New Ireland languages
Encyclopedia
The New Ireland languages are a group of the Meso-Melanesian languages
. They are largely spoken on the island of New Ireland
in Papua New Guinea
.
and Nehan–Bougainville
languages from the traditional New Ireland family, but fully supported the unity of the remainder of the languages that were considered. These are:
Madara is conventionally included within Lavongai–Nalik, but the 2008 analysis only supported this classification at a 60% confidence level.
Not considered in the 2008 analysis were the following traditional branches:
Meso-Melanesian languages
The Bilur language, which is not closely related to other Melanesian languages, likely falls somewhere in the Bougainville–Northwest Solomonic group....
. They are largely spoken on the island of New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
Composition
A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database removed the Northwest SolomonicNorthwest Solomonic languages
The family of Northwest Solomonic languages is a branch of the Oceanic languages. It includes the Austronesian languages of Bougainville and Buka in Papua New Guinea, and of Choiseul, New Georgia, and Santa Isabel in the Solomon Islands....
and Nehan–Bougainville
Nehan–Bougainville languages
The dozen Nehan–Bougainville languages are a group of Oceanic languages spoken on the Green Islands , Buka Island, Bougainville, and surrounding islands in Papua New Guinea.-Languages:...
languages from the traditional New Ireland family, but fully supported the unity of the remainder of the languages that were considered. These are:
- Lavongai–Nalik languages
- MandaraMandara languageMandara is an Austronesian language spoken on the Tabar Group of islands, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Three dialects have been identified, Simberi, Tatau and Tabar, corresponding to the three main islands in the group....
(Tabar) - Patpatar–Tolai languages
Madara is conventionally included within Lavongai–Nalik, but the 2008 analysis only supported this classification at a 60% confidence level.
Not considered in the 2008 analysis were the following traditional branches:
- Madak languages (Barok, Lavatbura-Lamusong, Madak)
- Tabar languages (LihirLihir languageThe Lihir language is an Austronesian language spoken in the Lihir island group, in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. It is notable for having 5 levels of grammatical number: singular, dual, trial, paucal and plural. It is questionable whether the trial is indeed trial or whether it is...
, Notsi) - Tomoip