[An-lang] Moving Blust’s Legacy Forward: Archiving for the Next Era

[Yuko Kitada]

Dear colleagues,

I hope you’re all having a great start to the semester! As an independent researcher diving into Austronesian linguistics, I’m constantly inspired by Robert Blust’s monumental contributions—his Austronesian Comparative Dictionary and The Austronesian Languages are true cornerstones of our field. His personal website (https://blusthawaii.wixsite.com/blust)<https://blusthawaii.wixsite.com/blust> remains a fantastic resource, and I’m grateful to the students or colleagues keeping it alive since his passing in 2022.

That said, Blust’s contributions are extraordinary, but I’m wondering how we can honor his legacy without deifying it and move our field into its next era. A few thoughts:

  *   The site is a treasure, but its static nature risks deifying Blust’s work as an untouchable canon, potentially discouraging bold new hypotheses from younger or independent researchers (e.g., revisiting Formosan subgrouping and reconstructing the PAn and PMP grammars).
  *   Without updates, it feels frozen, missing recent Austronesian insights that could build on Blust’s foundation.
  *
A personal Wix site, while accessible, is less stable than an institutional archive like UH’s digital library or the ACD. Operating it through UH would ensure longevity and clarity, avoiding confusion about what’s Blust’s work versus posthumous additions.

What does everyone think? Could we transition Blust’s site to a dynamic, official archive at UH or the ACD to preserve his brilliance while making space for new voices? Isn’t it time to move Austronesian linguistics into its next era, building on Blust’s legacy without being anchored to it? I’d love to hear if this has been discussed or if plans are in the works.

Best regards,
Yuko Kitada

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