Sula–Buru languages

The Sula–Buru languages are a group of Austronesian languages (geographically Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages) spoken on the Buru and Sula Islands in the eastern Moluccas. Buru itself has almost forty thousand speakers, and Sula about twenty thousand.

Classification

The languages are

• Buru: Buru, Lisela, Palumata (extinct), Moksela (extinct)
• Sula
  • Sula proper: Sula, Mangole
  • Taliabo (Kadai, Padang/Samala, Mananga, Mangei/Soboyo)

A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database^[1] found that the Sula and Buru languages form a unit at a 90% confidence level, but are only supported as part of the Central Maluku languages with 54% confidence.

References