Western Malayo-Polynesian languages

Western Malayo-Polynesian
(geographic)
Geographic
distribution		 Southeast Asia and Madagascar
Linguistic classification Austronesian
ISO 639-5 pqw
Glottolog None

The Western Malayo-Polynesian (WMP) languages, also known as the Hesperonesian languages, are a paraphyletic group of Austronesian languages that includes those Malayo-Polynesian languages that do not belong to the Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (CEMP) branch. This includes all Austronesian languages spoken in Madagascar, Mainland Southeast Asia, the Philippines, the Greater Sunda Islands (including smaller neighboring islands), Bali, Lombok, the western half of Sumbawa, Palau and the Mariana Islands.

Western Malayo-Polynesian was originally proposed by Robert Blust as a sister branch within Malayo-Polynesian coordinate to the CEMP branch.[1] Because there are no features that define the WMP languages positively as a subgroup, recent classifications have abandoned it.[2]

Wouk and Ross

According to Wouk and Ross,[3] those WMP languages within Nuclear Malayo-Polynesian are linked as a genealogical Inner Western Malayo-Polynesian (Inner Hesperonesian) branch; these are the languages of the western Malay Archipelago, which Wouk and Ross propose dispersed from Sulawesi. The rest of WMP, the languages of the Philippines, northern Sulawesi, and the interior of Borneo, do not form a valid group cladistically, but for convenience are lumped together as an Outer WMP (Outer Hesperonesian) group directly under Malayo-Polynesian. Inner and Outer WMP may also be called the Sunda–Sulawesi languages and Borneo–Philippine languages, after their geographic spread.

References

  1. ↑ Blust, Robert. 1980. Austronesian Etymologies. Oceanic Linguistics 19, pp. 1-189
  2. ↑ K. Alexander Adelaar & Nikolaus Himmelmann. 2005. The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar: A historical perspective, pp. 1-42, London, Routledge ISBN 0-7007-1286-0
  3. ↑ Fay Wouk and Malcolm Ross (ed.). 2002. The history and typology of western Austronesian voice systems. Australian National University
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