The Kei–Tanimbar languages are a small group of

Austronesian languages The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken ...

spoken on the Kei and

Tanimbar The Tanimbar Islands (; ), also called ''Timur Laut'' (literally, "North East"; ), are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the sout ...

islands in the southern

Maluku Islands The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonics, Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West ...

, and on the north side of the

Bomberai Peninsula Bomberai Peninsula () is located in the Western New Guinea region. It is south of the Bird's Head Peninsula, and Bintuni Bay separates the two peninsulas. To the west lies the Sebakor Bay and to the south Kamrau Bay. On the southeast Arguni ...

. The languages include: *Kei–Tanimbar **Kei–Fordata *** Kei *** Fordata **Yamdena–North Bomberai ***

Yamdena Yamdena (spelled Jamdena during the Dutch colonial period) is the largest of the Tanimbar Islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. Saumlaki is the chief town, located on the south end of the island. The island has a range of forested hill ...

***North Bomberai **** Onin **** Sekar **** Uruangnirin Grimes & Edwards add the following languages, previously ''

incertae sedis or is a term used for a taxonomy (biology), taxonomic group where its broader relationships are unknown or undefined. Alternatively, such groups are frequently referred to as "enigmatic taxa". In the system of open nomenclature, uncertainty ...

'', and rename the family ''Tanimbar–Bomberai'':Charles Grimes & Owen Edwards (in process) ''Wallacean subgroups: unravelling the prehistory and classification of the Austronesian languages of eastern Indonesia and Timor-Leste
Summary presentation at the 15th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics
* Teor-Kur *Irarutu–Nabi: Irarutu, Kuri (Nabi) *Bedoanas–Erokwanas: Arguni, Bedoanas, Erokwanas

References

Languages of Indonesia Central Malayo-Polynesian languages {{austronesian-lang-stub