ACD - Austronesian Comparative Dictionary Online

*baliw₁ dual division, moiety == cluster (a) answer, oppose, opposite side or part; partner, friend, enemy

PMP baliw₁ dual division, moiety == cluster (a) answer, oppose, opposite side or part; partner, friend, enemy ⇫ ¶

WMP
Ifugaw	báliw	act of turning oneself when walking, etc. and continue (walking, etc.) in the opposite direction; produce an action which will have an effect which is the contrary of what somebody else tries to produce (e.g. to defend the life of somebody who is attacked); opposite part (e.g. the lowlands are the of the mountain area and vice versa
Ilokano	báliw	opposite bank, shore
Mongondow	baluy	oppose, answer back or contradict the village head
Gorontalo	bali	opponent, adversary (as in a cockfight)
Mentawai	baliw	brother, sister
Bare'e	sam-bali	one side
	bali	reverse side, opposite part
	si-bali	merged or fused with
Tae'	si-bali	become a pair, marry
	to pa-bali-an	assistant, helper; the slave who stands at the side of the (funeral director) at the performance of the death ritual
	bali	companion, mate; partner, whenever two parties oppose each other, as in a cockfight; opponent; answer, oppose resist
	saŋ-bali	one side, either member of body parts that come in pairs
Kulisusu	bali	enemy
Wolio	bali	side, direction, opponent, enemy; counting-word for things occurring in pairs (e.g. parts of the body); face, be opposite to
Proto-South Sulawesi	bali₁ + i	stand beside, help
Malagasy	vady	partner, husband, wife; a companion, an associate; a mate, one of a set of two (thus the saucer is the of a cup)
Bikol	balyó	go across, go over to the other side
Malagasy	vadylahy	a friend
Proto-South Sulawesi	bali₂	enemy (oppose)
	bali₁	side (friend, partner)
	bali₃	answer (contradict, answer back)

PCEMP bali₈ dual division, moiety ⇫ ¶

CMP
Soboyo	fali-haya	placenta
	fali-tuha	friend, companion
Paulohi	halu	answer
Kei	wali-n	side, opposite side
Yamdena	bali-n	side, opposite side; half, one of a pair
	ŋriye bali-n	enemy, opponent; opposed party
Leti	wali	side, half; partner, companion; opponent like
	loke wali-li	opposite side of the river
Manggarai	bali	friend; enemy; divided in halves; foreign, alien
Rotinese	fali	help, stand beside

POC bali₇ answer, oppose, opposite side or part; partner, friend, enemy ⇫ ¶

OC
Woleaian	paliy	side, flank
	paliy-etam	outrigger side, windward side of a canoe
Puluwat	páliy	side, as in a game or war; half-section
	peliy	side, as in a game or war; half-section
Mokilese	uh-pal	side with
Petats	pal	half
Lau	bali	part, side, portion, half; disunited, on the other side; each side in a game; two-edged, two-sided
	bali ʔana wane	bride's people, bridegroom's people
	bali ʔana geni	bride's people, bridegroom's people
Kwaio	bali	part, side
Nggela	mbali	bring together, of opposite planks of a canoe
Mota	ta-val-a	beyond, the other side of
	ta-val-a imwa	the other side of the house; members of the other , with whom alone marriage is allowed
	ta-val-iu	a side or part, where there are two, the one or the other
Tuamotuan	pari-a	a half
Lonwolwol	wali	the one (or other) of (a pair); the mate of
Tahitian	pari	side

PMP baliw₄ cluster (b) == repay, return in kind; retaliate, take revenge (hence: to equalize a loss or debt) ⇫ ¶

WMP
Ilokano	balíw-an	set right, correct, mend
Acehnese	baluy	take revenge; restore or replace after a loss
Karo Batak	bali	alike, equal, settled (of a debt)
Ngaju Dayak	bali	blood money for a murder
Tae'	bali	repay, retaliate
CMP
Paulohi	halu	answer
Lamaholot	baliw-an	make war, take revenge
Rembong	wali	repay, reply
Manggarai	wali	return in kind (gifts, etc.)
Li'o	vali	restore, equalize a loss, win back what was lost in a game

