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Proto-Oceanic language
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Table 54: Austronesian Family Tree (Theory 1) Classification of the Oceanic Languages
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Proto-Oceanic language

Also known as: Proto-Melanesian language, Ur-Melanesian language, Urmelanesisch language(Show More)
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Table 54: Austronesian Family Tree (Theory 1)

Proto-Oceanic is a reconstructed protolanguage within the Austronesian language family. It is considered the ancestor of all Oceanic languages, which are spoken across Oceania, including Polynesia, Micronesia (except Palauan and Chamorro), and Melanesia east of Indonesian New Guinea.12

The Oceanic hypothesis suggests these languages diverged from a single protolanguage spoken after the initial breakup of Proto-Austronesian. Linguists have identified common features in Oceanic languages, such as a tendency to use separate words for grammatical relationships and simplified sound systems compared to Proto-Austronesian. The dispersal of Proto-Oceanic speakers is archaeologically linked to the spread of Lapita pottery throughout western Oceania around 2000 BCE.1324

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4 Britannica Sources
  1. Austronesian languages - Oceanic (OC)
  2. Austronesian languages - Phonology
  3. Oceanic languages
  4. Austronesian languages - Prehistoric inferences from subgrouping

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