Pacific Studies Journal
Abstract
The linguist Malcolm Ross has advanced a series of inferences pointing to somewhere in the Bismarck Archipelago as the probable "homeland" in the Pacific of the Oceanic or Eastern Austronesian languages. This conclusion is not the only one that can be reached based on current linguistic evidence and inference. Reviewing why he has singled out the Bismarck Archipelago as the homeland is advisable, for Ross's deductions have been seen as substantial support for associating proto-Oceanic with what some archaeologists have characterized as the "Lapita cultural complex." We find, however, that social-network models based on alternative assumptions about linguistic variation and the impact of strong and weak ties between language communities lead to more plausible inferences about linguistic diversity in Melanesia, the convergent effects of geography, and the patterning of language history.
Recommended Citation
Terrell, John Edward; Hunt, Terry L.; and Bradshaw, Joel
(2002)
"ON THE LOCATION OF THE PROTO-OCEANIC HOMELAND,"
Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 25:
No.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol25/iss2/4
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