r/AustronesianLanguages

The Proto-Austronesian word for "man" is *ma-RuqaNay. We can find some descendants in some languages of Taiwan and in the eastern side of the Malayo-Polynesian speaking zone. Oddly, this word was lost in most western Malayo-Polynesian languages, replaced by a new word, *la-laki, as in Malagasy lehilahy, Chamorro låhi, Malay lelaki, or Tagalog lalaki.

How do you say "man" and "male" in your language?

Unlike the word for "man", the word for "woman" was pretty much conserved in many Austronesian languages in various forms. Most of them descend from the Proto-Austronesian root *bahi, modified by some affixes.

How do you say "woman" and "female" in your language?