Austronesian is the language family of maritime Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands and Madagascar, spanning from Malagasy in the west to Hawaiian and Rapa Nui in the east, one of the widest geographic ranges of any language family before the colonial era. The great majority of Austronesian's internal diversity survives on Taiwan alone, which is the strongest evidence behind the mainstream Out of Taiwan hypothesis for the family's homeland and the outward Austronesian expansion beginning roughly five thousand years ago; a competing homeland further south has been argued but has not displaced the Taiwan hypothesis as the consensus view.
Facts
RegionMaritime Southeast Asia, Taiwan, the Pacific Islands and Madagascar 1 Speaker CountAggregate across the Austronesian languages; mid-2020s estimate. Proto-Language StatusProto-Austronesian is reconstructed with the Formosan languages of Taiwan retained as the earliest branching lineages, the linguistic cornerstone of the Out of Taiwan model for the Austronesian expansion across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 3 Austronesian
Filter Results6 entries
FAQs
Is Malagasy in Madagascar really an Austronesian language?
Yes. Its closest relatives are spoken in Borneo.
Yes. Malagasy is spoken in Madagascar off the coast of Africa, yet it belongs to the Austronesian family. It is a member of the East Barito branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages. It is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, and most closely to the South-east Barito group of languages spoken in Borneo, particularly Ma'anyan. This is why Malagasy marks the far western edge of the family's range.
Connections
Ancestor Of
Formosan is a paraphyletic grouping of the indigenous Austronesian languages of Taiwan, representing the earliest-branching divisions of the family.
Malayo-Polynesian is the branch of Austronesian that spread beyond Taiwan across island Southeast Asia, Madagascar and the Pacific.
Held Differently
Austroasiatic, Language Families Why this is disputed. The Austric hypothesis proposes a common ancestor for Austroasiatic and Austronesian, and possibly Kra-Dai and Hmong-Mien; most specialists do not accept it as proven.
Source Wikipedia: Austroasiatic Languages
Kra-Dai, Language Families Why this is disputed. Weera Ostapirat proposes Kra-Dai and Austronesian as sister families descended from a common ancestor, on the strength of regular sound correspondences.
Source Wikipedia: Kra-Dai Languages
Associated With
This source names Rapa Nui directly: "Malagasy in the west to Hawaiian and Rapa Nui in the east, one of the widest geographic ranges of any language family before the colonial era."
Source The Cambridge Encyclopedia of LanguageDavid Crystal (editor)
Includes
Source Fijian language, Wikipedia
Source Wikipedia: Indonesian Language
Source Wikipedia: Javanese Language
Source Wikipedia: Malay Language
Source Wikipedia: Rapa Nui Language
Source Wikipedia: Tagalog Language
In the Other Atlases
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Found In
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Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language
David Crystal (editor), Cambridge University Press, 2010
2. Ethnologue: Languages of the World
3. Glottolog
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyComments on family membership section, glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/aust1307Quote, Comments on family membership section, glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/aust1307
Insufficient Robert Blust 2014 parallels with Jarawa-Onge can be found in Juliette Blevins 2007.
Wikidata: Austronesian
Wikipedia: Austronesian Languages
Wikimedia FoundationLead section, first paragraphQuote, Lead section, first paragraph
They are spoken by approximately 386 million people (4.4% of the world population).
Wikipedia: Kra-Dai Languages
Wikipedia: Austroasiatic Languages
Wikipedia: Indonesian Language
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Indonesian, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Indonesian, Infobox, Language family
Austronesian > Malayo-Polynesian > Malayo-Sumbawan (?) > Malayic > Riau Malay > Indonesian
Wikipedia: Tagalog Language
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Tagalog, Article textQuote, Includes: Tagalog, Article text
Tagalog is a Central Philippine language within the Austronesian language family. Being Malayo-Polynesian, it is related to other Austronesian languages, such as Malagasy, Javanese, Indonesian, Malay, Tetum (of Timor), and Yami (of Taiwan).
Wikipedia: Javanese Language
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Javanese, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Javanese, Lead section
Javanese ( JAH-və-NEEZ, JAV-ə-, -NEESS; endonym: Basa Jawa, Javanese script: ꦧꦱꦗꦮ, Pegon: باسا جاوا, pronounced [bɔsɔ d͡ʒɔwɔ]) is an Austronesian language spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia.
Wikipedia: Rapa Nui Language
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Rapa Nui, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Rapa Nui, Lead section
Rapa Nui or Rapanui (English: ; Rapa Nui: [ˈɾapa ˈnu.i]; Spanish: [ˈrapa ˈnu.i]), also known as Pascuan ( PAS-kew-ən) or Pascuense, is an Eastern Polynesian language.
Wikipedia: Malay Language
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Malay, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Malay, Infobox, Language family
Top family: Austronesian; immediate branch: Malayic languages (within Malayo-Polynesian).
Fijian language, Wikipedia
Includes: Fijian, Infobox, Language familyQuote, Includes: Fijian, Infobox, Language family
Austronesian
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Associated With: Kra-Dai
Sagart argues Kra-Dai descended from a Formosan ancestral branch of Austronesian (FATK, Formosan Ancestor of Tai-Kadai), making Kra-Dai a subgroup nested within Austronesian rather than a sister family descended from an independent common ancestor, contrary to Ostapirat's sister-family account recorded on this edge.
A dissenting reading, from Laurent SagartWikipedia: Kra-Dai Languages, Wikimedia Foundation
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