Barito languages
Encyclopedia
The Barito languages are a score of Dayak
(Austronesian
) languages of Borneo
, and most famously Malagasy
, the national language of Madagascar
. They are named after the Barito River
.
The Barito family is sometimes split up into its constituent components, East Barito, West Barito, and Mahakam (Barito–Mahakam), given the possibility that their similarities may be due to a Sprachbund
. A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database supported the unity of Barito at a confidence level of 97%. However, such approaches cannot distinguish genealogical relations from areal groups, and Adelaar (2005) rejects Barito as a valid group despite accepting less traditional groups such as North Bornean and Malayo-Sumbawan
.
Blust (2006) proposes that the Sama-Bajaw languages
also derive from the Barito lexical region, though not from any established group, and Ethnologue has followed, calling the resulting group 'Greater Barito'.
Dayak languages
The term Dayak is used for the languages of the Dayak people; that is, those languages of Borneo apart from varieties of Malay and language of Chinese, Indian, and European origin...
(Austronesian
Austronesian languages
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia that are spoken by about 386 million people. It is on par with Indo-European, Niger-Congo, Afroasiatic and Uralic as one of the...
) languages of Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, and most famously Malagasy
Malagasy language
Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar, a member of the Austronesian family of languages. Most people in Madagascar speak it as a first language as do some people of Malagasy descent elsewhere.-History:...
, the national language of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. They are named after the Barito River
Barito River
Barito is a 890 km long river, located in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It originates in the Muller Mountain Range from where it flows southward into the Java Sea...
.
The Barito family is sometimes split up into its constituent components, East Barito, West Barito, and Mahakam (Barito–Mahakam), given the possibility that their similarities may be due to a Sprachbund
Sprachbund
A Sprachbund – also known as a linguistic area, convergence area, diffusion area or language crossroads – is a group of languages that have become similar in some way because of geographical proximity and language contact. They may be genetically unrelated, or only distantly related...
. A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database supported the unity of Barito at a confidence level of 97%. However, such approaches cannot distinguish genealogical relations from areal groups, and Adelaar (2005) rejects Barito as a valid group despite accepting less traditional groups such as North Bornean and Malayo-Sumbawan
Malayo-Sumbawan languages
The Malayo-Sumbawan languages are a group of languages identified by Adelaar that unites the Malayic and Chamic languages with the languages of Java and the western Lesser Sunda Islands, except for Javanese itself...
.
Blust (2006) proposes that the Sama-Bajaw languages
Sama-Bajaw languages
The Sama–Bajaw languages are a well established group of languages spoken by the Bajau and Sama peoples of the Philippines and Malaysia, on Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago between Borneo and Mindanao.-Languages:*Abaknon/Inabaknon...
also derive from the Barito lexical region, though not from any established group, and Ethnologue has followed, calling the resulting group 'Greater Barito'.