| An Account of Austronesian
Lisa J. Erickson
The Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian
language family, which is comprised of between 800 and 1200 languages,
is thought to be the most widespread and the second largest language phyla
in the world. Some 270 million people are speakers of Austronesian languages
(“The Austronesian Language Phylum”), living in varied countries such as
China, the Philippines, Kiribati, Madagascar, Tonga, and Vietnam. The figure
below, updated by the “Austronesian Language Phylum” website on 16 December
1999, shows the geographic distribution of Austronesian languages: The boundary of the language family extends approximately 15,000 kilometers east to west (from Easter Island to Madagascar), and about 7,000 kilometers north to south (from Taiwan to New Zealand). The Austronesian languages and peoples are fascinating for many different reasons. The Austronesians provide us with tales of oceanic adventures, examples of language classification, connections to other parts of the linguistic world, and beautiful language structures. The Austronesians: A Seafaring People Classification of Austronesian Languages Linguists use various systems to classify the Austronesian languages. These include:
According to Lyle Campbell (164), the “state of comparative linguistic research” in the Austronesian language family is “relatively good, [although] much remains to be done in the branches.” Proto-Austronesian has been partially reconstructed. The Kadai languages, spoken in some southwestern Chinese provinces and a few northwestern Vietnamese provinces, are considered to be closest to Proto-Austronesian. These languages are all tonal languages (“The Austronesian Language Phylum”). Connections with Austronesian Languages Lyle Campbell (312-313) lists proposed relationships between (1) Japanese and Austronesian, and between (2) Austro-Asiatic and Austronesian (when considered as a whole, the latter is called the Austric family). The Austric family is not fully accepted by the linguistic community, but has gained wide acceptance among philologists in India. The government sponsored Indian Gazeteer states that the Austrics are the "bedrock" of the Indian population. So, Austric also refers to a cultural and "racial" group. Although the Austric family cannot be said to be fully accepted by the scholarly community it is gaining ground rapidly. In India, it is quite widely accepted among philogists. The Austric Peoples The Austric-speaking people do not all belong to one homogenous racial grouping, yet there is definitely a predominant type to be found. Some Austric speakers are Negritos and Oceanic Negroids like the Aetas of the Philippines, the Melanesians and some of the Austronesian speaking peoples of New Guinea. Most Austrics, though, are basically a fusion of three primary races: Mongoloid, Austroloid and Oceanic Negroid. In India, specialists in this field have noted that the Austric-speaking peoples belong to a larger racial type that includes many non-Austric speakers and is closely related to the Dravidian racial type. In fact, it is often said there is little difference between these two types. They resemble each other in terms of superficial characteristics in a number of ways, which include: On a more subtle plane, here are some less obvious resemblances between the two groups: Characteristics of Austronesian Languages Austronesian languages characteristically have fairly basic grammatical systems. Evidence indicates that the entire Austric family was originally agglutinative (“Language Family Information for the Numbers List”). Some features of agglutinative languages that are exhibited by Austronesian languages are: verb root tends to be uninflected, sentences can lack any active element, divisions between parts of speech (such as nouns, verbs, etc.) are less marked, and utterances show a tendency to be terse/abrupt. Affixes are used to modify the meaning of a base word or to indicate the function of a word within a sentence. Other processes and characteristics of Austronesian languages are more complex. Verbal and nominal systems demonstrate this intricacy. In addition, possessive pronouns usually vary according to the characteristics of the item which is being possessed. Malagasy, spoken in Madagascar, is an example of an Austronesian language possessing a more complex grammatical system. There are abundant examples of interesting linguistic properties and characteristics. In the Malay language, plurals are made by doubling words (“The Malayo-Polynesian Family”). Iconicity may therefore be seen in the following: anak =child, anak anak =children. Some languages, such as Javanese, have specific forms of speech for certain social situations (ie: informal or deferential). Austronesian languages sometimes use mathematical bases other than ten. Bam is a Sepik-Madang language which uses base 4. Therefore, ten is described as ‘four-two and two,’ twelve (kiki tuol) as ‘four-three,’ et cetera. Austronesian languages typically use the Roman alphabet or alphabets derived from Indian and Arabic scripts. A fascinating example is the Javanese alphabet. Even though its use is disappearing, it is still used by villagers in the isolated village of Pantaran to write their names in the gates in front of their houses. Displayed by the website “Javanese Characters and Aji Saka,” a few of the Javanese characters (called Dentawiyanjana) follow:
