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

[Alex Smith]

Just to quickly state the history of the  https://acd.clld.org/ site.

The movement of the ACD to the new site was undertaken during Bob's lifetime and was, in fact, spearheaded by Bob himself. He was principally involved in the movement of the data to the new site and its incorporation into the CLDF format with the assistance of Robert Forkel. He did this because after Steve Trussel passed in 2020, Bob had no way to edit the old ACD despite his desire to do so. The "New" ACD is not a posthumous attempt to capture, move, or edit the data. All of that was done during Bob's life under his supervision and direction.

In an effort to ensure that the ACD would continue to evolve with the field, he asked me to take control of the database. To use his own words in reference to my taking control of the ACD, "That is a big responsibility, but after much thinking I decided that you are without question the best-qualified person to inherit this from me, and I put all my trust and faith in you." (Saturday, December 11, 2021 9:39:40 AM). I will happily share the email with anyone who would like to verify. I think that it is a bit unfair to state that the new ACD site deviates in any way from Bob's wishes, since it was Bob himself who moved the data to the new site and who chose the current editorial team.

The new ACD site, and the data repository that it is linked to, has clear version control, as Gary mentioned. One can even go back to the ACD as it existed at the time of the initial movement to the CLDF database and access the "untainted" data there.
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From: An-lang <an-lang-bounces at anu.edu.au> on behalf of Gary Holton <holton at hawaii.edu>
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2025 5:25 AM
To: an-lang at anu.edu.au <an-lang at anu.edu.au> <an-lang at anu.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [An-lang] Moving Blust’s Legacy Forward: Archiving for the Next Era

Yuko,

Maybe this is just a feature of American English, but I have a very different sense of the use of the definite article in titles such as “The Austronesian Languages.” The definiteness here signals that there is only one group of languages which we label “Austronesian” (though one could presumably argue as to which languages should be included with that label). But it in no way limits the number of analyses of “the” Austronesian languages. Far from being canon, the existence of Bob’s book should in no way discourage others from publishing comprehensive works on Austronesian—or simply disputing parts of Bob’s work. That is scholarship. And though Bob would of course argue any challenges vehemently, that is no reason to forgo the challenge. Respecting a scholar’s work does not also require that work to go unchallenged. As an extremely prolific scholar, Bob provide much material to be debated. And so the work of Austronesian historical linguistics goes on.

As for the new ACD, there are many others better able to comment on this, but I believe the CLDF dataset is housed in a GitHub repository with version control. All changes can be viewed. Users can raise issues and then follow to see how they are resolved. This seems to me to be a great improvement on the old html-based site, which had (has?) no way of tracking edits. Changes to the data on that site could happen without users ever being aware. I think the new ACD format has the potential to facilitate the collaborative environment that you envision.

Anyway, I hope I’m not too far off base here — just thought it would be good for someone from UH respond. Thanks for raising these issues.

Gary



On Sun, Sep 21, 2025 at 13:56 Yuko Kitada <yukokitada at outlook.com<mailto:yukokitada at outlook.com>> wrote:
Dear Dr. Hugh Paterson III, dear AN-LANG colleagues,

Thank you, Dr. Hugh Paterson III, for your insightful perspective as an archivist on preserving the Wix site (https://blusthawaii.wixsite.com/blust)<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://blusthawaii.wixsite.com/blust__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!RPrE61WgqqI6qQxf2EVdz4q7cJc-87o8tRNzR8S2ENSp_vgoGfHrZfN8_-5VlXd65Vrg9OaoQljHJXOIRa6n$> and the Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD). I appreciate the suggestion to archive the site using WARC format for permanent storage and the emphasis on maintaining the integrity of Blust and Trussel’s original ACD (https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/)<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!RPrE61WgqqI6qQxf2EVdz4q7cJc-87o8tRNzR8S2ENSp_vgoGfHrZfN8_-5VlXd65Vrg9OaoQljHJbhaeD0L$> by distinguishing it from the edited version (https://acd.clld.org/)<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://acd.clld.org/__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!RPrE61WgqqI6qQxf2EVdz4q7cJc-87o8tRNzR8S2ENSp_vgoGfHrZfN8_-5VlXd65Vrg9OaoQljHJdMNjoAG$>. The call for transparency in documenting changes aligns with concerns I and others, like Prof. Laurent Sagart, have raised about the need for clarity in ACD updates.

