Home›Austronesian Languages›Language Family (Classification)›Malayo-PolynesianLanguage FamilyMalayo-PolynesianNew Guinea and Pacific Language FamiliesReference and ClassificationVerifiedThe Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers, spoken by Austronesian peoples outside Taiwan across island Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with Malagasy on Madagascar as the furthest western outlier.FactsMalayo-PolynesianConnectionsIn the Other AtlasesSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsRegionWell-attestedIsland nations of Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippine Archipelago) and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number of speakers in continental Asia near the Malay Peninsula, Cambodia, Vietnam and Hainan; Malagasy on Madagascar is the furthest western outlier. 2Speaker CountWell-attested385,500,000 2DisputedProto-Language StatusScholarly debateConsists of many small local clusters; only the Oceanic subgroup is universally accepted as a valid group, with its ancestor Proto-Oceanic fully reconstructed, while every other proposed large subgroup within Malayo-Polynesian remains controversial. 2Browse and compareClassification ConfidenceWell-attestedEstablished 1Reconstructed AncestorWell-attestedReconstructed 2CompareNumber of LanguagesWell-attested1255 1Malayo-PolynesianFilter Results11 entriesRegionAllAfrica (1)Asia (3)Australia (7)Speaker Count BandAll0 to 400,000 (3)16,000,000 to 59,000,000 (3)430,000 to 5,500,000 (3)5,600,000 to 15,000,000 (2)Official StatusAllOfficial Language (5)Recognized Regional or Minority Language (4)StatusAllLiving (11)Script UsedAllBalinese Script (1)Latin Script (10)Language KindAllCritically Endangered (1)Definitely Endangered (1)Safe (9)TonalAllNot Tonal (2)Word OrderAllOther (2)SVO (1)VSO (5)Period Start YearAll801 (1)1401 (1)1521 (1)1601 (1)1663 (1)1801 (2)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 11BalineseMalayo-PolynesianCebuanoMalayo-PolynesianHawaiianMalayo-PolynesianHiligaynonMalayo-PolynesianIlocanoMalayo-PolynesianMalagasyMalayo-PolynesianMaoriMalayo-PolynesianSamoanMalayo-PolynesianSundaneseMalayo-PolynesianTonganMalayo-PolynesianWarayMalayo-PolynesianConnectionsAncestor OfCelebic languages, Language Families Well-attested Celebic is a primary branch of Malayo-Polynesian spoken across most of Sulawesi.Central Malayo-Polynesian languages, Language Families Scholarly debate Why this is disputed. Central Malayo-Polynesian is a proposed branch grouping the Malayo-Polynesian languages of the Lesser Sundas and southern Moluccas; the coherence of the node itself is debated even though its membership in Malayo-Polynesian is not.Central Philippine languages, Language Families Scholarly debate Why this is disputed. Central Philippine is a major branch of the Philippine languages, here linked directly to Malayo-Polynesian; the intermediate Philippine-languages and Greater Central Philippine nodes are not yet represented as their own entities in this atlas, so this row skips a rank rather than inventing the intermediate.Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, Language Families Scholarly debate Why this is disputed. Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian is the traditional grouping uniting Central Malayo-Polynesian with Eastern Malayo-Polynesian; like Central Malayo-Polynesian itself, the node's internal coherence is debated in current Austronesian scholarship even though its membership in Malayo-Polynesian is not.Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages, Language Families Well-attested Eastern Malayo-Polynesian groups the Oceanic and South Halmahera-West New Guinea branches within Malayo-Polynesian, itself the largest branch of Austronesian.Western Malayo-Polynesian languages, Language Families Scholarly debate Why this is disputed. Western Malayo-Polynesian is a widely used geographic cover term for the non-Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages of the Philippines, western Indonesia and mainland Southeast Asia; most current classifications treat it as a geographic convenience rather than a genuine genetic node, so it is recorded here as descending from Malayo-Polynesian with that caveat.Descends FromAustronesian, Language Families Well-attested Malayo-Polynesian is the branch of Austronesian that spread beyond Taiwan across island Southeast Asia, Madagascar and the Pacific.IncludesBalinese, Languages Well-attested Source Balinese language, WikipediaCebuano, Languages Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Cebuano Languagetier 2Hawaiian, Languages Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Hawaiian Languagetier 2Hiligaynon, Languages Well-attested Source Hiligaynon language, WikipediaIlocano, Languages Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Ilocano Languagetier 2Malagasy, Languages Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Malagasy Languagetier 2Maori, Languages Well-attested Source Maori language (Wikipedia)Samoan, Languages Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Samoan Languagetier 