild. If such is the case there
> may have been some magic reason: you take a rat, call it a dog and offer it
> to a god - a classical case of sacrifice by substitution. The operation is

Jean-Paul, Russians make elephants out of mice, where Anglophones make
mountains out of molehills. But I hate to disappoint you about the
imaginativeness of Austronesians with regard to rats and carabaos,
although Malay-speakers are known to have let mouse deer (pelanduk)
and even ants (semut) acquire elephantine dimensions :-)

The AN protoform for mouse/rat is *labau (Kulalao Paiwan ku-lavaw,
             Sakalava Malagasy va-lavu, Nifilolo lavu, Fiji ka-lavo)

Reflexes of the virtual protoform *karabau "carabao", on the other
hand, should probably be seen as borrowings ultimately reflecting
the Malay reflex of the protoform *keRbau  (Malay k at rbau, Javanese k at bo,
             Krui Lampung kibaw, Balinese k at bo, Toba Batak horbo,
             Karo Batak k at rbo;   @ = mid central unrounded = "schwa")
which has a restricted distribution limited to West Indonesia.
Like its virtual doublet, Proto-Chamic *kubau (Cham kepaw\,
             Roglai kubau, Jarai k at bau, Rade kbaw; Cham \ is low tone)
it is apparently a loan from the one or other Mon-Khmer (West
Austroasiatic) language, cf. Bahnar kapo, Chrau gapu, Hre kpo,
             Sedang kopaw, Kancho kr at bao, Pear, Samre  krapaw, etc.
             Khmer kr at bOy, Old Khmer krapi, Palaung kra?, Vu karak,
             Halang h at rok "carabao".
These probably reflecting some ancient Austroasiatic form for "k.o. cattle"
which is perhaps also reflected in Munda (East Austroasiatic) languages,
 e.g. as Gta' hrwe?, Juang orai, Asuri Uri?, Santali orok, etc. "cow/ox"

(? = glottal stop, U = high back unrounded, O = mid back unrounded, the
latter two corresponding to Vietnamese-transcript u+ and o+ respectively).

With regard to the palatal glide at the end of the Khmer and some other
reflexes, compare Madurese k at rbhuy which may be a third parallel acquisition
of some Mon-Khmer precursor.

The form seems also to have been borrowed into Daic (Tai-Kadai) languages
as *G[r]wai (G = IPA gamma), cf. : Ahom khrai, Thai khwaai, Shan kaay,
              Wuming Tai xway, Buyi (= Po-ai) vaai, Lingam Sui kwi, Laqua hai
              Lati kua "carabao" (all with A2 tone, except Ahom for which
                                  no tones are recorded; _aa_ = long _a_)

The domesticated water buffalo, for reason of its broad hoofs ideally
suitabl;e for use in soggy rice fields, is abvioously a culture item
which was distributed together with wet rice cultivation. This is
quite consistent with the assumption that the word is ultimately of
Austroasiatic origin, I think.

Regards,   Waruno