English has borrowed Austronesian words such as taboo and ukelele from Polynesian, gingham from Malay, junk from Javanese, and boondocks from Tagalog (“Austronesian Languages”). Some Austronesian languages also exhibit significant borrowing-a well-known example is Tagalog, which has borrowed extensively from Spanish. http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9845/austric.htm Austric Influence in India The Austronesians built ships with adzes and other tools of similar genetic affiliation, they used similar types of riggings, rudders, etc. and also the same method of sewing or fitting together the planks of their ships. These early Austronesians seemed to have all carried a few important domestic animals to almost everywhere they went: the dog, pig and chicken. Where the Proto-Austronesian people developed is a sticky problem. Some think the region of the Southern Philippines and Eastern Indonesia was the likely area, while others favor either Formosa or South China. Around 5,000 B.C. blade stone tool technology reached the northern and central Philippines from the south. Wilhelm Solheim of the University of Hawai'ipostulates that active maritime trade and migration was already going on in Insular and Mainland Southeast Asia by between 4,500 and 5,000 B.C. Eusebio Dizon of the National Museum of the Philippines believes this date can be moved to between 6,000 and 7,000 B.C. based on the most recent radiocarbon dating. Sometime between 1,500 B.C. and 2,000 B.C., the Lapita culture of Fiji and Tonga developed. Therefore, we can safely assume that the Proto- or Pre-Austronesians had already reached many areas of either Micronesia or Melanesia to the West. The presence of Austronesians in Madagascar has been confirmed to at least the beginning of the era, although Solheim states that work to find the earliest habitation has not yet been completed. The lack of iron and Hindu-Buddhist influences, suggest an even earlier date. The Austro-Asiatics were mainly land-bound, unless one accepts the theory that the Japanese are of Austro-Asiatic origin. Currently, the Munda languages of India belong to the Austric grouping. However, many experts believe that certain cultural items in India like the outrigger ships, the coconut, the betel, etc., may have actually been introduced by Austronesian peoples. Although no true Austronesian languages exist in modern India, studies have shown that there are such influences in both modern and ancient Indian languages. A good work summarizing some of the earlier studies done by Przyluski, Levy and others is P.C. Bagchi's Pre-Aryan and Pre-Dravidian in India. A study of certain Indic terms dealing with maritime navigation and the ocean might also be useful in determining how sea-faring Austronesians were able to have any influence at all in the region: vahana - "boat, raft," Sanskrit,
from root, vah"to carry, bear."
A list of pronouns, kinship terms and some anatomy terms will now be given showing the possible extent of Austronesian and Austric influences. While some instances of correspondence may be coincidence, it is obvious that as a whole, so many coincidences occurring between the two language groups is very unlikely. dharma - "law, conduct, established
order" Sanskrit
(Some writers suggest ture of Maori and Tahiti was introduced by missionaries from Hebrew, torah "sacred law.") Austronesian Navigation and Seafaring www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9845/austro.htm Austronesian Navigation and Migration The maritime achievements of the Austronesians have been noted by scholars and other observers for many centuries. The ability of the Micronesians to span out over many largely desolate atolls; of the Polynesians to make voyages over vast stretches of ocean; of the Melanesians to sail with minimal references; and of the Malays and Indonesians to venture thousands of miles over open sea to Madagascar are all great accomplishments that likely precededsimilar feats by other peoples. In most cases, the Austronesians left evidence of their journeys by means of their languages surviving in the lands they visited and settled. In this webpage, we will examine evidence of other regions that the Austronesians might have reached, but that are not commonly included as such in most research. The evidence used will come from various fields including linguistics, genetics and physical anthropology. An examination of Austronesian navigation and sailing techniques and technology will also be included. Evidence of Austronesian Contact beyond their Accepted Linguistic Region The Austronesian Physical Type Studies in India have shown a great deal of common ground between the Dravidian type and the local Austric type. In fact, little difference was found between the two. Genetic Evidence Attempts have been made at finding genetic markers for Austronesian peoples in recent studies. Concerning India, the earliest studies using blood genetic markers, the researchers tended to emphasize evidence that confirmed existing beliefs in the "Aryan" relationship of South Asians. The fact that many markers, such as the A2 blood type, p2, q, Rh negative, ALDH