*S   

*Samaq a plant: Lactuca indica Linn., and Sonchus oleraceus Linn.

Note:   Also Seediq (Tkdaya) sama balay, Tsou samaka, Saaroa samaʔə. This comparison was first noted by Li (1994).

*Samud a plant, sesame: Sesamum indicum

Note:   Since most varieties of sesame are native to subsaharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent, the antiquity of sesame in Taiwan is unclear. Nonetheless the forms given here exhibit regular sound correspondences, are glossed ‘sesame’ in both sources, and appear to be directly inherited in both languages. It is possible that the referent is a similar plant which is yet to be botanically identified.

*Sanaq river otter

Note:   It is unclear whether this word originally referred to sea otters, river otters or both. Within recorded history sea otters have not extended as far south as Taiwan, so our best guess is that *Sanaq referred exclusively to river otters.

*Sawiki betel nut: nut of Areca catechu

Note:   Also Hoanya abiki, Siraya aviki, Rukai (Tona) θaviki ‘areca nut’. The history of betel chewing in South and Southeast Asia is complex, and the details remain to be fully worked out (Zumbroich 2008). In attested Austronesian-speaking societies from Taiwan to the western Pacific the fruit of the areca palm is chewed as a mild stimulant, either by individuals alone or as part of a social ‘lubricant’, in some cases connected with formal events such as wedding engagements. More exactly, what is chewed is the betel quid, a packet consisting of an outer leaf wrapping the nut and a small quantity of lime made by crushing the shells of marine molluscs or coral. In Taiwan the practice has spread in recent centuries to the Han Chinese community, who must have learned it from the native populace. This word was replaced in PMP by *buaq.

*Seked stop an activity, take a break, rest

Note:   Also Kavalan tqez ‘to stop, to rest for awhile when walking’.

*Seŋad to breathe

Note:   Also Puyuma aŋaɖ ‘a breath’, aŋaɖ-an ‘windpipe, bronchial tubes’.

*Sidi Formosan serow, mountain goat

*Sijap broom

Note:   Ting (1978) cites the Puyuma form in the Pinaski, Ulibulibuk, Kasabakan and Katipul dialects, but Tsuchida (1980) does not give it for the Tamalakaw dialect, nor does Cauquelin (2011) give it for Nanwang Puyuma.

*Sikad ashamed; shy

Note:   This form appears to be synonymous with PAn *ma-Siaq ‘shy, ashamed’. So far no way has been found to distinguish these two reconstructions semantically.

*Sina a plant: Erechtites spp.

Note:   According to Merrill (1954:132) this plant is an introduction from the Americas, raising questions about the referent of *Sina. However, several species of Erechtites are known in the central and southern Philippines, where they are designated by native terms unrelated to this reconstruction (Madulid 2001). The comparison cited here was first noted by Li (1994:259), who reconstructed ‘Proto-Formosan’ *sina.

*SipuR to count

Note:   Thao shupilh was also recorded as cupish and lhupish (Blust 2003:350). It is assumed that the Thao form shows metathesis of the vowels, and Paiwan supu shows assimilation of the first vowel to the second. Other than this the correspondences are regular, and there is no compelling reason to believe that this is a loan distribution. PAn *SipuR was replaced in PMP by *ihap.

*SiSiN omen bird: Alcippe spp.

Note:   This intriguing comparison shows that omen birds, which played a role in the cultures of many documented Austronesian-speaking societies, already had a similar function in PAN society (as they did among the classical Romans). The exact referent of this term remains unclear, although it evidently included birds of the genus Alcippe (thrushes), and its cultural significance apparently was to give warning of the possible negative consequences of engaging in some planned activity.

*Suaw yawn

Note:   Also Bunun su-sua ‘to yawn’. Unlike the doublet *Suab, which occurs as an unaffixed base in many languages, to date reflexes of *Suaw have been found only in affixed forms. I have supplied the base form in square brackets to show that the PAn word almost certainly was *Suaw.

*SulSul to masturbate

Note:   For another example of the development of medial geminates in Kavalan from earlier heterorganic consonant clusters in reduplicated monosyllables cf. PAn *tastas > Kavalan tattas ‘rent, ripped’.

*SuReNa snow

Note:   Also Pazeh hahela ‘snow’. Given the origin of the Austronesian languages on Taiwan it is clear that speakers of PAn experienced snow and ice and so had a term to designate these referents. On leaving Taiwan and moving ever further into the tropics and then eastward into the Pacific snow and ice were not encountered again until speakers of Eastern Polynesian languages reached New Zealand and Hawaii many centuries later, at which time new terms had to be innovated.