Comparison of the Number "8" in Austronesian Languages
Comparison of the Number "8"
in Austronesian Languages
As we can see from the above tables, the word used for number “8’ in most of the Austronesian languages are almost the same. It can be deduced that all these languages might have a common origin - the Proto-Austronesian language which was spoken by the people of ancient Taiwan at least 6,000 years ago. The theory of “Out of Taiwan” is basically set up on comparative linguistics. It’s quite astonishing that after thousands of years there are still so many languages that have kept the cognates even up to present. The evolution of the Austronesian language from Taiwan to Oceania is just like the routes of their migration, a colorful adventure in human history. Each language is like an episode which eventually combines with others to form a long evolutionary story. The “Out of Taiwan” immigration is a one-way journey, all passengers on board must have known the return journey would be impossible in their lifetime. So the nostalgia for their homeland must have kept in their memories inevitably. The most prominent thing in their memories is the Holy Mount, Saviah, in their homeland of Taiwan. So along the routes of their migration many locations were called with the name of “Saviah”. See “From Saviah to Hawaiki”. The Austronesian language evolution and their migration in prehistory was a very unique issue for all human beings. The more facts we find, the more we learn about their extraordinary history.
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