and other factors tended to show greater relationship with Asians to the East. (D. Tills, A. Kopec, R. Tills, (1983) The distribution of human glood groups and other polymorhisms Supplement 1, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford) Studies of nuclear DNA, though, seemed to confirm earlier theories of a Central Asian and otherwise Western origin of the bulk of the Indian populace (). However, the most recent studies of mtDNA contrast sharply with the nuclear DNA studies. A recent work by Bamshad et al (Bamshad et al, (1996) "mtDNA Variation in Caste Populations," Human Biology, v. 68, 1,) showed that South Indian populations were genetically closer to Asians than Europeans. In fact, a very close relationship between Indians and Africans was displayed by a neighbor-joining tree showing an African-Indian cluster in 88% of 1000 bootstrapped trees. Nuclear DNA studies have shown no close relationship between Africans and Indians. The table showing genetic distances is included below: Table 6. Genetic Distances between Continental Populations
The Asian group used in this study consisted of a mixture of East Asian and Southeast Asian groups, and it would be interesting to find what a comparison of Indian with specifically Austronesian and Austric peoples would produce. The genetic distances shown above were supported by an earlier study by Mountain et al. (Mountain et al.,(1995) "Demographic History of India and mtDNA-Sequence Diversity," American journal of human genetics, APR 01 1995 v 56 n 4, p. 979) that showed Chinese were approximately twice as close in terms of genetic distance to Indians than Europeans were to Indians. However, the Mountain et al. study did not show the same linkage with African populations as did that of Bamshad et al. Clearly, more mtDNA studies using different groups from all geographic regions are in order. Just why the mtDNA studies showed such drastically different results from many of the earlier nuclear DNA studies is hard to determine. Bamshad et al. suggested that possibly the African mtDNA in Indians might be due to mostly female African admixture with other supposedly non-African groups. However, any female African mixture sufficient to result in such a significant cluster should also have resulted in considerable contribution of nuclear DNA, which is also passed on by females. Of course, a thorough study using Y-chromosomes could provide answers to this question, and such a study was suggested by Bamshad et al. Getting back to the Asian affinities shown by the mtDNA studies, a few non-mtDNA studies have also shown such relationships. For example, a study conducted in India (Balakrishnan et al., "HLA Affinities of Iyers, a Brahmin Population of Tamil Nadu, South India," Human biology, AUG 01 1996 v 68 n 4, p. 523) displayed correspondence between the Iyer Brahmins and Southeast Asian populations, although this was explained by Central Asian groups migrating to India through Southeast Asia. The physical appearance of the people of northern India has led historians to assume they are more closely related to the European Caucasoid populations that to their neighbours to the east. But an international group of geneticist claims that this view is wrong. Some of the northern Indians, say the researchers, have much more in common with Chinese and Japanese people than was previously thought. The results could change the way that historians view human migration into the Indian subcontinent. [...] "India is really a transition zone between the Caucasoids and Mongoloids," says Narinder Mehra, director of the department of histocompatability and immunogenetics at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. Mehra belongs to an international team studying the genetics of histocompatibility in populations worldwide. [...] The scientists concentrated on the human leucocyte antigens (HLA) which dictate whether a person undergoing a transplant will accept or reject a donated organ or tissue. [...] of the 17 subtypes of a gene [...] 44 per cent of a group of 46 people living in Delhi had the same subtype as 69 per cent of a group of northern Chinese. And the subtype most commonly found in European populations was totally absent. [Mehra's sample consisted of] Hindus with family roots in the north Indian states of Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. --- As already mentioned there is a great deal of evidence existing in terms of blood genetic markers and similar polymorphisms, and both metric and non-metric anthropological traits to support the findings from mtDNA suggesting a substantial Asian component in India originating from Southeast Asia, which could certainly have Austronesian connections. The latter conclusion is further strengthened by linguistic, archaeological and, to some degree, historical evidence. A new study in Genetics analyzes Y chromosome variation and groups South Asians together with Southeast Asians due to common paternal lineages. The data above shows that haplotype 1C is strongly associated with South and Southeast Asians. If not for this haplotype, Indians would appear to be closer to Koreans. Using a majority-rule consensus tree, Hammer et al. formed two primary clusters. The relevant cluster looks thus: -------East
Asians
