Malayo-Sumbawan languages
The Malayo-Sumbawan languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages that unites the Malayic and Chamic languages with the languages of Java and the western Lesser Sunda Islands, except for Javanese (Adelaar 2005).[1][2] If valid, it would be the largest demonstrated family of Malayo-Polynesian outside Oceanic. The Malayo-Sumbawan subgroup is however not universally accepted, and is rejected e.g. by Blust (2010) and Smith (2017), who supported the Greater North Borneo and Western Indonesian hypotheses.[3][4] In a 2019 paper published in Oceanic Linguistics, Adelaar accepted both of these groupings, in addition to Smith's (2018) redefinition of Barito languages as forming a linkage.[5][6]
| Malayo-Sumbawan | |
|---|---|
| (controversial) | |
| Geographic distribution | Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Vietnam, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Malayo-Sumbawan |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | mala1536 |
 The Malayo-Sumbawan languages The languages in Cambodia, Vietnam, Hainan, and the northern tip of Sumatra are Chamic languages (purple). The Ibanic languages (orange) are found mostly inland in western Borneo, perhaps the homeland of the Malayic peoples, and across Sarawak. The Malayan languages (dark red) range from central Sumatra, across Malaya, and throughout coastal Kalimantan. Sundanese (pink), Madurese (ocher), and the Bali–Sasak languages (green) are found in and around Java. | |
Classification
According to Adelaar (2005), the composition of the family is as follows:[1]
- Malayo-Sumbawan
- Sundanese (1 or 2 languages of western Java; incl. Baduy)
- Madurese (2 languages of eastern Java and Madura Island, including Kangean)
- Malayo-Chamic–BSS
- Chamic (a dozen languages, including Acehnese in Aceh of Indonesia, and Cham in South Vietnam, Cambodia and Hainan island of China)
- Malayic (a dozen languages dispersed from either western Borneo or central Sumatra, including Malay (Malaysian/Indonesian), Minangkabau in central Sumatra, and Iban of western Borneo)
- Bali–Sasak–Sumbawa (3 languages)
Javanese is specifically excluded; the connections between Javanese and Bali–Sasak are mainly restricted to the 'high' register, and disappear when the 'low' register is taken as representative of the languages. This is similar to the case of English, where more 'refined' vocabulary suggests a connection with French, but basic language demonstrates its closer relationship to Germanic languages such as German and Dutch. Moken is also excluded.
Sundanese appears to share sound changes specifically with Lampung, but Lampung does not fit into Adelaar's Malayo-Sumbawan.[7]
References
- Adelaar, Alexander. 2005. Malayo-Sumbawan. Oceanic Linguistics, Vol. 44, No. 2 (Dec., 2005), pp. 357-388.
- K. Alexander Adelaar and Nikolaus Himmelmann, The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar. Routledge, 2005
- Blust, Robert (2010). "The Greater North Borneo Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press. 49 (1): 44–118. doi:10.1353/ol.0.0060. JSTOR 40783586. S2CID 145459318.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Smith, Alexander D. (December 2017). "The Western Malayo-Polynesian Problem". Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press. 56 (2): 435–490. doi:10.1353/ol.2017.0021. S2CID 149377092.
- Smith, Alexander D. (2018). "The Barito Linkage Hypothesis, with a Note on the Position of Basap". Journal of Southeast Asian Linguistic Society. 11 (1). hdl:10524/52418.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Adelaar, Alexander (2019). "Dual *kita in the History of East Barito Languages". Oceanic Linguistics. University of Hawai'i Press. 58 (2): 414–425. doi:10.1353/ol.2019.0014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- Karl Andebeck, 2006. 'An initial reconstruction of Proto-Lampungic'
- Gil, David (2012). "The Mekong-Mamberamo Linguistic Area".