Halmahera Sea languages

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Halmahera Sea
Raja Ampat-South Halmahera
Geographic
distribution		Halmahera Sea and Raja Ampat Islands, New Guinea
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Glottolograja1255

The Halmahera Sea languages, also known as the Raja Ampat-South Halmahera languages, are a branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken on islands in the Halmahera Sea, and on its margins from the south-eastern coast of Halmahera to the Raja Ampat Islands off the western tip of New Guinea.

The languages of the Raja Ampat Islands show a strong Papuan substratum influence; it is not clear that they are actually Austronesian as opposed to relexified Papuan languages.[1]

Remijsen (2001) and Blust (1978) linked the languages of Raja Ampat to the South Halmahera languages. David Kamholz (2014) breaks up Raja Ampat, so that the structure of the Halmahera Sea languages is as follows:[2]

  • South Halmahera
  • Ambel–Biga: Waigeo (Ambel), Biga
  • As
  • Maden
  • Maya–Matbat: Matbat, Ma'ya (Salawati, Laganyan (Legenyem), Wauyai, Kawe, Batanta; perhaps distinct languages)

References[]

  1. ^ *Remijsen, Albert Clementina Ludovicus (2001). Word-prosodic systems of Raja Ampat languages (PDF). Utrecht: LOT. ISBN 978-90-76864-09-9.
  2. ^ Kamholz, David (2014). Austronesians in Papua: Diversification and change in South Halmahera–West New Guinea. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8zg8b1vd
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