Reconstructions

Note

Also Pazeh bintul ‘star’, Paiwan vitjuqan ‘star’, Pangasinan bitúen ‘star’, Kapampangan batwín ‘star’, Kelabit getuʔen ‘star’, Kenyah betuan ‘star’, Lahanan ketuʔen ‘star’, Jarai petuʔ ‘star’, Moken bituek ‘star’, Tae' bintoʔen ‘star’, Tetun fitu ‘star’, Leipon piti ‘star’, Nauna pitiw ‘star’, Gedaged patui ‘star’, Motu hisiu ‘star’, Banoni pi-pito ‘star’, Bugotu veitugu ‘star’, Asumboa posuo ‘star’, Hawaiian hōkū ‘star’.

The Rotuman and Polynesian reflexes of *bituqen show a sporadic lowering of the first vowel and what appears to be regressive assimilation of the last vowel (expected **o), almost certainly as the result of a single innovation. Other types of irregularities appear in Motu hisiu ‘star’, and in the Micronesian reflexes cited here, and it is possible that the POc reflex of PMP *bituqen was *pituqun rather than *pituqon. Dahl (1976) interprets the unexpected last vowel of Paiwan vitjuqan as evidence that *bituqen contained a base morpheme *bituq which could be suffixed either with *-an or *-en. This argument would be considerably enhanced if at least some comparative evidence were presented for a simple base *bituq, but such evidence has not been forthcoming. Moreover, the proposal that a base meaning ‘star’ could be suffixed with *-an or *-en is itself open to question. In view of these observations I prefer to treat the Paiwan form as exhibiting an unexplained irregularity.