2Sundanese, Languages Well-attested Source Wikipedia: Sundanese Languagetier 2Tongan, Languages Well-attested Source Tongan language, WikipediaWaray, Languages Well-attested Source Waray language, WikipediaIn the Other AtlasesIncludesChamorroAlso in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.HawaiianAlso in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.MaoriAlso in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.MerinaAlso in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.Old Javanese (Kawi)Also in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.TagalogAlso in Divinity Atlas: included in this subject.Found InAfricaAlso in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.AsiaAlso in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.Source Wikipedia: Malayo-Polynesian LanguagesLead sentence 2tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 2The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippine Archipelago) and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia in the areas near the Malay Peninsula, with Cambodia, Vietnam and the Chinese island Hainan as the northwest geographic outlier.East AsiaAlso in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.Southeast AsiaAlso in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.Source Wikipedia: Malayo-Polynesian LanguagesLead sentence 2tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 2The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippine Archipelago) and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia in the areas near the Malay Peninsula, with Cambodia, Vietnam and the Chinese island Hainan as the northwest geographic outlier.Sources1. Glottolog: Malayo-Polynesian (languoid record)GlottologLanguoid record: child_language_count"child_language_count": 1255Languoid record: level and category"level": "family", "bookkeeping": false, "category": "Family"View the Source2. Wikipedia: Malayo-Polynesian Languagestier 2Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction, first sentenceThe Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers.Introduction, second sentencein the island nations of Southeast Asia (Indonesia and the Philippine Archipelago) and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia in the areas near the Malay Peninsula, with Cambodia, Vietnam and the Chinese island Hainan as the northwest geographic outlierClassification, Internal classification section, first sentenceMalayo-Polynesian consists of a large number of small local language clusters, with the one exception being Oceanic, the only large group which is universally accepted; its parent language Proto-Oceanic has been reconstructed in all aspects of its structureIntroduction, first sentence, speaker-count clauseapproximately 385.5 million speakersInfobox: protonameProto-Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceWikidata: Malayo-PolynesianWikidata Q143158, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the SourceWikipedia: Hawaiian Languagetier 2Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Hawaiian, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Hawaiian, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceWikipedia: Malagasy Languagetier 2Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Malagasy, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Malagasy, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceWikipedia: Cebuano Languagetier 2Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Cebuano, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Cebuano, Infobox, Language familyMalayo-PolynesianView the SourceWikipedia: Ilocano Languagetier 2Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Ilocano, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Ilocano, Infobox, Language familyMalayo-PolynesianView the SourceWikipedia: Samoan Languagetier 2Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Samoan, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Samoan, Infobox, Language familyMalayo-PolynesianView the SourceWikipedia: Sundanese Languagetier 2Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Sundanese, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Sundanese, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceBalinese language, WikipediaIncludes: Balinese, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Balinese, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceHiligaynon language, WikipediaIncludes: Hiligaynon, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Hiligaynon, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceTongan language, WikipediaIncludes: Tongan, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Tongan, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceWaray language, WikipediaIncludes: Waray, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Waray, Infobox, Language familyMalayo-PolynesianView the SourceMaori language (Wikipedia)Includes: Maori, Infobox: fam2Quote, Includes: Maori, Infobox: fam2Malayo-PolynesianView the SourceComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.