Languages of Oceania

The branches of the Oceanic languages

  Admiralties and Yapese

  St Matthias

  Western Oceanic

  Temotu

  Southeast Solomons

  Southern Oceanic

  Micronesian

  Samoan-Polynesian

The languages of Oceania are divided into 3 large geographical groups:

• The large Austronesian language family, with such languages as Malay (Indonesian), Tagalog (Filipino), and Polynesian languages such as Māori and Hawaiian
• The variant Aboriginal Australian language families, included the big Pama–Nyungan family
• The variant Papuan language families of New Guinea and other neighbouring islands, included the large Trans–New Guinea family

Contact between the Austronesian and Papuan that resulted on various instances on mixed languages, such as Maisin and various languages. Some colonial languages include Portuguese in East Timor, Russian in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, Japanese in Ogasawara and Palau, and Spanish in Easter Island and Micronesia.

List

Primary colonial languages include:

• English in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and various territories
• French in New Caledonia, in Vanuatu, in Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia
• Hindi in Fiji
• Japanese in Palau and the Bonin Islands
• Chinese in Kiribati and Nauru
• Spanish in Easter Island, in the Federated States of Micronesia, in the Juan Fernandez Islands and the Galápagos Islands

There are also creoles that have been formed from the interactions of Malay or Indonesian, or the colonial languages with a ton of indigenous languages, such as the Tok Pisin, Bislama, Hiri Motu, various Malay or Indonesian trade and several creole languages, Norfuk, Pitkern, Pidgin, and Hawaiian.

Finally, various immigrants in other countries control their own languages, such as Mandarin, Italian, Arabic, Cantonese, Greek and various languages in Australia, and other countries, or Fiji Hindi in Fiji.