Proto-Austronesian language
| Proto-Austronesian | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reconstruction of | Austronesian |
| Region | Formosa (main island of Taiwan) |
| Era | c. 4000 BCE – c. 3500 BCE |
Reconstructed ancestor | Proto-Austro-Tai (proposed)
|
| Lower-order reconstructions |
|
Proto-Austronesian (commonly abbreviated as PAN or PAn) is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify c. 4000 BCE – c. 3500 BCE in Taiwan.
Lower-level reconstructions have also been made, and include Proto-Malayo-Polynesian, Proto-Oceanic, and Proto-Polynesian. Recently, linguists such as Malcolm Ross and Andrew Pawley have built large lexicons for Proto-Oceanic and Proto-Polynesian.