Oceanic languages

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Oceanic
Geographic distribution:	Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia
Genetic classification:	Austronesian  Malayo-Polynesian (MP)   Nuclear MP    Central-Eastern MP     Eastern MP      Oceanic
Subdivisions:	St Matthias Yapese Admiralties Family Western Oceanic Linkage Central-Eastern Oceanic

The Oceanic languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, containing approximately 450 languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia.

Despite covering such a vast area, Oceanic languages are spoken by less than two million people. The largest individual Oceanic languages are Samoan and Eastern Fijian, with over 300,000 speakers. Kiribati (Gilbertese), Tongan, and perhaps Kuanua (Tolai) have 100,000 speakers apiece.

[edit] Classification

• St Matthias
• Yapese (possibly an Admiralty Islands language)
• Admiralties
  • Western Admiralties
  • Eastern Admiralties
• Western Oceanic linkage (languages of the north coast of New Guinea, from Jayapura to the Solomon Islands)
  • Sarmi-Jayapura Bay
  • North New Guinea cluster
  • Papuan Tip cluster
  • Meso-Melanesian cluster (languages of the Bismarck Archipelago and Solomon Islands)
• Central-Eastern Oceanic (languages of the open Pacific)
  • Southeast Solomons
  • Utupua-Vanikoro (may be two branches, Utupua and Vanikoro)
  • Southern Oceanic linkage (languages of New Caledonia and Vanuatu)
  • Central Pacific linkage (Polynesian and the languages of Fiji)
  • Micronesian

[edit] References

Lynch, John, Malcolm Ross & Terry Crowley. (2002). The Oceanic languages. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press.