The Meso-Melanesian languages are a

linkage Linkage may refer to: * ''Linkage'' (album), by J-pop singer Mami Kawada, released in 2010 *Linkage (graph theory), the maximum min-degree of any of its subgraphs *Linkage (horse), an American Thoroughbred racehorse * Linkage (hierarchical cluster ...

Oceanic languages The approximately 450 Oceanic languages are a branch of the Austronesian languages. The area occupied by speakers of these languages includes Polynesia, as well as much of Melanesia and Micronesia. Though covering a vast area, Oceanic languages ...

spoken in the large Melanesian islands of New Ireland and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

east of New Guinea.

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

is one of the most conservative languages.

Composition

The languages group as follows: * Willaumez linkage:

Bola Bola may refer to: People * Bola (name), a surname and given name * Darrell Fitton, electronic musician from Manchester, England, AKA "Bola" and "Jello" Geography * Bola (volcano), a volcano on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea * B ...

, Bulu, Meramera, Nakanai *Bali–Vitu:

(Uneapa), Vitu (Muduapa)

ay be a single language Ay, AY or variants, may refer to: People * Ay (pharaoh), a pharaoh of the 18th Egyptian dynasty * Merneferre Ay, a pharaoh of the 13th Egyptian dynasty * A.Y. (musician) (born 1981), a Tanzanian "bongo flava" artist * A.Y, stage name of Ayo M ...

*New Ireland – Northwest Solomonic linkage New Ireland Languages

**Tungag–Nalik family:

Tigak Tigak (or Omo) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 6,000 people (in 1991) in the Kavieng District of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The Tigak language area includes the provincial capital, Kavieng. Phonology Phoneme inventory ...

, Tungag, Nalik, Laxudumau,

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in D ...

, Tiang **Tabar linkage: Madara (Tabar), Lihir, Notsi **Madak linkage:

Barok Barok is considered one of the most popular komiks characters in the Philippines created by Filipino cartoonist Bert Sarile in 1973. It also means Sillano. A stone-age Philippine comic book character, Barok was described by Sarile as a lead charac ...

, Lavatbura-Lamusong,

Madak Madak was a blend of opium and tobacco used as a recreational drug in 16th- and 17th-century China. It emerged in southern coastal areas in the first half of the 17th century. In the last quarter of the 18th century madak was phased out by raw op ...

** Tomoip **

St George linkage The St. George linkage links the North-West Solomonic and New Ireland languages under the Meso-Melanesian languages. Members of the St George linkage are Niwer Mil language, Warwar Feni, Fanamaket, Sursurunga, Konomala, Patpatar, Tolai, Ka ...

*** Niwer Mil ***

Warwar Feni Tangga is an Oceanic language of New Ireland, spoken on Tanga and Feni islands and in Sena, Muliama and Varangansau villages in the Tanglamet area of Namatanai of New Ireland itself. These three locations are highly divergent; children from one ...

***

Fanamaket Tangga is an Oceanic language of New Ireland, spoken on Tanga and Feni islands and in Sena, Muliama and Varangansau villages in the Tanglamet area of Namatanai of New Ireland itself. These three locations are highly divergent; children from one ...

*** Sursurunga *** Konomala ***Patpatar–Tolai:

Patpatar Patpatar, or Gelik, is an Austronesian language spoken in New Ireland Province in Papua New Guinea. Phonology Phonology of the Patpatar language: References Languages of New Ireland Province St George linkage {{MesoMelane ...

, Lungalunga (Minigir), Tolai (Kuanua) ***Label–Bilur:

Label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

, Bilur ***Kandas–Ramoaaina: Kandas, Ramoaaina ***

Siar Sérres ( el, Σέρρες ) is a city in Macedonia, Greece, capital of the Serres regional unit and second largest city in the region of Central Macedonia, after Thessaloniki. Serres is one of the administrative and economic centers of Norther ...

*** Northwest Solomonic linkage ''Ethnologue'' adds Guramalum to the St George linkage. The

Willaumez Peninsula The Willaumez Peninsula is located on the north coast of New Britain in the West New Britain Province. It was named after Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez by Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni, chevalier d'Entreca ...

on the north coast of

New Britain New Britain ( tpi, Niu Briten) is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi the D ...

was evidently the center of dispersal. Johnston (1982) combines the Willaumez and Bali–Vitu branches into a single

Kimbe Kimbe is the capital of the province of West New Britain in Papua New Guinea, and the largest settlement on the island. The bustling town of Kimbe is the third largest port in Papua New Guinea and is the fastest growing city in the South Pacific. T ...

branch, for which he reconstructs Proto-Kimbe.

Language contact

Lenition In linguistics, lenition is a sound change that alters consonants, making them more sonorous. The word ''lenition'' itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin 'weak'). Lenition can happen both synchronically (within a language at a ...

in Lamasong,

, Nalik, and

may have diffused via influence from Kuot, the only non-Austronesian language spoken on

New Ireland New Ireland may refer to: Geography * New Ireland (island), large island in the state of Papua New Guinea * New Ireland Province, administrative division of Papua New Guinea Politics * United Ireland, the proposed unification of the islan ...

(Ross 1994: 566).Ross, Malcolm. 1994. Areal phonological features in north central New Ireland. In: Dutton and Tryon (eds.) Language contact and change in the Austronesian world, 551–572. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

References

{{Austronesian languages Western Oceanic languages