The Nunusaku languages are a group of

Malayo-Polynesian languages 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 Southeas ...

, spoken on and around the island of

Seram Seram (formerly spelled Ceram; also Seran or Serang) is the largest and main island of Maluku province of Indonesia, despite Ambon Island's historical importance. It is located just north of the smaller Ambon Island and a few other adjacent i ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. None of the languages have more than about twenty thousand speakers, and several are endangered with extinction. The proto-language, Proto-Nunusaku, merged

Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch (by current speakers) of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesia ...

''*z''/''*d'' as ''*d'', and ''*l''/''*R''/''*j'' as ''*l''.

Classification

*'' Kayeli'' *Patakai–Manusela **

Nuaulu The Nuaulu, Naulu or Nunuhai are an ethnic group located in Seram, Maluku (province), Maluku, Indonesia. Description The group name 'Nuaulu' means head atersof the Nua River, which is the ancestral homeland of the Nuaulu people. In the late 1 ...

** Huaulu, Manusela *Three Rivers **

Wemale The Wemale people are an ethnic group of Seram Island, Indonesia. They number over 7,500 and live in 39 villages of the central area of the island. Like the Alune people in the west, the Wemale people originate from a common ancestral group cal ...

**Amalumute *** Yalahatan ***Northwest Seram: Hulung, Saleman, Loun, Ulat Inai (

Alune The Alune (sometimes Sapalewa or Sapolewa) people are one of the long-established ethnic groups of Seram Island, Indonesia. They number about 21,300 and live in 27 villages of the western-central area of the island. Like the Wemale, they origina ...

, Nakaʼela), Lisabata-Nuniali *

Piru Bay languages The Piru Bay languages are a group of twenty Malayo-Polynesian languages, spoken on Ambon Island and around Piru Bay on the island of Seram, Indonesia. None of the languages have more than about twenty thousand speakers, and several are endangere ...

(20 languages)

References

Languages of Indonesia Central Maluku languages Seram Island {{austronesian-lang-stub