Raja Ampat-South Halmahera languages

The Raja Ampat-South Halmahera languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian family spoken across the Halmahera Sea from southeastern Halmahera to the Raja Ampat Islands off New Guinea's western coast. Linguists Bert Remijsen and Robert Blust connected the seven Raja Ampat languages, including Ma'ya, Matbat and Biga, to the South Halmahera languages, though the Raja Ampat varieties show such strong influence from neighboring Papuan languages that it remains unclear whether they are genuinely Austronesian or relexified Papuan languages.