Indo-Pacific Languages - Subdivision

Subdivision

According to Greenberg, Indo-Pacific consists of fourteen families. He suggested a tentative sub-classification into seven groups, listed in bold below.

• Tasmanian
  • Tasmanian languages
• Andamanese
  • Andamanese languages (perhaps only the Great Andamanese languages)
• Nuclear New Guinea
  • Central New Guinea languages
  • Kapauku–Baliem languages
  • Highlands
  • Huon
  • North New Guinea languages
  • South New Guinea languages
  • Southwest New Guinea languages
• West Papuan
  • West New Guinea languages
  • North Halmahera languages
  • Timor–Alor languages
• East New Guinea
  • East New Guinea languages
• Northeast New Guinea
  • Northeast New Guinea languages
• Pacific
  • Bougainville languages (see East Papuan languages)
  • New Britain languages (see East Papuan languages)
  • Central Melanesian languages (see East Papuan languages)
    • Central Solomons languages
    • Santa Cruz languages (see Temotu Province)

This classification was never widely accepted, and has largely been supplanted by that of Stephen Wurm. They do not generally agree well. For example:

• Greenberg's North New Guinea family corresponds to four of Wurm's families, Sko, Sepik–Ramu, Torricelli, and the Northern branch of Trans–New Guinea;

• Greenberg's West New Guinea family corresponds to four of Wurm's, East Bird's Head, Geelvink Bay, the South Bird's Head and West Bomberai branches of Trans–New Guinea, and the Bird's Head branch of West Papuan.

The few similarities are retentions from earlier linguists' work:

• Greenberg's Northeast New Guinea family closely matches Wurm's Madang-Adelbert Range branch of Trans–New Guinea
• Greenberg's Eastern New Guinea family and Wurm's Eastern Main-Section branch of Trans–New Guinea both preserve Tom Dutton's Southeast New Guinea family.