The Cenderawasih languages, also known as West New Guinea languages, are a moderately supported branch of Austronesian languages

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...

 of Indonesia, found in the islands and shoreline of Cenderawasih Bay

Cenderawasih Bay

Cenderawasih Bay , also Teluk Sarera , formerly Geelvink Bay is a large bay in northern Province of Papua and West Papua, New Guinea, Indonesia, at . The Dutch name comes after a Dutch ship and family called Geelvinck...

 in the provinces of West Papua and Papua

Papua (Indonesian province)

Papua comprises most of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands. Its capital is Jayapura. It's the largest and easternmost province of Indonesia. The province originally covered the entire western half of New Guinea...

.

Most of the languages are only known from short word lists, but Biak

Biak language

Biak is an Austronesian language which has been classified as one of 41 languages of the South Halmahera-West New Guinea subgroup of Eastern Malayo-Polynesian...

 and Waropen

Waropen language

Waropen is an Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is fairly closely related to the Yapen languages....

 are fairly well attested.

Classification

A 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database only supported West New Guinea with the exclusion of the Raja Ampat languages

Raja Ampat languages

The Raja Ampat languages are the branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken on the Raja Ampat Islands of the western tip of New Guinea.The languages are As, Biga, Gebe , Kawe, Legenyem, Ma'ya, Waigeo, Wauyai, Matbat , Maden....

, the only erstwhile West New Guinea languages which lay outside the area of Cenderawasih Bay. Even without Raja Ampat, the level of confidence for unity of the Cenderawasih languages which remain is low, at 70% for the five languages included in the analysis.

Fully supported is a connection between the Yapen languages

Yapen languages

The Yapen languages are the branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken on Yapen Island and nearby isle of Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesian Papua. They share Yapen Ιsland with the Papuan Yawa languages.They are:*East: Kurudu, Wabo...

 (on Yapen Island) and Waropen

Waropen language

Waropen is an Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is fairly closely related to the Yapen languages....

 (on Serui Island and the east coast of the bay). The other analysed languages were linked to Yapen-Waropen, but with lesser confidence: Biak

Biak language

Biak is an Austronesian language which has been classified as one of 41 languages of the South Halmahera-West New Guinea subgroup of Eastern Malayo-Polynesian...

 (Numfor) at 75%, and Mor

Mor language (Austronesian)

Mor is a tonal Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is not closely related to other languages....

 (the most divergent) at 70%.

Excluding Raja Ampat, Ethnologue 16 classifies the languages as follows:

• Cenderawasih Bay
  • Mor
    Mor language (Austronesian)
    Mor is a tonal Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is not closely related to other languages....
    
    
  • Biakic
    Biakic languages
    The Biakic languages are a branch of Austronesian languages spoken on Biak Island and nearby isles of Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesian Papua.They are:...
    
     (3 languages)
  • Waropen
    Waropen language
    Waropen is an Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is fairly closely related to the Yapen languages....
    
    
  • Yapen
    Yapen languages
    The Yapen languages are the branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken on Yapen Island and nearby isle of Cenderawasih Bay, Indonesian Papua. They share Yapen Ιsland with the Papuan Yawa languages.They are:*East: Kurudu, Wabo...
    
     (13 languages)
  • Iresim
    Iresim language
    Iresim is an Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is not closely related to other languages....
    
    
  • Tandia
    Tandia language
    Tandia is a possibly extinct Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is not closely related to other languages. Speakers have shifted to Wandamen....
    
    
  • Yaur
    Yaur language
    The Yaur language, or Jaur, is a language in the putative Cenderawasih branch of the Austronesian family spoken in Irian Jaya. It has about 300 speakers.-Sources:...
    
    
  • Yeretuar
    Yeretuar language
    Yeretuar, or Goni, is an Austronesian language in the putative Cenderawasih of Indonesian Papua. It is not closely related to other languages....
    
    

None of the branches of Cenderawasih Bay are particularly close, though a 2008 study found a secure connection between Waropen and Yapen.

It is not clear if

• (Northwest) Bomberai
  Northwest Bomberai languages
  The Northwest Bomberai languages are a pair of minor Austronesian languages spoken on the northern coast of the Bomberai Peninsula of Indonesian Papua. They are:...
  
   (2 languages)

is closer to Cenderawasih ot to Raja Ampat

Raja Ampat languages

The Raja Ampat languages are the branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken on the Raja Ampat Islands of the western tip of New Guinea.The languages are As, Biga, Gebe , Kawe, Legenyem, Ma'ya, Waigeo, Wauyai, Matbat , Maden....

. (See Halmahera–Cenderawasih languages.)