The Indian sample in this study consisted of 20 individuals from Andhra Pradesh and 19 South African Indians, who were mostly of Gujarati and Bengali origin. Austronesians and South America Rebecca Cann and J.K. Lum have studied the possiblity of gene flow between Polynesian and Amerind populations based on mtDNA findings (R.L. Cann and J.K. Lum, "Mitochondrial Myopia: Reply to Bonatto et al.," (letter to the editor), Am J. Hum. Genet. 59:256-258, 1996; Cann, R.L., (1994) "mtDNA and Native Americans: a southern perspective," Am. J. of Hum. Genet. 55:7-11.) and have raised the following questions: "Why is the B-lineage clade, a clade most common on the western coast of the Americas, not found in Beringia? Why does the B-lineage clade have lower sequence diversity and a different mismatch distribution than do the major A, C, and D clades (as well as others recently documented by T. Schurr and colleagues) in Amerindians? Why are other lineages, not just in the B group, found in Pacific and Amerindian populations? Finally, how do we account for the prehistoric distribution of the sweet potato in Oceania (Yen 1974)? [Cann and Lum, p. 258] Austronesians and Africa Austronesians established themselves on the island of Madagascar off the East African coast at an ancient epoch. Austronesian prehistorian, Wilhelm Solheim, has suggested that the beginning of Austronesian occupation of Madagascar may have been underestimated. The existence of various Austronesian crops suggest contact with the African mainland. Indeed, there are various Muslim historical sources verifying such contact during medieval times. There is also some evidence of gene flow between the two regions. Of particular interest is the existence of the Asian-specific 9-bp deletion among Sub-Saharan Africans. One study has tried to explain this by means of independent origins (Soodyall et al.,(1996) "mtDNA Control-Region Sequence Variation Suggests Multiple Independent Origins of an "Asian-Specific" 9-bp Deletion in Sub-Saharan Africans," American journal of human genetics MAR 01 1996 v 58 n 3, p. 595), however, this question if probably far from settled. Certainly, there are reasons (occupation of Madagascar, existence of Austronesian crops on mainland, Muslim historical sources) to suspect gene flow between the two peoples. Austronesian Ocean Navigation The evidence presented above gives a sketch of known and possible areas of Austronesian contact. Other possibilities also exist which are not explored here due to the research being very preliminary. The great expansion of Austronesian peoples that began probably at least 8,000 to 9,000 years ago according to recent radiocarbon datings (Eusebio Dizon, "Maguidanao prehistory: Focus on the archaeology of the anthropomorphic potteries at Pinol, Maitum, South Cotabato, Mindanao, Philippines," National Museum Papers, vol. 4,No. 1, 1993, Manila) required a sophisticated system of open sea navigation. Such navigation differed greatly from sailing along the coastline or to visible landmarks. Not only were sturdy blue-water vessels needed, but a system of orientation, dead reckoning, position-fixing and detection of landfall and weather prediction had be developed. Bunkminster Fuller, the developer of "Synergism" and theorist on the development of technology, believed that a combination of population pressures and the submergence of the Southeast Asian landmass caused the rise of nautical and other technologies in Austronesia. He gave examples of the circular weaves used in Southeast Asia and the Pacific comparing them to the unstable grid pattern weaves used in most of the rest of the world, as an example of how the need to build stable blue-water ship designs indirectly influence other areas of life. Sumet Jumsai, following up on Fuller's work, compared Southeast Asian architectural designs with ship architecture showing the same relationship of concept (Sumet Jumsai, (1988) Naga: cultural origins in Siam and the West Pacific, Singapore; Bunkminster Fuller, (1981) The Critical Path, New York). A comparison of Austronesian terms shows that this connection indeed existed in the Austronesian mind: barangay - communal unit
usually smaller than village, ship; Philippines,
It would be hard to find greater evidence of the aquatic/maritime culture of the Austronesians than the culture terms given above. ORIENTATION The Austronesian navigator had to be, at the same time, the village astronomer and meteorologist. More than anything, the heavenly bodies were used for direction-finding and for establishing course bearings. During the day, the Sun, or the Sun's shadow could be used to keep bearings; at night, the stars were used for this purpose. Indeed, the sidereal compasses of the Micronesians have become well-known among those who study Austronesian navigation. The sidereal compass uses the rising and setting points of stars to establish direction. Stars always rise and set at the same latitudes regardless of one's own latitude. Of course, as one's own latitude changes, it will seem that the stars are rising at different latitudes, but this is not the case. Thus, these fixed rising and setting points can be used to establish north, south, east and west and every direction in between. During the daytime, the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. However, the