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 on the island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, is the furthest western outlier.
Malay is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.
Balinese is an Austronesian language spoken on the Indonesian island of Bali, as well as Northern Nusa Penida, Western Lombok, Southern Sumatra, and Sulawesi. Most Balinese speakers also use Indonesian. The 2000 national census recorded 3.3 million people speakers of Balinese, however the Bali Cultural Agency estimated in 2011 that the number of people still using the Balinese language in their daily lives is under 1 million. The language has been classified as "not endangered" by Glottolog.
Javanese is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily by the Javanese people from the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, Indonesia. There are also pockets of Javanese speakers on the northern coast of western Java. It is the native language of more than 68 million people.
Mongondow, or Bolaang Mongondow, is one of the Philippine languages spoken in Bolaang Mongondow Regency and neighbouring regencies of North Sulawesi (Celebes) and Gorontalo Provinces, Indonesia. With more than 200,000 speakers, it is the major language of the regency. Historically, it served as the official language of the Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom.
The Batak languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken by the Batak people in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra and surrounding areas.
Indonesia is home to over 700 living languages spoken across its extensive archipelago. This significant linguistic variety constitutes approximately 10% of the world’s total languages, positioning Indonesia as the second most linguistically diverse nation globally, following Papua New Guinea. The majority of these languages belong to the Austronesian language family, prevalent in the western and central regions of Indonesia, including languages such as Acehnese, Sundanese, and Buginese. In contrast, the eastern regions, particularly Papua and the Maluku Islands, are home to over 270 Papuan languages, which are distinct from the Austronesian family and represent a unique linguistic heritage. The language most widely spoken as a native language is Javanese, primarily by the Javanese people in the central and eastern parts of Java Island, as well as across many other islands due to migration.
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 East Barito languages are a group of a dozen Dayak (Austronesian) languages of Borneo, Indonesia, and most notably Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar. They are named after the Barito River located in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The Malayo-Sumbawan languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages that unites the Malayic and Chamic languages with the languages of Java and the western Lesser Sunda Islands, except for Javanese. If valid, it would be the largest demonstrated family of Malayo-Polynesian outside Oceanic. The Malayo-Sumbawan subgroup is however not universally accepted, and is rejected e.g. by Blust (2010) and Smith (2017), who supported the Greater North Borneo and Western Indonesian hypotheses. In a 2019 paper published in Oceanic Linguistics, Adelaar accepted both of these groupings, in addition to Smith's (2018) redefinition of Barito languages as forming a linkage.
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.
Limola is an Austronesian language of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is spoken in two villages in North Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi. It is classified as a member of the Badaic subgroup of the South Sulawesi languages.
Maiwa is an Austronesian language spoken by around 50,000 people in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs to the Northern branch of the South Sulawesi subgroup, and is closely related to Duri, Enrekang and Malimpung.
Sarudu is an Austronesian language of West Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is closely related to Uma.
Pannei is an Austronesian language of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is nearly intelligible with other Pitu Ulunna Salu languages.
Dakka is an endangered Austronesian language of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is spoken in the Wonomulyo district of Polewali Mandar Regency, and belongs to the Northern branch of the South Sulawesi subgroup.
The Lampung or Lampungese are an indigenous ethnic group native to Lampung and some parts of South Sumatra, Bengkulu, as well as in the southwest coast of Banten. They speak the Lampung language, a Lampungic language estimated to have 1.5 million speakers.
James T. Collins is an American linguist who works on comparative linguistics, lexicography, and sociolinguistics. Collins specializes primarily in Austronesian languages.
The Komering are an ethnic group that inhabits along the Komering River in South Sumatra province.
The Nusa Penida Balinese is a dialect of the Balinese language spoken by the Nak Nusé people, a sub-group of the Balinese people inhabiting Nusa Penida, an island located to the south of Bali which is administratively part of Klungkung Regency. This dialect is considered the most unique and distinct among Balinese dialects, as it is mutually unintelligible with standard Balinese and other Balinese dialects spoken in mainland Bali, both orally and in written form. Due to its significant differences from other Balinese dialects, and the extensive use of vocabulary not found in the Balinese dictionary, it is exceedingly difficult for mainland Balinese individuals to communicate fluently and directly with the Nusa Penida community.
