The twenty Micronesian languages form a family of Oceanic languages. Micronesian languages are known for their lack of plain

labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. The two common labial articulations are bilabials, articulated using both lips, and labiodentals, articulated with the lower lip against the upper teeth, bot ...

s; they have instead two series, palatalized and labio-velarized labials.

Languages

According to Jackson (1983, 1986) the languages group as follows: * Nauruan *Nuclear Micronesian family ** Kosraean **Central Micronesian family *** Gilbertese ***Western Micronesian family **** Marshallese **** Chuukic-Pohnpeic family ***** Chuukic (Chuukic) ***** Pohnpeic (Ponapeic) The family appears to have originated in the east, likely on

Kosrae Kosrae ( ), formerly known as Kusaie or Strong's Island, is an island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The State of Kosrae is one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia, and includes the main island of Kosrae and a few near ...

, and spread westwards. Kosrae appears to have been settled from the south, in the region of northern Vanuatu. Kevin Hughes (2020) revises Jackson's classification, especially with regards to the position of Nauruan, who states that there is no compelling argument from classifying Nauruan apart from other Micronesian languages. He proposes three hypotheses: (1) Nauruan is a primary branch alongside Kosraean, (2) Kosraean and Nauruan form a subgroup, and (3) Nauruan is a primary branch of the Central Micronesian family.

External classification

John Lynch (2003) tentatively proposes that the Micronesian languages may form a subclade within the

Southern Oceanic languages The Southern Oceanic languages are a linkage of Oceanic languages spoken in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It was proposed by Lynch, Ross, and Crowley in 2002 and supported by later studies. They consider it to be a linkage rather than a language g ...

, and specifically a sister clade to the Loyalty Islands languages within the latter family. He notes the following features that the Micronesian and Loyalties languages share in common, among other features: * Palatalized reflexes of the Proto-Oceanic bilabial series * Loss of Proto-Oceanic *p before round vowels * Unconditioned loss of Proto-Oceanic *y and (ungeminated) *q However, he does not state that this relationship is certain or even likely. He merely states "that this is something that could well be further investigated, even if only to confirm that Micronesian languages did ''not'' originate in the Loyalties."

References

External links

Micronesian Comparative Dictionary
{{Austronesian languages Central–Eastern Oceanic languages

Languages

External classification

References

Further reading

External links