Greater North Borneo languages

E25858

Austronesian language subgroup proposed language subgroup

The Greater North Borneo languages are a proposed subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in Borneo and nearby regions, characterized by shared lexical and phonological innovations.

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All labels observed (4)

Label	Occurrences
North Bornean languages	6
Greater North Borneo languages canonical	4
Bornean languages	1
Greater North Borneo language subgroup	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T200650 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Greater North Borneo languages
Context triple: [Austronesian languages, hasSubfamily, Greater North Borneo languages]

A. Penutian languages
Penutian languages are a proposed family of Native American languages spoken primarily in the western United States, noted for their controversial genetic relationships and inclusion of several distinct regional language groups.
B. Borneo
Borneo is the world’s third-largest island in Southeast Asia, known for its vast rainforests, rich biodiversity, and division among Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
C. Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages are a large and widely dispersed language family spoken across maritime Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the Pacific Islands, and parts of mainland Asia.
D. Philippine–Cordilleran languages
The Philippine–Cordilleran languages are a major subgroup of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily in the northern Philippines, encompassing numerous indigenous languages of the Cordillera region and surrounding areas.
E. Ryukyuan languages
The Ryukyuan languages are a group of closely related but distinct Japonic languages traditionally spoken in Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, many of which are now endangered.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Greater North Borneo languages
Target entity description: The Greater North Borneo languages are a proposed subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in Borneo and nearby regions, characterized by shared lexical and phonological innovations.

A. Penutian languages
Penutian languages are a proposed family of Native American languages spoken primarily in the western United States, noted for their controversial genetic relationships and inclusion of several distinct regional language groups.
B. Borneo
Borneo is the world’s third-largest island in Southeast Asia, known for its vast rainforests, rich biodiversity, and division among Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.
C. Austronesian languages
Austronesian languages are a large and widely dispersed language family spoken across maritime Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the Pacific Islands, and parts of mainland Asia.
D. Philippine–Cordilleran languages
The Philippine–Cordilleran languages are a major subgroup of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily in the northern Philippines, encompassing numerous indigenous languages of the Cordillera region and surrounding areas.
E. Ryukyuan languages
The Ryukyuan languages are a group of closely related but distinct Japonic languages traditionally spoken in Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, many of which are now endangered.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (63)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Austronesian language subgroup ⓘ proposed language subgroup ⓘ
basedOn	lexical evidence ⓘ phonological evidence ⓘ shared innovations ⓘ
hasAbbreviation	GNB ⓘ
hasCharacteristic	areal diffusion of features ⓘ shared lexical innovations ⓘ shared phonological innovations ⓘ
hasExampleLanguage	Acehnese language ⓘ linked to: Acehnese Bakumpai language ⓘ Banjarese language ⓘ Betawi Malay ⓘ Brunei Malay ⓘ linked to: Malay Cham language ⓘ Iban language ⓘ Kadazan Dusun language ⓘ Kayan language ⓘ Kedayan language ⓘ Malay language ⓘ linked to: Malay Minangkabau language ⓘ linked to: Minangkabau Murutic languages ⓘ Ngaju language ⓘ Rejang language ⓘ linked to: Rejang languages Standard Malay ⓘ linked to: Malay Sundanese ⓘ
hasGeographicDistribution	Borneo ⓘ Brunei ⓘ linked to: Brunei Darussalam Kalimantan ⓘ Malay Peninsula ⓘ Sabah ⓘ Sarawak ⓘ Sumatra ⓘ
hasResearchField	Austronesian linguistics ⓘ historical linguistics ⓘ
hasTheoreticalStatus	controversial ⓘ not universally accepted ⓘ
includesLanguageGroup	Barito languages ⓘ linked to: Barito languages subgroup Chamic languages ⓘ Kayanic languages ⓘ Land Dayak languages ⓘ Malayic languages ⓘ Malayo-Chamic languages ⓘ linked to: Malayic languages North Bornean languages ⓘ linked to: Greater North Borneo languages Rejang languages ⓘ Sabahan languages ⓘ Southwest Sabahan languages ⓘ Sundanese language ⓘ
proposedBy	Alexander D. Smith ⓘ Robert Blust ⓘ
spokenIn	Brunei ⓘ linked to: Brunei Darussalam Cambodia ⓘ Indonesia ⓘ Laos ⓘ Madagascar ⓘ Malaysia ⓘ Philippines ⓘ Singapore ⓘ Thailand ⓘ Vietnam ⓘ linked to: Viet Nam
subclassOf	Austronesian languages ⓘ Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ
timeOfProposal	early 21st century ⓘ

How these facts were elicited