This grant will support the writing of a detailed phonological and lexical reconstruction of the Chamic languages of mainland Southeast Asia. In addition to the reconstructions, the basic paths of development from Proto-Chamic (= PC) to the modern languages will be laid out in detail. The justification for the project lies in the contributions such a reconstruction will make to our understanding of several areas of interest (a) the history of the Austronesian language family, (b) the history of the Chamic languages, (c) the paths of development involved in radical restructuring of phonological systems, and (d) the effects of contact on the directionality of language change.
