Melanesian languages
In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the
- Formosan languages (Northern)
- Western Malayo-Polynesian
- Eastern Malayo-Polynesian
- Melanesian languages (including Fijian)
- Micronesian languages
- Polynesian languages
- Melanesian languages (including
Phylogenetic affiliations
It is now known that the Melanesian languages do not form a genealogical node: they are at best
In terms of phylogenetic affiliation, “Melanesian languages” thus refer to a heterogenous set of
- some Austronesian languages, more precisely:
- the South Halmahera–West New Guinea branch of CEMP.
- several branches of the St Matthias; Western Oceanic; Temotu; Southeast Solomons; Southern Oceanic; plus, the languages of Fiji, i.e. all the Central Pacific languages except Polynesian.
- all non-Austronesian languages of the region, i.e. Papuan languages (themselves a heterogenous set)
Languages of Melanesia
Most of the languages of Melanesia are members of the Austronesian language family or one of the many Papuan families. By one count, there are 1,319 languages in Melanesia, scattered across a small amount of land. The proportion of 716 sq. kilometers per language is by far the most dense rate of languages in relation to land mass in the earth, almost three times as dense as in Nigeria, a country famous for its high number of languages in a compact area.[4]
In addition to this large number of indigenous languages, there are also a number of pidgins and creoles. Most notable among these are Indonesian, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama, and Papuan Malay.
References
- ^ Merritt Ruhlen, 1991, A Guide to the World's Languages, p 165
- ^ As for example in The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (eds. Bellwood, Fox, & Tryon, 1995)
- ^ Mark Donohue, 2007. The Papuan language of Tambora. Oceanic Linguistics 46(2):520–537.
- ^ M. Lynn Landweer and Peter Unseth. 2012. An introduction to language use in Melanesia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language 214:1-3.