Editing Austronesian languages (section)

==Typological characteristics==
===Phonology===
The Austronesian languages overall possess [[phoneme]] inventories which are smaller than the world average. Around 90% of the Austronesian languages have inventories of 19–25 sounds (15–20 consonants and 4–5 vowels), thus lying at the lower end of the global typical range of 20–37 sounds. However, extreme inventories are also found, such as [[Nemi language|Nemi]] ([[New Caledonia]]) with 43 consonants.{{sfnp|Blust|2013|p=169}}

The canonical root type in [[Proto-Austronesian language|Proto-Austronesian]] is disyllabic with the shape CV(C)CVC (C = consonant; V = vowel), and is still found in many Austronesian languages.{{sfnp|Blust|2013|p=212}} In most languages, consonant clusters are only allowed in medial position, and often, there are restrictions for the first element of the cluster.{{sfnp|Blust|2013|pp=215–218}} There is a common [[Drift (linguistics)|drift]] to reduce the number of consonants which can appear in final position, e.g. [[Buginese language|Buginese]], which only allows the two consonants /ŋ/ and /ʔ/ as finals, out of a total number of 18 consonants. Complete absence of final consonants is observed e.g. in [[Nias language|Nias]], [[Malagasy language|Malagasy]] and many [[Oceanic languages]].{{sfnp|Blust|2013|pp=220–222}}

[[Tone (linguistics)|Tonal contrasts]] are rare in Austronesian languages,{{sfnp|Crowley|2009|p=100}} although [[Moklenic languages|Moken–Moklen]] and a few languages of the [[Chamic languages|Chamic]], [[South Halmahera–West New Guinea languages|South Halmahera–West New Guinea]] and [[New Caledonian languages|New Caledonian]] subgroups do show lexical tone.{{sfnp|Blust|2013|pp=188–189, 200, 206}}

===Morphology===
Most Austronesian languages are [[Agglutination|agglutinative languages]] with a relatively high number of [[affix]]es, and clear morpheme boundaries.{{sfnp|Blust|2013|p=355}} Most affixes are [[prefix]]es ([[Malay language|Malay]] ''ber-jalan'' 'walk' < ''jalan'' 'road'), with a smaller number of [[suffix]]es ([[Tagalog language|Tagalog]] ''titis-án'' 'ashtray' < ''títis'' 'ash') and [[infix]]es ([[Roviana language|Roviana]] ''t<in>avete'' 'work (noun)' < ''tavete'' 'work (verb)').{{sfnp|Blust|2013|pp=370–399}}

[[Reduplication]] is commonly employed in Austronesian languages. This includes full reduplication ([[Malay language|Malay]] ''anak-anak'' 'children' < ''anak'' 'child'; [[Karo Batak language|Karo Batak]] ''nipe-nipe'' 'caterpillar' < ''nipe'' 'snake') or partial reduplication ([[Central Cagayan Agta language|Agta]] ''taktakki'' 'legs' < ''takki'' 'leg', ''at-atu'' 'puppy' < ''atu'' 'dog').{{sfnp|Blust|2013|pp=406–431}}

===Syntax===
[[File:Hawaii Banknote 5 Dollars c 1839.jpg|thumb|A 5 dollar banknote, Hawaii, {{Circa|1839}}, using the [[Hawaiian language]]]]
It is difficult to make generalizations about the languages that make up a family as diverse as Austronesian. Very broadly, one can divide the Austronesian languages into three groups: Philippine-type languages, Indonesian-type languages and post-Indonesian type languages:{{sfnp|Ross|2002|p=453}}
* The first group includes, besides the languages of the [[Philippines]], the Austronesian languages of Taiwan, Sabah, North Sulawesi and Madagascar. It is primarily characterized by the retention of the original system of [[Austronesian alignment|Philippine-type voice alternations]], where typically three or four verb voices determine which [[thematic relation|semantic role]] the "subject"/"topic" expresses (it may express either the actor, the patient, the location and the beneficiary, or various other circumstantial roles such as instrument and concomitant). The phenomenon has frequently been referred to as ''focus'' (not to be confused with the [[focus (linguistics)|usual sense]] of that term in linguistics). Furthermore, the choice of voice is influenced by the [[definiteness]] of the participants. The word order has a strong tendency to be verb-initial.
* In contrast, the more innovative Indonesian-type languages, which are particularly represented in Malaysia and western Indonesia, have reduced the voice system to a contrast between only two voices (actor voice and "undergoer" voice), but these are supplemented by [[applicative voice|applicative]] morphological devices (originally two: the more direct *''-i'' and more oblique *''-an/-[a]kən''), which serve to modify the semantic role of the "undergoer". They are also characterized by the presence of preposed clitic pronouns. Unlike the Philippine type, these languages mostly tend towards verb-second word-orders. A number of languages, such as the [[Batak languages]], [[Old Javanese]], [[Balinese language|Balinese]], [[Sasak language|Sasak]] and several Sulawesi languages seem to represent an intermediate stage between these two types.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Adelaar|first1=K. Alexander|first2=Nikolaus|last2=Himmelmann|year=2005|title=The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar|pages=6–7|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415681537}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Croft|first=William|year=2012|title=Verbs: Aspect and Causal Structure|page=261|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199248599}}</ref>
* Finally, in some languages, which Ross calls "post-Indonesian", the original voice system has broken down completely and the voice-marking affixes no longer preserve their functions.