i   

I:   I don't know

ignore, neglect

Dempwolff compared the Tagalog form with Malagasy vaza ‘disdain, contempt’ and proposed *baya(q) ‘neglect’, but this is best considered a chance resemblance, and the form reconstructed only for Proto-Philippines.

iguana, eel

Bugotu and Arosi point to PSES *papa; the resemblance of Rarotongan aa to these forms is attributed to chance.

included with

increase:   growth, increase

Based on the comparison of these forms plus Ngaju Dayak laba ‘have a result’, and Javanese labah ‘addition, supplement’ (Zusatz), Dempwolff (1938) posited Uraustronesisch *labaq ‘increase, growth’. However, Hardeland (1859) gives Ngaju Dayak laba ‘exceptionally lucky’ (vorzugsweise glücklich), and I am unable to find a similar Javanese form in either Horne (1974) or Pigeaud (1938). Given the collapse of the rest of his comparison and the absence of newer support the relationship between the Tagalog and Toba Batak forms given here is best attributed to chance.

incurable:   disastrous, incurable

Also Fijian dewa ‘to spread abroad, e.g. of a disease that becomes epidemic’. Dempwolff (1938) posited ‘Uraustronesisch’ *tiwas ‘disastrous, incurable’, but despite some marginal plausibility this comparison seems best attributed to chance.

indica:   tree sp.: Erythrina indica

Gedaged baz, Gitua baram 'k.o. tree: Erythrina indica' probably are cognate. The similarity of these to the other forms cited here is attributed to chance.

inflate

insect sp.

intention

intention, purpose

interior

For reasons that remain unclear Dempwolff (1934-38) compared these disparate forms, which he assumed to be connected through the common meaning ‘interior’ (given by him as ‘interior of the land = Northwest’, ‘interior of the house = dwelling’). Entirely apart from the error in the directionality of the Tagalog term this is an uncharacteristically uncontrolled piece of etymological speculation for a scholar who was generally much more cautious.

interjection

interrogative

iron (metal)

Richards (1981:28) compares the Iban form with Malay keris bahari ‘kris with a long, narrow, straight blade’. Other terms that may be related are Thao balis ‘iron (metal)’, and Kavalan baris ‘nail’. However, the Thao word is clearly a loan, probably from Bunun (although our lexicographic resources for the latter are insufficient to determine this with certainty), and the semantically deviant Kavalan form evidently reflects a prototype with medial *l rather than *r or *R (Li and Tsuchida 2006:8). By way of counterbalancing these problems, there is a second comparison (Palawan Batak karát ‘rusty’, Malay karat ‘rust’) which provides independent support for an early knowledge of iron. On balance, this is perhaps best regarded as a chance resemblance, but the number of suggestive forms and the potential value of a comparison with this meaning keeps hope alive. The term *bari is discussed at some length in Blust (1976) and Blust (1999), where it is suggested that it may have referred to meteoric iron.

island

The Label, RALU and perhaps Tanga words are related through direct inheritance from a common proto-form, and the Asilulu and Buruese words are related through borrowing. The similarity between these two sets and between either of them and Fordata vuar appears to be due to chance.