Sun only rises and sets directly to the east and west respectively during the spring and fall equinoxes. At other times, the rising and setting points of the Sun change latitude, and thus give slightly different bearings than due east or due west. Generally, Austronesian navigators checked the rising and setting latitudes (known as declination) against the stars at sunrise or sunset to determine the exact bearings of the Sun. As the Sun rises to its meridian passage (high noon) its shadow will also give direction depending on the Sun's position in the sky at any particular time. During periods of bad weather, the heavenly bodies may not be visible and thus other means of finding direction are necessary. During these times, the navigator may use the swells and currents of the ocean to keep on course. Ocean currents tend to travel in certain directions during different times of the year. According to some Austronesian lore, one can tell the direction of currents by the stars that are in the ascendant at sunset, or even by whatever star was ascending at any particular time. The stellar compass could also be used to determine the direction of swells at a given time, and a corresponding swell compass can be derived. When weather obscures the skies, this swell compass can be used instead. Likewise, the navigator can pay close attention to the directions of the wind while the sky is clear and orient this with the directions given by Sun and stars. The resulting wind compass can be used when heavenly bodies cannot be discerned. Of course, when using either the swell or wind compass, the navigator and the other crew members must be alert of any changes in direction that may occur. DEAD RECKONING In addition to the compasses mentioned above, the Austronesian navigator often possessed a sort of internal compass as well. The tremendous orientation ability of these navigators has been recorded on a number of occassions. Captain Cook's crew encountered Tupaia, a Tahitian navigator, whose knowledge of navigational lore greatly impressed the Europeans (J.R. Forster, (1777)Observations made during a Voyage round the World (in the Resolution 1771-5), London). Though it was highly unlikely that the dispossessed Tupaia was privy to the more recondite knowledge on his islands, he still was able to accurately demonstrate to Cook's crew the position of numerous island chains from the Marquesas to Fiji totally by memory. The area covered is greater than the span of the entire Atlantic Ocean and involved numerous islands! More than that, Tupaia was able to lead Cook to many of these islands that were as yet unknown to Europeans. However, the most interesting notice regarding Tupaia regarding the art of dead reckoning occurred during the voyage of Cook's expedition to Batavia in Java. At various points on the long, winding voyage that took them between broad-ranging latitudes, Tupaia "was never at a loss to point to Taheitee, at whatever place he came." (Forster, 1778: 531) The following notice from the
missionary vessel Southern Cross traveling in the late 1800's describes
three Santa Cruz boys of whom the eldest was
"teaching the names of various stars to his younger companions, and [I] was surprised at the number he knew by name. Moreover, at any time of night or day, in whatsover direction we might happen to be steering, these boys, even the youngest of the three, a lad of ten or twelve, would be able to point to where his home lay; This I have found them able to do many hundreds of miles to the south of the Santa Cruz group" (W. Coote (1882) Wanderings, South and East, London: Sampson Low)
"Another instance [of orientation in rough weather] was Tevake's success in finding Tikopia and the New Hebrides in gale conditions. What exactly did this entail? He was nearing Taumako from the Reef Islands, though, his destination not being visible in the thick weather, he only had his own estimate to tell him where he was, when the 'big wind' came down upon him. The te puke being unable to stand into the gale, he ran off for Tikopia over 160 miles away; when it came into view he had covered something over 210 miles on two angled courses without ever having seen land--no small achievement." (p. 147) etak
POSITION FIXING The Austronesian navigator had a number of ways of determining position other than by means of dead reckoning, although the latter was certainly the primary method. Position fixing required knowledge of longitude and latitude at any particular time. The technique was especially important for reorienting the ship after being driven off course by storms. Determining Latitude To determine latitude, the heavens were again the primary reference. Depending on which region involved, the techniques varied. In some cases, the Pole Star, Southern Cross or other polar stars were used to find one's latitude. Others used the altitude of particular groups of stars as they crossed the meridian. These latter stars were selected so they assumed a certain recognizable position when they reached the meridian line. Another technique was to use zenith stars to determine latitude. This is similar to the last method as zenith stars are also observed as they cross the local meridian. However, it is the distance of the star from the zenith, or