Semantic Shifts feat. Malay & Tagalog

Semantic Shift: Words from a common origin change meaning. This deals with native vocabulary and loanwords that come from the same word. The phenomenon does not expand to false friends: Words that look similar or identical, but have separate origins. A pair of words for an example:

Sanskrit सुख (sukha) "Joy" -> Mal: Suka "To Like (sometimes Love)" ; Proto-Philippine *suka "To Vomit" -> Tag: Suka

Despite Malay and Tagalog both being Austronesian languages, much of their vocabulary stocks are from different origins. Some cognates are still recognizable between both languages:

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *taŋgal "Unfastened, Detached" -> Mal: Tanggal "To Fall/Take Off, Detach" ; Tag: Tanggal "Removed, Disconnected" : Derived from this word

Mal: Penanggalan (circumfix peng- -an) ; Tag: Manananggal (prefix man- + -CV-), both words for a type of folklore creature

With the words that are cognate, many of them have undergone semantic shifts over centuries of evolving from Proto-Austronesian. We'll look at some examples of these words.

Proto-Austronesian *(na-)nu "What" -> Mal: Anu "Unknown (for Math, forgetting/not mentioning someone)" ; Tag: Ano "What"

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *təʀas "Heartwood, Ironwood" -> Mal: Teras "Heart, Core, Essence" ; Tag: Tigas "Hardness, Strong, Tough"

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *balakaŋ "Hips" -> Mal: Belakang "Backside, Behind Unknown" ; Tag: Balakang "Hips, Pelvis"

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *susu "Boob" -> Mal: Susu "Milk" ; Tag: Suso "Boob, Nipple"

If you want to see more comparisons between Malay and Tagalog, check out the dedicated video.