St. Matthias languages
| Saint Matthias | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Papua New Guinea |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | stma1240 |
 Linguistic map of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea; the St Matthias languages are in the northwest | |
The St. Matthias languages are a small group of Oceanic languages spoken in the St. Matthias Islands of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea.[1]
They are generally treated as a distinct subgroup within the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family.
The group consists of two languages:
They are generally treated as a distinct subgroup within the Oceanic branch of the Austronesian language family.[2]
Classification
[edit]The St. Matthias languages are generally recognized as a distinct subgroup of the Oceanic languages consisting of Mussau-Emira and Tenis. Malcolm Ross identified the group as separate from the major Western Oceanic linkages, and later classifications have continued to treat the St. Matthias languages as an independent branch or linkage within Oceanic.[1]
Ross, Pawley and Osmond (2016) classified the St. Matthias languages as one of the primary branches of the Oceanic language family, comprising the Mussau and Tenis languages.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Ross, Malcolm (1988). Proto Oceanic and the Austronesian Languages of Western Melanesia. Australia: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, the Australian National University. ISBN 0858833670.
- ↑ Lynch, John; Ross, Malcolm; Crowley, Terry (2002). The Oceanic Languages. Curzon.
- ↑ Ross, Malcolm; Pawley, Andrew; Osmond, Meredith (2016). The Lexicon of Proto Oceanic, Volume 5: People: Body and Mind. Asia-Pacific Linguistics.
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