Subdivisions ? Bima
Sumba–Manggarai | ||
Geographic
distribution Lesser Sunda Islands (Indonesia) Linguistic classification Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
Nuclear MP
(Central–Eastern)
Sumba–Flores Glottolog bima1247 (Bima)
flor1240 (Sumba–Manggarai) | ||
The Sumba–Flores languages, approximately synonymous with Bima–Sumba, are a proposed group of Austronesian languages (geographically Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages) spoken on and around the islands of Sumbawa (eastern), Sumba, and western–central Flores in the Lesser Sundas. The main languages are Bima and Manggarai, which have half a million speakers apiece on the eastern half of Sumbawa Island and the western third of Flores, respectively, and Kambera, with a quarter million speakers on the eastern half of Sumba Island.
The Hawu language of Savu Island is suspected of having a non-Austronesian substratum, but perhaps not to any greater extent than the languages of central and eastern Flores, such as Sika, or indeed of Central Malayo-Polynesian languages in general.
Classification
Blust (2009) finds moderate support for linking Bimanese with Sumba–Manggarai.