Contents

List of major and official Austronesian languages

Overview of major Austronesian languages

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This is a list of major and official Austronesian languages, a language family originating from Taiwan, that is widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia and Madagascar.

Official languages[edit]

Sovereign states[edit]

Language	Speakers	Native name	Official status
Fijian	639,210	Na Vosa Vakaviti	Fiji
Filipino	100,000,000 (L1 & L2) 20,000,000 (L1) 80,000,000 (L2)	Wikang Filipino	Philippines
Gilbertese	120,000	Taetae ni Kiribati	Kiribati
Hiri Motu	120,000 (L2)	Hiri Motu	Papua New Guinea
Indonesian	300,000,000	Bahasa Indonesia	Indonesia
Malay	35,000,000	Bahasa Melayu/بهاس ملايو	Brunei  Indonesia[a]  Malaysia[b]  Singapore
Malagasy	18,000,000	Fiteny Malagasy	Madagascar
Māori	150,000	Te Reo Māori	New Zealand
Marshallese	55,000	Kajin M̧ajeļ	Marshall Islands
Nauruan	6,000	Dorerin Naoero	Nauru
Palauan	15,000	Tekoi er a Belau	Palau
Samoan	510,000	Gagana Sāmoa	Samoa
Tetum	800,000	Lia-Tetun	East Timor  Indonesia[c]
Tongan	108,000	Lea Faka-Tonga	Tonga
Tuvaluan	13,000	Te Ggana/Gagana Tuuvalu	Tuvalu

Territories[edit]

Language	Speakers	Native name	Official status	Country
Carolinian	5,700	Refaluwasch	Northern Mariana Islands	United States
Chamorro	95,000	Fino' CHamoru	Guam  Northern Mariana Islands	United States
Cook Islands Māori	14,000	Māori Kūki 'Āirani Te Reo Ipukarea	Cook Islands	New Zealand
Hawaiian	24,000	ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi	Hawaii	United States
Javanese	100,000,000 approx.(~3,000,000 in the Special Region of Yogyakarta)	Basa Jawa	Yogyakarta  Central Java  East Java	Indonesia  Suriname[a][1]  Sri Lanka[b][2]  New Caledonia[c][3]
Kanak			New Caledonia	France
Niuean	8,000	Ko e Vagahau Niuē	Niue	New Zealand
Rapa Nui	5,000	Vananga Rapa Nui	Easter Island	Chile
Samoan	55,000	Gagana Sāmoa	American Samoa	United States
Sonsorolese	600	Ramari Dongosaro	Sonsorol	Palau
Tahitian	120,000	Reo Mā'ohi/Tahiti	French Polynesia	France
Tobian	100	Ramarih Hatohobei	Hatohobei	Palau
Tokelauan	3,500	Gagana Tokelau	Tokelau	New Zealand

Major languages[edit]

Languages with at least 3 million native speakers[edit]

• Javanese (100 million)
• Tagalog (Filipino) (47 million native, ~100 million total)
• Indonesian (42 million native, ~270 million total)
• Sundanese (42 million)
• Malay (30 million)
• Cebuano (22 million native, ~30 million total)
• Malagasy (17 million)
• Madurese (14 million)
• Batak (8.5 million, all dialects)
• Ilokano (8 million native, ~10 million total)
• Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) (7 million native, ~11 million total)
• Minangkabau (7 million)
• Bugis (5 million)
• Bikol (4.6 million, all dialects)
• Banjar (4.5 million)
• Acehnese (3.5 million)
• Balinese (3 million)

Dialects and creoles[edit]

Dialects of major Austronesian languages[edit]

• Banyumas Javanese (15,000,000 native, Indonesia)
• Kedah Malay (5,000,000 native, Malaysia)
• Banten Sundanese (3,350,000 native, Indonesia)
• Palembang Malay (3,100,000 native, Indonesia)
• Central Bikol language (2,500,000 native, Philippines)
• Batak Toba language (2,000,000 native, Indonesia)
• Albay Bikol language (1,900,000 native, Philippines)
• Kelantan Malay (1,600,000 native, Malaysia)
• Pattani Malay (1,500,000 native, Thailand)
• Perak Malay (1,400,000 native, Malaysia)
• Batak Pakpak language (1,200,000 native, Indonesia)
• Batak Simalungun language (1,200,000 native, Indonesia)
• Batak Mandailing language (1,100,000 native, Indonesia)
• Terengganu Malay (1,100,000 native, Malaysia)
• Pahang Malay (1,000,000 native, Malaysia)
• Batak Angkola language (750,000 native, Indonesia)
• Jambi Malay (700,000 native, Indonesia)
• Batak Karo language (600,000 native, Indonesia)
• Osing Javanese (300,000 native, Indonesia)
• Batak Alas language (200,000 native, Indonesia)
• Itbayat language (3,500 native, Philippines)
• Niihau dialect (500 native, Hawaii, United States)

Creoles and pidgins based on Austronesian languages[edit]

• Betawi language (3,000,000 native, Indonesia)
• Sabah Malay (3,000,000, Malaysia)
• Manado Malay (850,000, Indonesia)
• North Moluccan Malay (700,000, Indonesia)
• Baba Malay (500,000, Indonesia and Malaysia)
• Papuan Malay (500,000, Indonesia)
• Ambonese Malay (250,000 native, Indonesia)
• Sri Lanka Malay (50,000, Sri Lanka)
• Lundayeh/Lun Bawang (55,000, East Malaysia Brunei and Indonesia)
• Kelabit language (5,000, East Malaysia and Indonesia)
• Cocos Malay (4,000, Australia and Malaysia)
• Chetty Malay (300?, Malaysia)
• Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin (40?, Australia)
• Bahasa Rojak (?, Malaysia)

See also[edit]

• Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association

References[edit]