Sumba–Flores languages
| Sumba–Flores | |
|---|---|
| Bima–Sumba | |
| Geographic distribution: | Lesser Sunda Islands (Indonesia) |
| Linguistic classification: |
|
| Subdivisions: |
|
| Glottolog: |
bima1247 (Bima)[1] flor1240 (Sumba–Manggarai)[2] |
The Sumba–Flores languages, approximately synonymous with Bima–Sumba, are a proposed group of Austronesian languages (geographically Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages) spoken on and around the islands of Sumbawa (eastern), Sumba, and western–central Flores in the Lesser Sundas. The main languages are Bima and Manggarai, which have half a million speakers apiece on the eastern half of Sumbawa Island and the western third of Flores, respectively, and Kambera, with a quarter million speakers on the eastern half of Sumba Island.
The Hawu language of Savu Island is suspected of having a non-Austronesian substratum, but perhaps not to any greater extent than the languages of central and eastern Flores, such as Sika, or indeed of Central Malayo-Polynesian languages in general.
Classification
Blust (2009)[3] finds moderate support for linking Bimanese with Sumba–Manggarai.
- Bima (Bimanese)
- Sumba–Manggarai
References
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Bima". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Flores–Sumba–Hawu". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ↑ Robert Blust, 2009. "Is there a Bima-Sumba subgroup?" In Oceanic Linguistics