point directly overhead, rather than distance from the horizon that is used. Austronesian navigators were also familar with methods of establishing latitude by various local charateristics of the sea and environment. The determining factors could be very broad including the local types of sea life, the temperature and salinity of the water, the currents and so on. In some cases, the navigators even lowered buckets to the sea bottom to examine the nature of the soil. Determining Longitude The methods by which Austronesians established longitude at sea is a controversial topic. A. D. Reche (A.D. Reche, (1927) "Die Dreisternavigation der Polynesier" Marine-Rundschau, vol.32, 214-19, 266-71; also Harold Gatty, (1958) Nature is Your Guide London) suggested that these navigators used precise biological clocks to determine the difference of the their home reference time with the local star time given by zenith stars. Reche's and Gatty's conclusions were attacked by others (Frankel, Lewis, etc.) based on the great difficulty in keeping accurate time and constantly correcting bearing. However, the latter difficulty is also present in the etak method. In fact, the only difference in difficulty between the etak method and zenith star method is the need for the navigator to occasionally determine the change in longitude by the difference in home reference time to local star time. From these occasional time checks, dead reckoning can be used to maintain proper adjustments to bearing. The bit question is whether Reche and Gatty's beliefs were speculation or whether the actually witnessed or heard of this techique being used by native navigators (Gatty, for example, was a long-time resident of Fiji). There may be some viability to Lewis' (1973: 119- 122) argument that the biological clock is not something that one can check at will. However, many of us are familiar with traditional society in that region and how certain times of the day can be "set" so that one is aware of them quite confidently. Even modern humans who have come dependent on electronic and mechanical clocks, sometimes find themselves waking up minutes or seconds before the alarm rings in the morning. In traditional society, even schoolchildren were often able demonstrate the angle of the Sun in the sky at any time without having to go outside or in cloudy weather. Older people were known to wake up at the exact time in the morning, perform certain daily chores or rites at precise times, and retire at the same time each evening without reference to any type of clock. There are many more examples, but the point is that there are certain times of the day that can be worked into the body's biological alarm clock even among ordinary people, as long as the traditional pattern of certain strict daily routines. Such daily rituals should not be confused with the well-known "native time" used in meetings and appointments and this is not part of daily, repeated ritual, and also not part of traditional custom. If ordinary folk can do this, how about a navigator and crew who practice faithfully duties and chores on board in almost a religious (and rhythmic) fashion? Non-astronomical methods of determining longitude are similar to those the non-stellar methods mentioned in the section on determining latitude above. MAKING LANDFALL In order to reach the intended target, the navigator often used a "screen" or expanded target to minimize the risk of completely bypassing the true target. Of course, use of screens was not applicable in exploration voyages. In such voyages, however, many of the same techiques used in detecting the expanded target could be used in finding landfall on an unknown stretch of sea. Probably the best known aid in finding land are seabirds. Seabirds are known to be very effective in telling the navigator when land is relatively close by. Wave action is another clue, and there are some navigators who can apparently determine the existence of islands at fairly great distances by wave action that would not be perceptible to most people, and even to most modern pilots. A more romantic method is the detection of aura reflected off clouds, or the radiation rising off island in the midst of a cool sea. Obviously, these methods are not well-known even to those who have investigated Austronesian navigation. WEATHER FORECASTING Weather forecasting was an important part of Austronesian seafaring. Satawal navigator Mau Piailug could tell the nature of weather to come by the color and nature of clouds and the changes in the surface fo the sea. (Will Kyselka, An Ocean in Mind 145). According to Varela the Tahitians
were accomplished at predicting weather:
"What took me most in two Indians whom I carried from Otahiti to Oriayatea was that every evening or night, they told me, or prognosticated, the weather we should experience on the following day, as to wind, calms, rainfall, sunshine, sea, and other points, about which they never turned out to be wrong: a foreknowledge worthy to be envied, for, in spite of all that our navigators and cosmographers have observed and written about the subject, they have not mastered this accomplishment (B.G. Corney, (ed. )(1913-19) The Quest and Occupation of Tahiti by Emissaries of Spain during the Years 1772-6 (3 vols.), London, 286-287).
