Oceanic languages 1769400 214627331 2008-05-24T13:46:42Z Dragunova 145714 +id iw {{Infobox Language family |name=Oceanic |region=[[Melanesia]], [[Micronesia]], [[Polynesia]] |familycolor=Austronesian |fam2=[[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]] (MP) |fam3=[[Nuclear Malayo-Polynesian languages|Nuclear MP]] |fam4=[[Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages|Central-Eastern MP]] |fam5=[[Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages|Eastern MP]] |child1=[[St. Matthias languages|St Matthias]] |child2=[[Yapese language|Yapese]] |child3=[[Admiralty Island languages|Admiralties Family]] |child4=[[Western Oceanic languages|Western Oceanic Linkage]] |child5=[[Central-Eastern Oceanic languages|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 language|Samoan]] and [[Fijian language|Eastern Fijian]], with over 300,000 speakers. [[Gilbertese|Kiribati]] (Gilbertese), [[Tongan language|Tongan]], and perhaps [[Kuanua language|Kuanua]] (Tolai) have 100,000 speakers apiece. The [[protolanguage|common ancestor]] which is reconstructed for this group of languages is called '''[[Proto Oceanic]]''' (abbr. ''POc''). ==Classification== *[[St. Matthias languages|St Matthias]] *''[[Yapese language|Yapese]]'' <ref>Yapese may in fact be an [[Admiralty Island languages|Admiralty Islands]] language.</ref> *[[Admiralty Island languages|Admiralties]] **[[Western Admiralty Island languages|Western Admiralties]] **[[Eastern Admiralty Island languages|Eastern Admiralties]] *[[Western Oceanic languages|Western Oceanic linkage]] (languages of the north coast of New Guinea, from [[Jayapura]] to the [[Solomon Islands]]) **[[Sarmi-Jayapura Bay languages|Sarmi-Jayapura Bay]] **[[North New Guinea languages|North New Guinea cluster]] **[[Papuan Tip languages|Papuan Tip cluster]] **[[Meso-Melanesian languages|Meso-Melanesian cluster]] (languages of the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] and [[Solomon Islands]]) *[[Temotu languages|Temotu]] <ref>This subgroup was identified by Ross and Næss (2007). Note that its internal structure is still tentative.</ref> **[[Reef Islands-Santa Cruz languages|Reef Islands-Santa Cruz]] <ref>These were previously argued to be [[Papuan languages|Papuan]] (that is, non-[[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]]) languages.</ref> **[[Utupua-Vanikoro languages|Utupua-Vanikoro]] <ref>This group may in fact be two branches, [[Utupua languages|Utupua]] and [[Vanikoro languages|Vanikoro]]; Utupua-Vanikoro was previously classified with [[Central-Eastern Oceanic languages|Central-Eastern Oceanic]].</ref> *[[Central-Eastern Oceanic languages|Central-Eastern Oceanic]] (languages of the open [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]) **[[Southeast Solomonic languages|Southeast Solomons]] **[[Southern Oceanic languages|Southern Oceanic linkage]] (languages of [[New Caledonia]] and [[Vanuatu]]) **[[Central Pacific languages|Central Pacific linkage]] ([[Polynesian languages|Polynesian]] and the languages of [[Fiji]]) **[[Micronesian languages|Micronesian]] ==Notes== {{Reflist}} == References == {{Refbegin}} *{{cite book | last = Lynch | first = John | authorlink = John Lynch (linguist) | coauthors = [[Malcolm Ross]]; [[Terry Crowley (linguist)|Terry Crowley]] | year = 2002 | title = The Oceanic languages | location = Richmond, Surrey | publisher = Curzon | isbn = 9780700711284 | oclc = 48929366 }} *{{cite journal | author= [[Malcolm Ross|Ross, Malcolm]] and Åshild Næss | title= An Oceanic Origin for Äiwoo, the Language of the Reef Islands? | journal= Oceanic Linguistics | year= 2007 | volume= 46 | pages= 456–498 }} {{Refend}} [[Category:Oceanic languages| ]] [[Category:Languages of Oceania]] [[de:Ozeanische Sprachen]] [[es:Lenguas oceánicas]] [[fr:Langues océaniennes]] [[id:Bahasa Oseania]] [[oc:Lengas oceanianas]] [[pl:Języki oceaniczne]] [[pt:Línguas oceânicas]] [[ru:Океанийские языки]] [[fi:Oseanialaiset kielet]]