Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study

The purpose of this research is to analyze the inheritance of vowels in the Karo language or Bahasa Karo (hereafter, BK) from Proto-Austronesian (PAN), and BK words that show the retention or inheritance of certain vowels, such as /a/, /i/, /u/, and /ə/. The method involved comparing the phonologica...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Dardanila Dardanila, Erik D Siregar, Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay, Shaumiwaty Shaumiwaty
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universitas Syiah Kuala 2025-05-01
Series:Studies in English Language and Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://jurnal.usk.ac.id/SiELE/article/view/43730
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849687547665448960
author Dardanila Dardanila
Erik D Siregar
Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay
Shaumiwaty Shaumiwaty
author_facet Dardanila Dardanila
Erik D Siregar
Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay
Shaumiwaty Shaumiwaty
author_sort Dardanila Dardanila
collection DOAJ
description The purpose of this research is to analyze the inheritance of vowels in the Karo language or Bahasa Karo (hereafter, BK) from Proto-Austronesian (PAN), and BK words that show the retention or inheritance of certain vowels, such as /a/, /i/, /u/, and /ə/. The method involved comparing the phonological elements of BK with the equivalent elements in PAN by using the theory of comparative historical linguistics, including searching for inherited vowels in the penultimate and ultimate positions and observing the retention patterns that occur. The data were derived from 200 Swadesh words and three interviewers. Vocal retention occurs more frequently in the penultimate position than in the ultimate position. This shows how phonological positions affect vowel stability during language transition. These findings conclude that certain phonological components, particularly vowels, have a greater tendency to persist in specific environments. BK has preserved a significant portion of the original PAN vowel inventory, exhibiting less vowel reduction and merger compared to adjacent languages. The retention of vowels in BK indicates a phonological conservatism relative to the more dynamic vowel alterations observed in other Austronesian branches. This study also found a close relationship between PAN and BK in the inheritance of phonological elements of linear vocal of /a/,/i/,/u/,/e/, and one nonlinear vowel sound of /o/. Another important result is the transfer of the vowel /u/ from PAN to BK in the ultimate position shows a pattern of retention or direct inheritance.
format Article
id doaj-art-c08d851db0894eeb9da454ab1ff247cd
institution DOAJ
issn 2355-2794
2461-0275
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Universitas Syiah Kuala
record_format Article
series Studies in English Language and Education
spelling doaj-art-c08d851db0894eeb9da454ab1ff247cd2025-08-20T03:22:18ZengUniversitas Syiah KualaStudies in English Language and Education2355-27942461-02752025-05-011221082109810.24815/siele.v12i2.4373020653Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics studyDardanila Dardanila0Erik D Siregar1Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay2Shaumiwaty Shaumiwaty3Universitas Sumatera UtaraUniversitas Sumatera UtaraUniversitas Islam Negeri Sumatera UtaraInstitut Agama Islam Negeri TakengonThe purpose of this research is to analyze the inheritance of vowels in the Karo language or Bahasa Karo (hereafter, BK) from Proto-Austronesian (PAN), and BK words that show the retention or inheritance of certain vowels, such as /a/, /i/, /u/, and /ə/. The method involved comparing the phonological elements of BK with the equivalent elements in PAN by using the theory of comparative historical linguistics, including searching for inherited vowels in the penultimate and ultimate positions and observing the retention patterns that occur. The data were derived from 200 Swadesh words and three interviewers. Vocal retention occurs more frequently in the penultimate position than in the ultimate position. This shows how phonological positions affect vowel stability during language transition. These findings conclude that certain phonological components, particularly vowels, have a greater tendency to persist in specific environments. BK has preserved a significant portion of the original PAN vowel inventory, exhibiting less vowel reduction and merger compared to adjacent languages. The retention of vowels in BK indicates a phonological conservatism relative to the more dynamic vowel alterations observed in other Austronesian branches. This study also found a close relationship between PAN and BK in the inheritance of phonological elements of linear vocal of /a/,/i/,/u/,/e/, and one nonlinear vowel sound of /o/. Another important result is the transfer of the vowel /u/ from PAN to BK in the ultimate position shows a pattern of retention or direct inheritance.https://jurnal.usk.ac.id/SiELE/article/view/43730comparative historical linguisticskaro languageproto-austronesian languagevowel retention
spellingShingle Dardanila Dardanila
Erik D Siregar
Sholihatul Hamidah Daulay
Shaumiwaty Shaumiwaty
Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study
Studies in English Language and Education
comparative historical linguistics
karo language
proto-austronesian language
vowel retention
title Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study
title_full Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study
title_fullStr Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study
title_full_unstemmed Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study
title_short Retention of Proto-Austronesian vowels in the Karo language: A comparative historical linguistics study
title_sort retention of proto austronesian vowels in the karo language a comparative historical linguistics study
topic comparative historical linguistics
karo language
proto-austronesian language
vowel retention
url https://jurnal.usk.ac.id/SiELE/article/view/43730
work_keys_str_mv AT dardaniladardanila retentionofprotoaustronesianvowelsinthekarolanguageacomparativehistoricallinguisticsstudy
AT erikdsiregar retentionofprotoaustronesianvowelsinthekarolanguageacomparativehistoricallinguisticsstudy
AT sholihatulhamidahdaulay retentionofprotoaustronesianvowelsinthekarolanguageacomparativehistoricallinguisticsstudy
AT shaumiwatyshaumiwaty retentionofprotoaustronesianvowelsinthekarolanguageacomparativehistoricallinguisticsstudy