In the study of language,description or descriptive linguistics is the work of objectively analyzing and describing how language is actually used by a speech community.
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages,with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan,in the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean,with a smaller number in continental Asia in the areas near the Malay Peninsula,with Cambodia,Vietnam and the Chinese island Hainan as the northwest geographic outlier. Malagasy,spoken in the island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean,is the furthest western outlier.
Minangkabau is an Austronesian language spoken by the Minangkabau of West Sumatra,the western part of Riau,South Aceh Regency,the northern part of Bengkulu and Jambi,also in several cities throughout Indonesia by migrated Minangkabau. The language is also a lingua franca along the western coastal region of the province of North Sumatra,and is even used in parts of Aceh,where the language is called Aneuk Jamee.
In addition to its classical and modern literary form,Malay had various regional dialects established after the rise of the Srivijaya empire in Sumatra,Indonesia. Also,Malay spread through interethnic contact and trade across the south East Asia Archipelago as far as the Philippines. That contact resulted in a lingua franca that was called Bazaar Malay or low Malay and in Malay Melayu Pasar. It is generally believed that Bazaar Malay was a pidgin,influenced by contact among Malay,Hokkien,Portuguese,and Dutch traders.
The Austric languages are a proposed language family that includes the Austronesian languages spoken in Taiwan,Maritime Southeast Asia,the Pacific Islands,and Madagascar,as well as Kra–Dai and Austroasiatic languages spoken in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. A genetic relationship between these language families is seen as plausible by some scholars,but remains unproven.
The Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (CEMP) languages form a proposed branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages consisting of over 700 languages.
More than 700 living languages are spoken in Indonesia. This figure indicates that Indonesia has about 10% of the world's languages,establishing its reputation as the second most linguistically diverse nation in the world after Papua New Guinea. Most languages belong to the Austronesian language family,while there are over 270 Papuan languages spoken in eastern Indonesia. The language most widely spoken as a native language is Javanese.
Lampung or Lampungic is an Austronesian language or dialect cluster with around 1.5 million native speakers,who primarily belong to the Lampung ethnic group of southern Sumatra,Indonesia. It is divided into two or three varieties:Lampung Api,Lampung Nyo,and Komering. The latter is sometimes included in Lampung Api,sometimes treated as an entirely separate language. Komering people see themselves as ethnically separate from,but related to,Lampung people.
The Yam languages,also known as the Morehead River languages,are a family of Papuan languages. They include many of the languages south and west of the Fly River in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian West Papua.
The Minahasan languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken by the Minahasa people in northern Sulawesi,Indonesia. They belong to the Philippine subgroup.
The Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages are a group of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken by the Batak and related peoples in the interior of North Sumatra and by the Nias,Mentawai people,and others on the Barrier islands off the western coast of Sumatra,Indonesia.
The Wotu–Wolio languages are a group of closely related languages spoken in Sulawesi that belong to the Celebic subgroup of the Austronesian family.
Ternate is a language of northern Maluku,eastern Indonesia. It is spoken by the Ternate people,who inhabit the island of Ternate,as well as many other areas of the archipelago. It is the dominant indigenous language of North Maluku,historically important as a regional lingua franca. A North Halmahera language,it is unlike most languages of Indonesia which belong to the Austronesian language family.
The Enggano language,or Engganese,is an Austronesian language spoken on Enggano Island off the southwestern coast of Sumatra,Indonesia.
Morori is a moribund Papuan language of the Kolopom branch of the Trans–New Guinea family. It is separated from the other Kolopom languages by the intrusive Marind family. All speakers use Papuan Malay or Indonesian as L2,and many know Marind.
Ngkolmpu Kanum,or Ngkontar,is part of a dialect chain in the Yam family spoken by the Kanum people of New Guinea. The Ngkâlmpw (Ngkontar) and moribund Bädi varieties have limited mutual intelligibility may be considered distinct languages.
Sa’ban is one of the remoter languages of Borneo,on the Sarawak–Kalimantan border. The language is known as hmeu Sa'ban in the Sa'ban language.
Tondano is an Austronesian language spoken in the Tondano area of northeast Sulawesi,Indonesia. It is most similar to Tombulu and to Tonsea.
Rongga is a language of central Flores,in East Nusa Tenggara Province,Indonesia. Rongga is closely related to Ngadha,and more distantly to Manggarai.
Bacan Malay or Bacan is a Malayic language spoken on the island of Bacan in North Maluku province,Indonesia,by the minor Bacan ethnic group. It is an anomalous presence in the region,being surrounded by genetically distant Austronesian languages and languages of the unrelated North Halmahera family. Bacan is geographically removed from the Malay heartlands in the western archipelago.
