Anybody studied Malay, or other languages? - Page 2

@Bituingmaykinang From page 187 of A Reference Grammar of Ilocano by Carl Ralph Galvez Rubino

Sorry for the delay. Trying to move houses . As you can see Ilocano has one more focus than Tagalog.

I've found similarities to Tagalog among Malayo-Polynesian languages as far distant as Madagascar - yes, Madagascar. The ancient voyages of the ancestors of these peoples, in simple boats, make Columbus look an amateur.

@akosikoneho @akosikoneho thank you! So the more "northern" rthe language is, the more focus it has. I wonder if Taiwanese languares would have more focus than Philippine languages

@Bituingmaykinang The high number of foci/triggers found in Ilocano and Tagalog are both innovations unique to the Philippines. Formosan languages tend to be more conservative to the original four trigger system. *Tend to be, some may have more or less. When my Chinese gets good enough I'll be able to read more about them. Most literature is in Mandarin.

Thank you for the information.
It's probably possible that many of what we associate with the larger Austronesian culture actually developed in the Philippines. More focus, then there's the strong maritime culture.Taiwan might be the birthplace of the Austronesian cultures, but the Philippines is the "center".

@Bituingmaykinang @akosikoneho Can you two do a deep dive, I would like to know the origins of this crazy "polite particle" system (ho, po, plurals for formal respect). I don't see this in the proto. Salamat ho.

^^My theory (could be wrong) is that it could have been developed as class distinction grew. Not sure if this could be attributed to outside influence (e.g. South Asian/Chinese/Japanese influences)Interestingly, po/ho seems to only exist in Tagalog (as far as major languages are concerned). Other languages don't have po/ho but they also have the plural second and third person to imply politeness.In the northern languages, "apo" is used as a sign of respect/politeness/endearment, Apo diyos, apo presidente, apo senator, sikayo apo (it's you)

@AMBoySeveral western and Asian languages also use the “royal we”. It started out with kings and other royalty referring to themselves in the plural. Cos they’re kings and the equivalent of several mere men, and well, why not lol.en.wikipedia.org/wik i/Royal_we