[An-lang] Malay in broader terms

[Christopher Sundita]

Hello,

In the Philippine context, Malay is also used to refer to Filipinos as well.  I
learned a few years ago that it was anthropologist H. Otley Beyer who began all
this since Filipinos did not fit under the now-debunked three-race model of
Negroid, Caucasoid, and Mongoloid.

Since then, I've been telling others not to use Malay to refer to Filipinos but
instead to use Austronesian.

Personally, I find Malay to be ambiguous for two reasons: (1) It refers
primarily to someone from Malaysia and (2) It gives the false impression that
Filipinos came from Malaysia (when, in facts, signs point that they came from
up north in Southern China, via Taiwan).

But there's also the term "Malayo-Polynesian" - what should I make of this?

So my question is, do you guys in the field share my opinion on this?

Thanks,

--Chris Sundita
http://salitablog.blogspot.com

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