"The people excell much in predicting the weather, a circumstance of great use to them in their short voyages from Island to Island. They have many various ways of doing this but one only that I know of which I never heard of being practised by Europeans, that is foretelling the quarter of the heavens from whence the wind shall blow by observing the Milky Way, which is generally bent in an arch either one way or the other: this arch they conceive as already acted upon by the wind, which is the cause of its curving, and say that if the same curve continues a whole night the wind predicted by it seldom fails to come some time in the next day; and in this as well as their other predictions we found them indeed not infallible but far more clever than Europeans." (J.C. Beaglehole, (1962) Endeavour Journal Vol. I, 1768-1771, Sydney, p. 368)
CONCLUSION Investigations of Austronesian survivals of navigational lore leave little doubt that they possessed skills that surpassed those of Columbus or Magellan who could only sail by means of latitude sailing. Austronesian sailors, on the other hand, have demonstrated the ability to sail angle course, and even multiple angled courses without instruments, and over great distances. In some cases, like that of Tevake, a two-angled course over a few hundred miles resulted in a precise landing despite very dense weather! Thus, there is every reason to believe that Austronesian navigation skills probably led them to visit many more lands than they are generally given credit. Some other evidence, genetic, linguistic, anthropological, etc., also supports such a theory. In this paper, the dental morphology of prehispanic Meso-american populations is described, compared, and examined within the context of New World dental variation. show evidence of heterogeneity among the populations. Researchers have suggested that the natural navigation of birds and other animals may be related directly to the pineal gland. In this sense, the pineal gland allows the mind to subconciously keep track of cycles including day, lunar and even yearly cycles. By allowing the subject to sense the difference between local time (given by the Sun or stars) and home time (etched in the brain) one can sense longitudal movement. Through knowledge of where the Sun should be declination-wise at home and at a certain time of the year, as compared to where it is locally gives changes in latitude. All this information is processed by the brain allowing the subject to sense changes in geographic position. There is quite a bit of evidence that can support this idea on a conceptual level at least. Plants and animals, when moved to different locations, continue to operate on "home time" for long periods after displacement. However, their pineal glands must sense the change in "light time" due to the differences in the rising and setting of the Sun. For most humans, these changes cannot be sensed, although they do effect us through conditions like jet lag. However, what if the pineal gland is "activated" or "sensitized" in a way that is uncommon. The existence of the pineal gland was known to the ancients in many parts of the world. The Chinese even drew diagrams showing the exact position and shape of the organ. The "third eye" was known as an extra sensory organ that could only be "opened" through arcane methods. Research has shown that in modern times, the pineal gland is often calcified reducing its ability to produce melatonin and other cyclic hormones. There does seem to be a higher rate of calcification among people with less melanin, but atrophy from disuse seems the strongest causative factor. Were the Austronesians aware of the pineal gland and did they know how to "open" its sensitivity? Why did auras of islands play an important role in their navigation as recorded in Western journals? Certainly, there seems to be few other plausible explanations. http://www.he.net/~skyeagle/prehist.htm Philippine Prehistory Page A glimpse at the prehistory and pre-contact culture of the Philippines The early Filipinos belonged to a ethnolinguistic grouping known as Malayo-Polynesian. These peoples descended from the earlier Austronesian people of Southeast Asia. The Austronesians were a seafaring people who spread to distant parts of the globe at an ancient period. At some early point, the Austronesians grew crops of taro, yams and possibly sweet potatoes (kumara). Rice appears to have made it out only as far as Western Micronesia, possibly because it was too difficult to transfer this crop further out into the Pacific. They sailed in ships that were related to each other, many of them sporting outriggers. They built their ships with adzes and other tools of similar genetic affiliation, they used similar types of riggings, rudders, etc. and also the same method of sewing or fitting together the planks of their ships. These