Micronesian languages

Micronesian languages are a branch of the Austronesian language family spoken across Micronesia. They include closely related languages as well as languages shaped by contact with neighboring speech communities.

Austronesian languages: A large language family whose languages are spoken across Island Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and the Pacific. Micronesian languages form one branch of this family.
Marshallese language: A Micronesian language spoken in the Marshall Islands. It represents a major language of the eastern Caroline and Marshall region.
Proto-Micronesian language: The reconstructed ancestral language from which most Micronesian languages descend. Its reconstruction offers a model of the branch before its island communities diverged.
Polynesian languages: A branch of Oceanic languages spoken across Polynesia and in scattered communities elsewhere in the Pacific. They are neighboring Oceanic languages, but form a branch distinct from Micronesian.
Oceanic languages: A major branch of Austronesian languages spoken across the Pacific and parts of coastal New Guinea. The Micronesian branch belongs within Oceanic.
Gilbertese language: A Micronesian language spoken in Kiribati, also known as I-Kiribati. Its widespread use across Kiribati shows the branch's geographic reach.
Proto-Oceanic language: The reconstructed ancestor of Oceanic languages, spoken before their spread across the Pacific. It is the deeper linguistic ancestor behind Proto-Micronesian.
Chamorro language: An Austronesian language spoken in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, classified outside the Micronesian branch. Its location in Micronesia can obscure its separate linguistic classification.
Micronesian language family: A subgroup of Oceanic languages containing most languages indigenous to Micronesia. This narrower family groups many of the languages named on this page.
Kosraean language: A Micronesian language spoken on Kosrae in the Federated States of Micronesia. Its island concentration contrasts with languages spread across archipelagos.

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MicronesiansRelated: Their diversity reflects distinct communities rather than a single shared language.