h   

hack off

Apart from Iban these forms are probably borrowed from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) assigned Malagasy tévi ‘to be cut at the roots, as a tree’ to *teba ‘cultivated land’ (Fruchtland), but Malagasy tevásina ‘to be cut at the roots, as a tree’ to *teba ‘to hack off, fell’ (abhauen, fällen), even though the latter is simply the patient voice form of the former, both being assigned to tévi in standard lexicographic sources such as Richardson (1885).

hairy:   tree with edible hairy brown fruit: Diospyros discolor

Evidently a commercial name in the Philippines reflecting *ma- ‘stative’ + *bulu ‘hairy’. For what is presumably the original name cf, *kamaguŋ.

hammer

Probably a Malay loan distribution.

hammock

Borrowing, ultimately from a tropical American source through Spanish.

hand over

Chance or borrowing. On the basis of these two forms Dempwolff (1934-38) reconstructed *uzuk 'hand over, present to'.

handcuffs

From Spanish esposas ‘handcuffs’.

handle of a tool

Dempwolff (1938) posited *saŋkal ‘handle of a tool’, but this form appears to be confied to Malay and a few languages of western Indonesia that have borrowed from Malay.

handshake

Borrowing of Spanish la mano ‘the hand’.

handsome

A late innovation in western Indonesia, borrowed by Rembong from Malay.

hanging curtain

Borrowing from Malay? Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed Uraustronesisch *laŋsay ‘curtain’ (Vorhang). Wilkinson (1959) lists no such form for Malay.

happen, become

Borrowing from Malay. Other Malay loans that contain j- were also borrowed with y- in Philippine languages, as Malay jati, Cebuano yati ‘teak’, or Malay juta ‘million’, Tagalog yútaɁ, saŋ-yútaɁ ‘one hundred thousand’. Since the Malay word itself in the latter comparison is a borrowing of Sanskrit ayuta ‘ten thousand’, it is possible that the Sanskrit form was borrowed directly into Philippine languages rather than through the medium of Malay, but historical records suggest otherwise. If we side with the historical records, and assume that Sanskrit loans in Philipppine languages were invariably mediated through Malay, we must conclude that this word underwent a first loanword adaptation in which /y/ was replaced by /j/, and then a second loanword adaptation in which this change was reversed. The phonological adaptation of jadi, which appears to be a native Malay word, supports this interpretation.

happy

Borrowing from Tagalog.

harbor:   estuary, harbor

Borrowing from Malay. The much more widely-distributed reflexes of PMP *minaŋa ‘estuary’ render the claims of this term for the same meaning unconvincing.

harden metal

Borrowing, probably by Malay from Javanese, with subsequent spread of the Malay form into other languages.

harrow, plough

Probably a loan distribution. The Madurese form is very likely borrowed from Buginese or Makassarese, but under this hypothesis the Toba Batak form is unexplained.

harrow

The Ayta Abellen word is assumed to be a Tagalog loan, since the use of harrows in Philippine cultures probably does not predate the arrival of the Spanish. It is possible, however, that this word was found in Proto-Philippines with a different meaning (as ‘fine-toothed comb’).

hat

Probably a loan, although the direction of transfer is unclear.

hate

Borrowing from Malay.

having radical mood swings:   moody, having radical mood swings

head covering

Dempwolff (1938) proposed *suŋkuk ‘head covering’, but cited Malagasy as having súŋu, a form that is phonologically impossible, and at odds with súŋu ‘long hair on any part of the head’ in e.g. Richardson (1885). The remaining forms appear to be loans from Malay.

head covering, kerchief, headcloth

Borrowing from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed *kuluk ‘head covering’.

head side of a coin

From Spanish cara ‘face; front; head (of coin)’.

head covering, kerchief, headcloth

Borrowing from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed *kuluk ‘head covering’.

heavy:   cane cord used for heavy binding

Probably a loanword from Malay, although the unreducted medial clusters in Batak languages are problematic under this interpretation.

heir, inheritance

Borrowing, ultimately from Arabic.

hernia

Borrowing from Malay, except for Dairi-Pakpak Batak burut-en, which is best attributed to chance.

