ACD - Austronesian Comparative Dictionary Online

*esa one

PAN esa one ⇫ ¶

Form.
Luilang	sa-ka	one
Paiwan	eta	one
	ta-	one
WMP
Bontok	ʔəsá	one, be one
Ifugaw	oha	do something alone, do something with one item
	ohá	one
Kankanaey	esá	one; a, an
Ifugaw (Batad)	oha	do something alone, do something with one item
Sambal (Tina)	aʔsa	one
Sambal	aʔsa	one
Bantuqanon	usa	one
Cham	sa	one
Hanunóo	ʔusá	one (cardinal number)
Palawan Batak	ʔesá	one
Cebuano	usá	one
Talaud	assa	one
Sangir	esa	one (in combinations)
Simalur	sa-rəpa	one fathom
	sa-	one
Toba Batak	sa-da	one
Malay	esa	unity, one; is the usual form, but is used of God's unity
	se-puloh	ten
	se-ratus	one hundred
Tonsea	esa	one
Tontemboan	esa	one, other, sole, only; self
Nias	õsa	some, a part
Delang	oso	one
Sundanese	esa	one, uniqueness (of God)
Proto-Sangiric	esa	one
Proto-Minahasan	esa	one
CMP
Alune	esa	one
Saparua	esa	one
Geser	sa	one
Watubela	ha	one
Tugun	eha	one
Yamdena	sa-	one (in serial counting); other; indefinite article
Erai	eha	one, some, a certain; only, alone; other
Ngadha	esa	unity; one (general numeral)
Vaikenu	ɛsa	one
Kambera	ha-	prefix for measure words and numerals, used to express unity
Hawu	ehi	one (in serial counting only; otherwise 'one' is )
Rotinese	esa	one (in serial counting)
Proto-Ambon	esa	one
SHWNG
Buli	sa-	one
Taba	p-so	one
Gimán	p-so	one
As	sa	one
Mayá	ꞌsa	one
Moor	ta-ta	one
OC
Woleaian	ye-ta	one (enumerative counter)
Puluwat	yee-t	one (sequential)
Lau	e-ta-na	first
	e-ta	one
Tuvaluan	he	singular indefinite article
Ghari	ke-sa	one
Arosi	e-ta-na	first
	e-ta	one (in counting only
Rennellese	he	indefinite article: a, an, any
Samoan	se	indefinite article (used mainly in questions and negative statements)
	se-fulu	ten
	se-lau	one hundred
Lametin	ese	one
Niue	ha	singular indefinite article: a, an
Tongan	ha	indefinite article: a, an, some, any
	ho-ŋo-fulu	ten
Rarotongan	e	indefinite article
Maori	he	indefinite article, both singular and plural: an, any, some

PAN a-esa one (of humans) ⇫ ¶

Form.
Saisiyat	ʔæhæ	one
WMP
Itbayaten	aʔsa	one

PCEMP asa₂ one (of humans) ⇫ ¶

CMP
Batu Merah	w-asa	one
SHWNG
Buli	asa	one

PPh maka-esa once ⇫ ¶

WMP
Cebuano	maka-usá	once
Tontemboan	maka-sa	one time, once

PMP esa esa one by one ⇫ ¶

WMP
Bontok	ʔəssa-ʔəssa	be in units of one
Hanunóo	ʔusa-ʔusá	only one, one only
CMP
Erai	eha eha	each one
Rotinese	esa esa	one by one, each in its turn

Reconstructions

PAN	esa	one
PAN	a-esa	one (of humans)
PCEMP	asa₂	one (of humans)
PPh	maka-esa	once
PMP	esa esa	one by one

Note

Also Paiwan maka-ta-lʸ ‘one (time, day, occasion)’, Malay satu, suatu ‘one’, Madurese essaʔ ‘one’, Fordata i-saa ‘one, a; someone; other’, fa-saa ‘one time’, iki-saa ‘only one’. The following morphologically complex comparisons are assumed to be products of convergent development: 1) Paiwan ka-ita-n ‘only’, Bontok ka-sʔá ‘first, be first’, Cebuano ka-usá ( = maka-usá) ‘once’, Sangir k-esa ‘one (unbound form)’, 2) Paiwan me-ita ‘become one (whole)’, Tontemboan ma-esa ‘become one’, 3) Kankanaey esá-ka ‘always, only, nothing but’, Cebuano usáka ‘a certain (unnamed) one’, Rotinese esak-a ‘the one, the other’.

Most affixes that *esa probably took are attested under *isa (q.v.). The principal issue associated with *esa is perhaps whether the clitic form *sa- already existed in PMP, or whether it developed independently in a number of the modern languages. There appears to be good comparative evidence for reconstructing *sa-ŋa-puluq ‘ten’, and *sa-ŋa-Ratus ‘one hundred’, with clitic *sa- rather than the full form *esa-. Moreover, this monosyllabic element appears as a free morpheme in the Polynesian languages, where it was reinterpreted as an indefinite article (with irregular phonological change *sa > *se in Proto-Nuclear Polynesian ).