Central Malayo-Polynesian languages

E27800

Austronesian language group proposed language subgroup

The Central Malayo-Polynesian languages are a proposed group of Austronesian languages spoken mainly in eastern Indonesia, characterized by shared phonological and grammatical innovations that distinguish them from neighboring Malayo-Polynesian branches.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Central Malayo-Polynesian languages canonical	21
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages	13
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian	4
Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages	3
Central Malayo Polynesian languages	1
Central Malayo-Polynesian	1
Central Malayo-Polynesian subgroup	1
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian contact zone	1
Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian subgroup	1
Proto-Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian language	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T200655 — 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: Central Malayo-Polynesian languages
Context triple: [Austronesian languages, hasSubfamily, Central Malayo-Polynesian languages]

A. Malayo-Polynesian languages
Malayo-Polynesian languages are a major branch of the Austronesian language family spoken across Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and the Pacific, including languages such as Indonesian, Tagalog, Javanese, and Malagasy.
B. Meso-Melanesian languages
The Meso-Melanesian languages are a subgroup of Oceanic Austronesian languages spoken primarily in parts of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
C. Polynesian languages
Polynesian languages are a branch of the Austronesian language family spoken across the Polynesian islands of the central and southern Pacific Ocean, including languages such as Māori, Hawaiian, and Samoan.
D. 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.
E. 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.
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: Central Malayo-Polynesian languages
Target entity description: The Central Malayo-Polynesian languages are a proposed group of Austronesian languages spoken mainly in eastern Indonesia, characterized by shared phonological and grammatical innovations that distinguish them from neighboring Malayo-Polynesian branches.

A. Malayo-Polynesian languages
Malayo-Polynesian languages are a major branch of the Austronesian language family spoken across Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and the Pacific, including languages such as Indonesian, Tagalog, Javanese, and Malagasy.
B. Meso-Melanesian languages
The Meso-Melanesian languages are a subgroup of Oceanic Austronesian languages spoken primarily in parts of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
C. Polynesian languages
Polynesian languages are a branch of the Austronesian language family spoken across the Polynesian islands of the central and southern Pacific Ocean, including languages such as Māori, Hawaiian, and Samoan.
D. 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.
E. 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.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Austronesian language group ⓘ proposed language subgroup ⓘ
characterizedBy	lexical innovations ⓘ morphological innovations ⓘ phonological mergers ⓘ sound changes shared across member languages ⓘ
distinguishedFrom	Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ Western Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ
glottologCode	cent2244 ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	CMP languages ⓘ Central MP languages ⓘ
hasLinguisticFeature	shared grammatical innovations ⓘ shared phonological innovations ⓘ
hasMember	Aru languages cluster ⓘ Bima language ⓘ Kei language ⓘ Kisar language ⓘ Lamaholot language ⓘ Mambae language ⓘ Manggarai language ⓘ Selaru language ⓘ Tetun language ⓘ
hasStatus	controversial subgrouping ⓘ not universally accepted ⓘ
hasSubgroup	Aru languages ⓘ Banda languages ⓘ linked to: Central Banda languages Bima–Sumba languages ⓘ Central Maluku languages ⓘ Flores–Lembata languages ⓘ Southwest Maluku languages ⓘ Tanimbar languages ⓘ Timor–Babar languages ⓘ
locatedIn	Maluku region ⓘ linked to: Maluku Islands Nusa Tenggara region ⓘ linked to: Nusa Tenggara eastern Indonesia ⓘ
partOf	Austronesian languages ⓘ
proposalDate	1970s ⓘ
proposedBy	Robert Blust ⓘ
spokenIn	Alor archipelago ⓘ Aru Islands ⓘ Babar Islands ⓘ Central Maluku Islands ⓘ linked to: Maluku Islands Flores ⓘ Indonesia ⓘ Lesser Sunda Islands ⓘ Pantar ⓘ Sumba ⓘ Tanimbar Islands ⓘ linked to: Maluku Islands Timor ⓘ
subclassOf	Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (47)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Austronesian languages → hasSubfamily → Central Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ

Malayo-Polynesian languages → hasSubgroup → Central Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ

Malayo-Polynesian languages → hasSubgroup → Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