The Barito languages are around twenty Austronesian languages of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

(

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

), Southern Philippines, plus Malagasy, the national language of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. They are named after the

Barito River The Barito River is the second longest river in Borneo after the Kapuas River with a total length of and with a drainage basin of in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It originates in the Muller Mountain Range, from where it flows southward in ...

located in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Barito subgroup was first proposed by Hudson (1967), comprising the three branches ''East Barito'', ''West Barito'', and ''Mahakam (Barito–Mahakam)''. It is thought by some to be a '' Sprachbund'' rather than a genuine clade. For example, Adelaar (2005) rejects Barito as a valid group despite accepting less traditional groups such as North Bornean and

Malayo-Sumbawan The Malayo-Sumbawan languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian languages that unites the Malayic and Chamic languages with the languages of Java and the western Lesser Sunda Islands (western Indonesia), except for Javanese (Adelaar ...

. The Malagasy language originates from the Southeast Barito languages, and Ma'anyan is its closest relative, with numerous

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

(close to

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

) and Javanese loanwords. It known that

Ma'anyan people Ma'anyan (colonial spelling Maanjan or Meanjan), Dayak Maanyan or Eastern Barito Dayak people are a sub-ethnic group of the Dayak people indigenous to Borneo. They are also considered as part of the east Barito Dusun group with the name Dusun Ma ...

were brought as labourers and slaves by

and Javanese people in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 AD.

Greater Barito

Blust (2006) proposes that the

Sama-Bajaw languages The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian people, Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are ...

also derive from the Barito lexical region, though not from any established group, and ''Ethnologue'' has followed, calling the resulting group 'Greater Barito'. Smith (2017, 2018)Smith, Alexander. 2017.
The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification
'. PhD Dissertation: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.Smith, Alexander D. 2018
The Barito Linkage Hypothesis, with a Note on the Position of Basap
''JSEALS'' Volume 11.1 (2018). proposes a Greater Barito linkage with the following branches, and considers Basap to be a sister of the Greater Barito linkage, forming a ''Basap–Greater Barito'' group. *Basap–Greater Barito ** Basap **Greater Barito ***Northwest Barito (Kadorih, Siang, Murung) ***Southwest Barito ( Ngaju, Kapuas, Bakumpai) *** Sama–Bajaw ( Yakan, etc.) ***Southeast Barito ( Ma'anyan, Dusun Witu, Malagasy) ***Central-East Barito ( Dusun Malang, Dusun Bayang, Paku, Semihim) ***Northeast Barito ( Taboyan, Lawangan, Bentian, Pasir, Benuaq) *** Tunjung The earlier groupings East Barito (comprising Smith's Southeast Barito, Central-East Barito and Northeast Barito) and West Barito (comprising Southwest Barito and Northwest Barito) are rejected by Smith.

West Kalimantan groups

Some Barito-speaking Dayak ethnic subgroups and their respective languages in

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak. The province has an area of 147,307&nbs ...

province, Indonesia:Bamba, John (ed.) (2008). ''Mozaik Dayak keberagaman subsuku dan bahasa Dayak di Kalimantan Barat''.

Pontianak Pontianak or Khuntien is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, founded first as a trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 118.31 km2 in the delta of the Kapuas River at a point where it is joined ...

: Institut Dayakologi. .Istiyani, Chatarina Pancer (2008). ''Memahami peta keberagaman subsuku dan bahasa Dayak di Kalimantan Barat''. Institut Dayakologi. :

References

{{authority control Basap–Barito languages Languages of Madagascar Languages of Indonesia