However, I respectfully question the need to preserve the Wix site, as I see no clear scholarly purpose for its continued existence. The site, created posthumously by individuals after Bob’s 2022 passing, consists primarily of a static list of publications without links or substantial resources. This information is already accessible through Kaipuleohone or academic networks, rendering the Wix site redundant.

A scholarly field should not be dominated or give the impression of being monopolized by any single individual, but rather nurtured through collaboration within a community. The Wix site’s limited scope does not facilitate such collaboration and may contribute to canonizing Bob’s work, which those of us who knew him—his passion for debate—would recognize as contrary to his scholarly spirit. I propose retiring the Wix site entirely and integrating its bibliographic content into Kaipuleohone, ensuring a transparent and accessible archive that supports ongoing research by other scholars.

Moreover, I believe we need to critically reflect on how Bob’s legacy is presented, including the framing of his research approach. Bob’s body of work, such as The Austronesian Languages (2009), is quantitatively immense, but he was, like us, just one scholar among many. The article the and the absence of phrases like “issues on” or “a guide to studying Austronesian languages” in the title The Austronesian Languages suggest a definitive claim over the entire discipline, which risks overshadowing the field’s diversity. (While the title is a product of its time and cannot be changed now, one might argue that had Bob or his community placed greater emphasis on collective scholarship, a less exclusive title could have been chosen, reflecting an oversight not solely of the individual but of the community.) For example, Adelaar and Himmelmann’s The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar (2005) and Adelaar and Schapper’s The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian Languages of Southeast Asia (2024) carefully specify their regional or subgroup focus and leverage collaborative authorship to reflect the field’s breadth, whereas Blust’s title implies a singular authority. This exclusivity, echoed in the Wix site and gestures like the 2024 ICAL moment of silence—held two years after Bob’s passing, despite an earlier farewell event—can signal to emerging scholars that Bob’s work is an unchallengeable standard. Such a perception may cause other researchers to hesitate in pursuing or presenting novel findings, stifling bold new hypotheses. Those of us who knew Bob personally—his passion for debate, his openness to challenge—can guard against absolutizing his views or deifying him. But what about new researchers entering Austronesian linguistics? Encountering the Wix site or a title like The Austronesian Languages as their introduction, they might perceive Bob’s work as an untouchable canon, limiting the field’s growth and diversity. The discovery of the Wix site has highlighted a tendency toward exclusivity and a lack of humility within the Blust legacy community, which I hope we can address to foster a healthier, more collaborative academic environment, ensuring such issues do not arise again.

Regarding the ACD, I value a non-editable archival capture of Blust and Trussel’s original work at the University of Hawaiʻi (https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/)<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.trussel2.com/ACD/__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!RPrE61WgqqI6qQxf2EVdz4q7cJc-87o8tRNzR8S2ENSp_vgoGfHrZfN8_-5VlXd65Vrg9OaoQljHJbhaeD0L$> and appreciate the existence of additional archival copies elsewhere for preservation. However, I cannot support open, editable platforms where scholars freely add “layers” to the data, as these risk reducing scholarly work to an unverified “playground” and undermine credibility. Honestly, I also cannot endorse the additions made by the current maintainers of the MPI site (https://acd.clld.org/)<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://acd.clld.org/__;!!PvDODwlR4mBZyAb0!RPrE61WgqqI6qQxf2EVdz4q7cJc-87o8tRNzR8S2ENSp_vgoGfHrZfN8_-5VlXd65Vrg9OaoQljHJdMNjoAG$>, even if drawn from unpublished Blust materials, as their authenticity cannot be verified without clear evidence, such as photographic documentation. The current editable ACD lacks clear documentation of changes and merges new contributions with Blust’s original work without distinction, which, as Dr. Paterson notes, deviates from scholarly transparency. Scholars seeking to reconstruct proto-forms or expand on Blust’s work should do so through peer-reviewed publications, which can then be compiled into individual web-based lists if desired. This approach ensures rigor and maintains the integrity of the original ACD as a distinct scholarly artifact.

By retiring the Wix site and prioritizing peer-reviewed contributions, we can honor Bob’s legacy—his passion for rigorous debate—while fostering a collaborative and inclusive Austronesian linguistics community. I welcome further thoughts on retiring the Wix site and building a healthier academic environment.

Best regards,
Yuko Kitada

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