Reconstructions

Note

Also Seediq (Truku) luno ‘earthquake’, m-luno ‘to have an earthquake’, Thao rinuz ‘earthquake’, m-rinuz ‘to have an earthquake’, rinuz-in ‘be shaken by an earthquake’, Paiwan luni ‘earthquake’, luni ‘to have an earthquake’, Ibanag, Balangaw, Yogad lunig, Atta (Pamplona) lunik, Gaddang alúnig, Itawis lúnig, Boano linuʔ, Chamorro linao ‘earthquake’. For unknown reasons at least three closely similar forms can be reconstructed meaning ‘earthquake’, and many other words that appear to have a historical connection with these fail to show regular sound correspondences.

Based on the comparison Tagalog lindól : Javanese linḍu ‘earthquake’, Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed *linḍuγ ‘earthquake’, but he was forced to acknowledge that the sound correspondence supporting the final consonant is irregular, Tagalog pointing to *lindul or *lindur, but Javanese to *lindu or *linduR (ignoring the *d/ḍ distinction, which is no longer regarded as valid). Access to apparently related forms from a much larger selection of languages now permits the reconstruction of both *linduR and the disjunct *lindur, although neither of these is a competitor of PAn *linuR ‘earthquake’. At first glance Paiwan luni and Philippine forms such as Agta (Central Cagayan), Balangaw lunig suggest a PAn doublet *luniR, but closer attention to northern Luzon forms indicates that they probably reflect *lunij. This in turn allows comparison with Thao rinuz (< *linuj), except that the position of the vowels is reversed and there is no clear basis for deciding which order was original. In addition, Li (1981) has posited Proto-Atayalic *gunug ‘earthquake’ on the basis of evidence that actually supports Proto-Atayalic *runug, a form which would reflect earlier *lunuR. Reflexes of *linuR (and words for ‘earthquake’ more generally) completely skip Borneo, which is a tectonically stable region in an area otherwise known as part of the circum-Pacific ‘ring of fire’.