The West Bird's Head languages are a small, poorly documented family of Papuan languages spoken on the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea, at its western end and on the eastern part of Salawati island in Indonesia's West Papua province. The family comprises six languages and is tentatively classified within the broader West Papuan languages, forming a West-Central Bird's Head subfamily alongside related groups.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusNo published reconstruction of a proto-West Bird's Head language was found; the six-language family's own internal unity is treated as well established, but its proposed external link to the North Halmahera languages of North Maluku is disputed. 1 Called a clear relationship by Reesink (1998), but the lexical evidence supporting a North Halmahera link is termed flimsy and inconclusive by Holton and Klamer (2018). RegionWestern end of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea and the eastern part of Salawati island, West Papua province, Indonesia. 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Africa, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Asia, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: West Bird's Head languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, second paragraph
spoken at the western end of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea and the eastern part of the island of Salawati opposite the Bird's Head's western shore
Languages section, external relationship discussion
However, the evidence does not appear to be conclusive.
View the Source Wikidata: West Bird's Head
Wikidata Q7984474, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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