w   

wait for

The forms in western Indonesia apart from Ngaju Dayak tantai are related, although some may be loans from Malay. Tagalog antáy and Ngaju Dayak tantai are assumed to resemble one another and the other forms cited here as a result of chance.

wall:   enclosing wall

want:   say, want to

The resemblance of Buli iwa to the forms in CMP languages probably is due to chance. The CMP forms may be related, but it is not clear that a form found only in Moa, Wetan and Kei must derive from a PCMP etymon.

warm

A late innovation in western Indonesia. Dempwolff's attempt to relate these forms to Sa'a maŋo 'breathe', Tongan ʔaŋoʔaŋo '(of a vessel which has had liquid in it, or the liquid itself) absolutely empty, absolutely dry', Samoan maŋo 'dry, dry up' (< *ma-Raŋaw) is unconvincing.

wash

wash

wash off:   rinse wash off

Apparently a chance resemblance. Dempwolff (1938) posited ‘Uraustronesisch’ *lu[s]aw ‘to rinse off’ (ausspülen).

watch:   to watch

Chance. Dempwolff (1938) posited ‘Uraustronesisch’ *Teŋuk ‘to watch’ (zuschauen), but the Malay form that he cites as təŋuk is given by Wilkinson (1959) as TEŊO, with a non-corresponding mid-front vowel. Even if this comparison could be justified, its extremely limited distribution among languages that are known to have been in an intense borrowing relationship for centuries would render it valueless as evidence for the lexicon of any early Austronesian proto-language.

wave back and forth

wave:   swing, wave

weak, slow

weak

Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed *kemba ‘to be weak’.

weak, fragile

Dempwolff cited these forms in support of Uraustronesisch *lawlaw ‘weak, feeble’ (Schwachsein). However, I find no Tagalog form with the meaning given, or anything close to it in any modern dictionary of the language, and the whole comparison is best treated as a product of chance.

weak:   tender, weak

Malay lemuk, cited by Dempwolff, does not appear in any source I have been able to consult. The remaining part of this comparison is best considered unconnected. Dempwolff (1938) reconstructed Uraustronesisch *lemuk ‘weak’.

weak nerves

Dempwolff compared the Tagalog, Malay and Javanese forms and posited Uraustronesisch *lataq ‘weakness, debility, faintness’ (Schwäche). However, to include Tagalog latáɁ in this comparison seems little short of absurd. So far as we can determine from the evidence, then, this remarkable neurological/mental disorder, for which Java is famous among anthropologists, is a purely local development that may have originated in Java, where the extreme emphasis on courtesy and restraint may well trigger reactions in some individuals who carry an unconscious resentment of the social strictures under which they must live their lives.

wedding

Bimanese βunti and Balinese bunciŋ are assumed to be loans from Makassarese. The similarity of Numfor buk to these forms is attributed to chance.

wedding, to marry

Borrowing from Malay. Wilkinson (1959) suggests that this may ultimately be a loan from Persian.

wedge

weed:   to weed

This comparison, accepted in Blust (1970), is now rejected. The Milke reconstruction confuses POc *fafo 'to weed' with POc *wao 'forest and includes a Motu word, ava, which is unrelated to either etymon. POc *fafo, like Maranao wawaw, derives from PMP *babaw 'to weed (a garden, etc.)'.

well up

welt:   wheal, welt

wet:   soaking wet

wheal, welt

whip

Chance. Buginese babbaʔ derives from *balbal (q.v.).

whirlpool

whistle:   shrill whistle or chirrup

white

white

white

white

white bird

white mark

Dempwolff (1938) used this comparison to posit *saksak ‘white’, but I am unable to find any Tagalog form of this shape and meaning, and all things considered, it is best forgotten.

who

wide:   open wide

wind:   stop, of the wind

wind around

wipe

Chance. Toba Batak buri is assigned to *buRiq 'wash, as the hands'.

with:   take with fingers

with:   and, with

The three Formosan forms almost certainly are cognate, and may point to PAn *Na. However, uncertainty concerning a possible Rukai-Tsouic subgroup, and the unknown history of borrowing between Rukai and Tsouic make such a reconstruction premature. In any case, the similarity of the South Sulawesi words to these is probably best treated as a product of convergence.

woman, female

wooden implement

On the basis of this comparison Dempwolff (1938) posited Uraustronesisch *pa(n)caŋ ‘piece of wood’. The Fijian form does not appear in Capell (1957), and the whole set is best treated for now as a collection of unrelated forms.

worm:   Palolo worm

worm

Chance. Dempwolff (1938) assigned the Tagalog form to *uDay 'worm', but his comparison does not appear to be justified.

worm sp.

worn out

One of Dempwolff's more problematic comparisons, Toba Batak aos appears to be a loanword from Malay, and the similarity of the Tagalog and Malagasy forms purely a matter of chance.

worship, veneration

Dempwolff (1938) used this comparison (minus the Wayan entry) to reconstruct *sambaq (doublet (*sembaq) ‘reverence, adoration’. However, the Tagalog and Malagasy words are clearly borrowings of Malay səmbah ‘obeisance; gesture of worship or homage; speech accompanied by such a gesture’, and the similarity of the Wayan and Fijian forms to these is best attributed to chance.

wound

woven container

wrap

The Hanunoo, Aklanon and Cebuano forms reflect *bejbej, and Palawan Batak búdbud probably is a loan from a Central Philippine reflex of the same form. The similarity of Ifugaw budbúd to these words is attributed to chance.

wrinkle:   fold, wrinkle

Dempwolff (1938) posited *kebut ‘fold together, wrap’, but the resemblance of the Tagalog form to the Fijian and Polynesian words seems is best attributed to chance.