Ten years of synchronic Austronesian linguistics (1991–2002)

This paper presents a summary of developments in Austronesian linguistics during the period 1991–2002. The aim is to introduce a general linguistic public to the synchronic study of Austronesian languages. General typological characteristics and interesting features of Austronesian phonology, lexicons, morphology and syntax are discussed, followed by a summary of how these characteristics, or issues related to them, have featured in recent theoretical debates. The paper also summarises work on Austronesian sociolinguistics, speech levels, language shift and mixed languages.