R: Polynesian family (was Re: A new Indo-European subfamily in China)

E-Ching wrote:

> >How about Malay/Indonesian? They are non-tonal. Or are they regarded as a
> >different language family?
>
> I think they're classed as Austronesian.  The Polynesians were expanding
across the Pacific at around 700AD, I think, at about the same time as the
Vikings were on the seas, and they scattered their language family all the
way from Hawaii to Indonesia.  Don't know why it's called AUSTROnesian, come
to think of it ... problem set and dinner calling, no time to look it up.
>
(?)austros in Greek should mean 'southern', (?)nesos 'island'.

Luca

> Before I go - I know that Japanese and Malay both have a question-marker
"ka", though in Malay I think it can go anywhere in the sentence and in
Japanese it has to be at the end.  I wonder if anyone's looked at Malay when
trying to trace the origins of Japanese?
>
> E-Ching
>