high

Borrowing from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed ‘Uraustronesisch’ *tiŋgi ‘be high’ (hochsein).

hips

Borrowing from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) posited Uraustronesisch *puŋguŋ ‘hips’ (Hüften).

hit:   collide, hit, strike

The Philippine forms are unrelated to those in western Indonesia. Of the latter only Bidayuh (Bukar-Sadong) and Malay, or Malay and the Batak languages permit a comparison, and this cannot safely be attributed to PWMP.

hit, ram into

Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed Uraustronesisch *lantak ‘to hit, ram into’. However, the Tagalog and Sa'a forms cannot convincingly be related to the others cited here, and the others could easily be a product of borrowing from Malay.

hoarse, husky (of the voice)

Also Bikol páɁas ‘hoarse’. Probably a BISA loan in Agutaynen.

hoe:   pickaxe, mattock, hoe

Borrowing of Spanish pico ‘pickaxe’.

hoe, mattock

Borrowing from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) posited Uraustronesisch *paŋku(rR) ‘hoe’.

hold tightly:   grip, hold tightly

Borrowing from Malay. Based on this comparison Dempwolff (1938) proposed Uraustronesisch *pegaŋ ‘hold tightly’ (Festhalten). This comparison has now been replaced by PWMP *pegeŋ ‘hold firmly, concentrate’.

hole in road:   pothole, hole in road

Since this word can only apply to situations in which wheeled vehicles are used, it is assumed to be a late innovation that was spread by contact.

holy sacred

Borrowing from Tagalog.

honey

Borrowing from Malay, ultimately from Sanskrit madhu ‘honey’.

honeybee

Borrowing from Malay. Based on this comparison Dempwolff (1938) proposed Uraustronesisch *lebaq ‘bee’.

hook

This is a borrowing of Spanish/Portuguese gancho ‘hook’. Although native words exist for ‘hook’ (PAn *kawit) and ‘fishhook’ (PAn *kawil), this word presumably was borrowed because it applied to boathooks with which the native peoples of island Southeast Asia and the Pacific were unfamiliar at the time of contact. It is assumed that the source language in the Philippines and Marianas was Spanish, while in the Malay world it was Portuguese. I am indebted to Richard Spahr for drawing my attention to the history of this form.

hope

Borrowing, ultimately from Sanskrit.

horn

Borrowing of Spanish bocina ‘horn (musical)’.

horn

Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed ‘Urasustronesisch’ *tanduk ‘horn’, but given its known distribution it is better regarded as a Greater North Borneo innovation, and hence came into being after the Austronesian settlement of Borneo. The forms in Philippine languages, Sumatra, Java and Bali are best treated as Malay loans, and Lobel (2016) similarly considers all forms of tanduk in Sabah as borrowings from Malay.

horse

Borrowing, ultimately from Javanese. As noted by Dempwolff (1934-38), this item evidently = ajar 'teach, learn' + -an.

house:   ceiling of a house

Almost certainly a borrowing of Mexican Spanish zaquisamé 'loft, upper floor', which itself may have originated in Arabic saqf fi [as]samā’ ‘roof in the sky’, with the meaning in Spanish of ‘attic’ or ‘a small room, not very clean, and disorderly’. I am much indebted to Lyle Campbell for running this down for me over a period of two days, during which time the source became increasingly clearer as more information was collected.

humble oneself:   submit, humble oneself

Borrowing from Malay. Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed ‘Uraustronesisch’ *tunduk ‘submit, humble oneself’ (sich beugen).

hunched over

Borrowed into Kapampangan from Tagalog. This form probably reflects earlier **balutkut, with root *-kut 'hunched over, bent'.

hunt

Also Sa'a huru-huru, Arosi huru, huru-huru ‘to run’, which appears to be a chance resemblance. PAn *qaNup, PMP *qanup meant ‘to hunt for game’, and the forms cited here either are products of borrowing from Malay, or reflect an innovation in Greater North Borneo with subsequent extension of the distribution as a result of borrowing from Malay.

husky (of the voice):   hoarse, husky (of the voice)

Also Bikol páɁas ‘hoarse’. Probably a BISA loan in Agutaynen.

hut, shack

The presence of mid-back vowels in all these forms points to borrowing from Malay.