Glottolog sumb1242 | Subdivisions SavuSumba Island | |
Linguistic classification AustronesianMalayo-Polynesian (MP)Nuclear MPCentral–Eastern MPSumba–FloresSumba | ||
The Sumba languages are a group of clearly related Central Malayo-Polynesian languages.
The most widely spoken Sumba language is 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 a greater extent that other languages of central and eastern Flores, such as Sika, or indeed of Central Malayo-Polynesian in general.
Classification
The Sumba languages are all closely related. Blust (2009) found full support for linking Sumba with Hawu, the most divergent language.
References
Sumba languages Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA