| Central Malayo-Polynesian | |
|---|---|
| South Moluccan | |
| (proposed) | |
| Geographic distribution | Indonesia |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-5 | plf |
 The Central MP languages (red). (In black is theWallace Line.) In Grimes & Edwards' conception, more of the Bomerai Peninsula to the northeast is included. | |
TheCentral Malayo-Polynesian languages (CMP) are a proposed branch in theMalayo-Polynesian subgroup of theAustronesian language family.[1][2] The languages are spoken in theLesser Sunda andMaluku Islands of theBanda Sea, in an area corresponding closely to theIndonesian provinces ofEast Nusa Tenggara andMaluku and the nation ofEast Timor (excepting thePapuan languages ofTimor and nearby islands), but with theBima language extending to the eastern half ofSumbawa Island in the province ofWest Nusa Tenggara and the Sula languages of theSula archipelago in the southwest corner of the province ofNorth Maluku. The principal islands in this region are Sumbawa,Sumba,Flores, Timor,Buru, andSeram. The numerically most important languages are Bima,Manggarai of western Flores,Uab Meto of West Timor, andTetum, the national language of East Timor.
Blust proposes that the CMP languages form alinkage, which means that the CMP languages share a common ancestor and many overlapping innovations, none of which however are found in all CMP languages.[3]
Based on theGlottolog, CMP can be provisionally divided into the following subgroups:
Edwards & Grimes (2021) find that the similarities between the demonstrable groups of CMP languages are due to Papuan substrates and contact. They propose the following groups of languages in the area as primary branches of Austronesian. Several of these groups have been previously proposed, including by Blust:[4]
Seram Laut, apart from Kowiai, was first proposed by Collins (1986). It is distinguished from Ambon–Seram to the west in its reflexes of *j, *R, *-aw, and from Tanimbar–Bomberai to the east in *j and *z, but is only weakly defined as a unit. Its three branches are however well defined.
Edwards & Grimes (2021) further propose that theTaliabo languages, generally held to be part ofCentral Maluku, are actuallyCelebic (specifically,Saluan–Banggai).