early Austronesians seemed to have all carried a few important domestic animals to almost everywhere they went: the dog, pig and chicken. Where the Proto-Austronesian people developed is a sticky problem. Some think the region of the Southern Philippines and Eastern Indonesia was the likely area, while others favor either Formosa or South China. Around 5,000 B.C. blade stone tool technology reached the northern and central Philippines from the south. Wilhelm Solheim of the University of Hawai'i postulates that active maritime trade and migration was already going on in Insular and Mainland Southeast Asia by between 4,500 and 5,000 B.C. Eusebio Dizon of the National Museum of the Philippines believes this date can be moved to between 6,000 and 7,000 B.C. based on the most recent radiocarbon dating. Sometime between 1,500 B.C. and 2,000 B.C., the Lapita culture of Fiji and Tonga developed. Therefore, we can safely assume that the Proto- or Pre-Austronesians had already reached many areas of either Micronesia or Melanesia to the West. It is noteworthy that the closest earlier cultural tradition to the Lapita culture was that found in the Philippines. Later, a pottery and cultural tradition known as Sa-Huynh-Kalanay arose. Sa-huynh refers to Vietnam and Kalanay to the Philippines, but according to Solheim elements of this culture can be found as far as Madagascar off the East African coast! Indeed the language of the people of Madagascar is most closely related to a family of languages which includes Bisayan and certain languages of Borneo. One of the most interesting finds regarding the early Filipinos was that of the Ayub Cave potteries excavated in South Cotabato by Eusebio Dizon. These anthropomorphic burial jars are quite unlike any finds anywhere in Southeast Asia for so early a period. They are dated from between 500 B.C. to 500 A.D. The Austronesians may have been part of larger grouping known as Austric. The Austric family would include the Austronesians and also the Austro-Asiatics, a language family that extends from the Munda family in India to the languages of Indochina. The present author has found quite a bit of evidence showing a distinct Austric and Austronesian presence in India going back to ancient times. http://www.joglosemar.co.id/hanacaraka/hanacaraka.html Javanese Characters and Aji Saka http://www.encarta.msn.com Austronesian Languages CLASSIFICATION The Austronesian languages are divided into two branches: Formosan, the languages spoken by about 200,000 people in Taiwan; and Malayo-Polynesian, comprising the rest of the languages in the Austronesian family. The Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages consist of the languages of Micronesia, some languages of Melanesia, and the closely related languages of Polynesia, such as Tahitian, Hawaiian, and Maori, which is spoken in New Zealand. The Western Malayo-Polynesian languages include Malay; Javanese; Balinese, spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia; Malagasy, spoken in Madagascar; the Chamic languages, spoken in Vietnam and Cambodia; and Tagalog, on which Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, is based. III CHARACTERISTICS In general, the Austronesian languages use affixes (suffixes, infixes, prefixes) attached to base words to modify the meaning or to indicate the function of the word in the sentence. Base words often have two syllables. Reduplication is used to indicate plural number and other changes of meaning. Thus, in Malay, rumah means house, and rumah-rumah means houses. Verbal and nominal systems are often complex. Javanese and some other languages have forms of speech for specific social situations (such as informal or deferential). Austronesian languages are written either in the Roman alphabet or in alphabets based on Indian and Arabic scripts. English words of Austronesian origin include taboo, tattoo, and ukelele (from Polynesian); amok, gingham, and kapok (from Malay); batik and junk (from Javanese); and boondocks (from Tagalog, or Filipino, bundok,"mountain"). Campbell, Lyle. Historical Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998. “The Austronesian Language Phylum.” 28 February 2000, http://euslchan.tripod.com/an.htm “Language Families: The Malayo-Polynesian Family.” 28 February 2000, http://www.ultisoft.demon.co.uk/langfams.html “Austric Influence in India.” 28 February 2000, http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9845/austric.htm “Austronesian Languages.” 28 February 2000, http://www.encarta.msn.com “Language Family Information for the Numbers List.” 28 February 2000, http://www.zompist.com/sources.htm#malayo “Javanese Characters and Aji Saka.” 28 February 2000, http://www.joglosemar.co.id/hanacaraka/hanacaraka.html “Austric Influence in India.” 28 February 2000, http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/9845/austric.htm |
