ACD - Austronesian Comparative Dictionary Online

*hemis sweet taste

PMP hemis sweet taste ⇫ ¶

WMP
Tboli	mi	sweet
Maranao	mis	sweetness
Tiruray	ʔeméh	sugar; sweet
Kadazan Dusun	omis	sweet
Kenyah	mE	sweet
Kayan (Uma Juman)	mi	sweet
	mi heñaʔ	salty
Kayan	mi	sweet
	mi heñaʔ	salty
Lampung	mis	sweet
Proto-Minahasan	emis	sweet
Bikol	hamís	sweet
Proto-Sangiric	emis	sweet
CMP
Palu'e	mi	sweet
Sika	mi	sweet, insipid
Li'o	mi	sweet

PEMP emis₂ sweet taste ⇫ ¶

SHWNG
Buli	mis-mis	sweet

PAN ma-hemis sweet ⇫ ¶

Form.
Hoanya	mami	sweet
WMP
Agta (Central Cagayan)	mamit	sweet
Gaddang	maːmit	sweet
Chamorro	mames	sweet
Rhade	ḿmih	sweet
Maranao	mamis	sweet, cake, dessert
Manobo (Ata)	moʔomis	sweet
Samal	mamis	sweet
Manobo (Kalamansig Cotabato)	mɨʔɨmɨs	sweet
Toba Batak	mamis	sweet
Banggai	mamis	sweet
Malagasy	mamy	sweet, delicious

PCEMP ma-emis sweet; insipid, as fresh water ⇫ ¶

CMP
Selaru	mami	animal fat
Rotinese	mami	insipid, sweetish, tasteless (as water)

POC mamis sweet, fresh (of water) ⇫ ¶

OC
Woleaian	mam	sweet, sugary
Puluwat	mem	sweet
Pohnpeian	mem	sweet
Nukuoro	mami	the taste of something
Gilbertese	mam	fresh water (as opposed to salt water)
Lakalai	mami	a yam, Dioscorea alata
Cheke Holo	mamhi	be sweet tasting
Bugotu	mami	sweet, agreeable, pleasant to the taste
Kwaio	memi	normal tasting; neither sweet nor sour
	maa-mami-la	brackish water
Nggela	mami	fresh, not salt
'Āre'āre	mami-ʔa	sweet
Sa'a	mami	to taste
Motu	mami	flavor of food
Arosi	mami	fresh, good drink, water; mixed with fresh water, as the sea water near a river mouth; sweetened, freshened, as (yam sp.) put in fresh water and its salt flavor removed
Mailu	mami	fresh water
Rennellese	mami	fat, as fish or fowl
Rotuman	mami	sweet (opposite 'sour'); of water, fresh; non-intoxicating
Futunan	mami	have a good taste (as sweet fruits); be tasteless, insipid (from lack of salt)
Tolai	mami	very sweet yam variety: Dioscorea rubicosa, coconut with a sweet husk which is chewed by sick persons, rather like barley-sugar

Reconstructions

PMP	hemis	sweet taste
PEMP	emis₂	sweet taste
PAN	ma-hemis	sweet
PCEMP	ma-emis	sweet; insipid, as fresh water
POC	mamis	sweet, fresh (of water)

Note

Also Siraya mahami ‘sweet’, Isneg mit ‘sweet, tasty’, Malay manis ‘sweetness; (of colors) light’, Old Javanese manis ‘sweetness, kindness, gentleness, loveliness’, Simalur mes ‘sweetness’, ma-mes ‘sweet’, Marshallese māmet ‘fresh water; sweet coconut water; sweet, sweetish taste’. The morpheme boundary in PMP *ma-emis had evidently disappeared in POc (*mamis), but given the unaffixed reflexes in some CMP and South Halmahera-West New Guinea languages we must conclude that this was not the case in PCEMP, nor even in Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian.

Although only the meaning ‘sweet’ can be attributed to PMP *hemis/emis, in PCEMP this form had evidently acquired the additional sense of ‘insipid, as fresh water in contrast to salt water’. For the association of sweetness with animal fat in a number of Oceanic languages (seen here in Selaru mami ‘animal fat’, Rennellese mami ‘fat, as fish or fowl)’ cf. Blust (1978:18).