POC bali repay, replace; take revenge ⇫ ¶

OC
Tolai	băli	repay, replace, compensate, refund; punish, revenge, settle

PMP baliw₃ cluster (c) == don mourning apparel; mourn for a deceased spouse ⇫ ¶

WMP
Ifugaw	bālu	that which a man or woman wears to indicate that his or her spouse has died; to put on clothing to indicate that one's spouse has died
Ifugaw (Batad)	bālu	that which a man or woman wears to indicate that his or her spouse has died; to put on clothing to indicate that one's spouse has died
Pangasinan	baliw-an	black clothing worn by a person in mourning; to wear such clothing
Murut (Timugon)	maluy	change into white mourning clothes on the death of one's spouse
CMP
Fordata	bali-n	veil oneself, as a woman does when her husband is dead
	na-bali-n nitu	mourn for the dead, be in mourning
OC
Lakalai	vali	to mourn
Mota	val	to refrain from certain food as a sign of mourning

PPh di-baliw on the opposite side ⇫ ¶

WMP
Casiguran Dumagat	dibilew	the other side (of a bay, valley, canyon, river, road, etc.)
Binukid	dibaluy	behind, at the back; at the other, opposite, reverse side; to be, go behind or to the opposite side of (something)

Reconstructions

PMP	baliw₁	dual division, moiety ==…
PCEMP	bali₈	dual division, moiety
POC	bali₇	answer, oppose, opposite side…
PMP	baliw₄	cluster (b) == repay, return…
POC	bali	repay, replace; take revenge
PMP	baliw₃	cluster (c) == don mourning…
PPh	di-baliw	on the opposite side

Note

This is among the most complex comparisons known in Austronesian. For convenience in perceiving semantic groupings the reflexes have been segregated into three clusters, but all are believed to continue the same etymon. The lexicographical issue at stake is how the linguist can distinguish homophony from polysemy in a principled way in cases such as this. On the one hand we could posit homophones (1) *baliw ‘answer, oppose; opposite side or part; partner, friend, enemy’; (2) *baliw ‘repay, return in kind; retaliate, take revenge (hence: to equalize a loss or debt)’; and (3) *baliw ‘don mourning apparel; mourn for a deceased spouse’.

However, there are multiple problems with this analysis. First, *-iw occurs in only three of the over 2,200 reconstructions in Dempwolff (1934-38) (*baliw ‘change’, *baRiw ‘spoiled, tainted’, *laRiw ‘flee’), and it would therefore be unexpected to find this rare diphthong in three additional morphemes all of which are homophonous with *baliw ‘change’. Second, suffixed forms reflecting *baliw-an occur in at least the semantic clusters (b) and (c). Third, and most critically, all three semantic clusters are related by a pervasive notion of duality, and are fully consistent with descriptions of the psychology of dual divisions in the ethnological literature (see Blust 1980a, Blust 1981b for further discussion).

On the other hand, we could unite at least the material cited here, as indeed we have done. Dempwolff did not consider this material, but as noted already he split *baliw_₂ into two separate etyma. Later writers, as Mills (1975) have made similar decisions (in favor of homophony rather than polysemy) for some of the material cited under *_baliw_₁ (a). There can now be little question that all of the forms gathered under *_baliw_₁ reflect a single etymon. It is, moreover, likely that *_baliw_₁ and *_baliw_₂ were the same morpheme. However, the rather distinct character of the glosses associated with reflexes of *_baliw_₂, particularly those relating to punitive storms (Blust 1981), is difficult to reconcile with a hypothesis of a unitary PMP etymon *_baliw. Formally most Oceanic cognates appear to reflect the nasal grade of *b, but a few languages (Lakalai, Mota, Lonwolwol) evidently reflect the oral grade. I am indebted to Ann Chowning and Ross Clark (p.c.) for useful comments and data relating to this comparison. As Clark points out, Mota val may not belong with the other forms cited here.