The original inhabitants of Guam are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 4, 000 BC, having linguistic and cultural similarities to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The original inhabitants of Guam are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 4, 000 BC, having linguistic and cultural similarities to Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Anthropologists believe that all Polynesians have descended from a South Pacific proto-culture created by an Austronesian ( Malayo-Polynesian ) people that had migrated from Southeast Asia.

Austronesian people form the majority of the modern population.

The Sumbanese people speak a variety of closely related Austronesian languages, and have a mixture of Austronesian and Melanesian ancestry.

It was around 2500 BC that the Austronesian people started to populate the archipelago and introduced primitive ironworks technology that they had mastered to the region.

Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people, who primarily speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language with Bantu influences.

Vaγimba-" Those of the forest " in Proto – Southeast Barito ( a former Austronesian language whose modern branch called " Barito languages " includes the Malagasy language | Malagasy and the languages spoken by the Dayak people | Dayaks peoples of the Barito river in South Kalimantan | Borneo: ma ' anyan language | Ma ' anyan, Dusun Deyah, Dusun Malang, Dusun Witu, and Paku.

Factual information about the peopling of Madagascar remains incomplete, but much recent multidisciplinary research and work in archaeology, genetics, linguistics, and history confirms that the Malagasy people were originally and overwhelmingly Austronesian, native to the Indonesian archipelago.

Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people, who primarily speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language with Bantu influences.

* Adelaar, K. A ( 2006 ), " The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: Making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence ", in Adelaar, Austronesian diaspora and the ethnogenesis of people in Indonesian Archipelago, LIPI PRESS.

Taiwan was first populated by unknown peoples, then by Austronesian people.

Taiwan ( excluding Penghu ) was first populated by Austronesian people and was colonized by the Dutch, who had arrived in 1623.

* Formosan languages, the languages belonging to the Austronesian family of languages spoken by the indigenous people of the island of Formosa or Taiwan

The labourers began to develop a pidgin, drawing vocabulary primarily from English, but also from German, Malay, Portuguese and their own Austronesian languages ( perhaps especially Kuanua, that of the Tolai people of East New Britain ).

It was particularly along the north coast of New Guinea and in the islands north and east of New Guinea that the Austronesian people came into contact with these pre-existing populations of Papuan-speaking peoples, probably around 4, 000 years ago.

It is possible that from this area a very small group of people ( speaking an Austronesian language ) departed to the east to become the forebears of the Polynesian people.

Austronesian people make up the majority on the island.

Headhunting was practised by many Austronesian people in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Three to four thousand years ago, Austronesian people arrived, bringing with them domesticated pigs, chickens, dogs and obsidian tools.

The population of Surigaonon is mostly Austronesian stock, with some people of Chinese, Japanese and Arab heritage.

Chamorro ( Chamorro: Fino ' Chamoru or simply Chamoru ) is a Malayo-Polynesian ( Austronesian ) language, spoken on the Mariana Islands ( Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan ) by about 47, 000 people ( about 35, 000 people on Guam and about 12, 000 in the Northern Mariana Islands ).

Bloomfield's only other publication on an Austronesian language was an article on the syntax of Ilocano, based upon research undertaken with a native speaker of Ilocano who was a student at Yale University.

A good example of this are the Yapese who are related to Austronesian tribes in the Northern Philippines .< ref >

People who spoke Austronesian languages first arrived in Sumatra around 500 BCE as part of the Austronesian expansion from Taiwan to Southeast Asia.

Among them are several thousand Utsuls in southern Hainan province, who speak an Austronesian language ( Tsat ) related to that of the Cham Muslim minority of Vietnam, and who are said to be descended from Chams who migrated to Hainan.

People who spoke Austronesian languages first arrived in Sumatra around 500 BC, as part of the Austronesian expansion from Taiwan to Southeast Asia.

* The Austronesian family: 1 official nationality ( the Gaoshan, who speak many languages ), 1 unofficial ( the Utsuls, who speak the Tsat language but are considered Hui.

Ethnolinguistically, those Pacific Islanders who reside in Oceania are divided into two different ethnic classifications — those Austronesian peoples who speak the Oceanian languages, numbering about 2. 3 million, who occupy Polynesia, Micronesia, and most of the smaller islands of Melanesia ; and the Papuan peoples, those who speak the Papuan languages, who number about 7 million, and reside on the island of New Guinea and a few of the smaller islands of Melanesia located off the northeast coast of New Guinea.

The Minangkabau language ( autonym: Baso Minang ( kabau ); ) is an Austronesian language, spoken by the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, the western part of Riau, South Aceh Regency, the northern part of Bengkulu and Jambi, also in several cities throughout Indonesia by migrated Minangkabau, who often trade or have a restaurant.

For instance, in the Highlands, the valiha and more subdued vocal styles are emblematic of the Merina, the predominantly Austronesian ethnic group that has inhabited the area since at least the 15th century, whereas among the southern Bara people, who trace their ancestry back to the African mainland, their a cappella vocal traditions bear close resemblance to the polyharmonic singing style common to South Africa.

This indicates that Madagascar was first settled by Austronesian people from the Malay Archipelago who had passed through Borneo.

Austronesia, in historical terms, refers to the homeland of the peoples who speak Austronesian languages, including Malay, Filipino, Indonesian, Maori, Malagasy, native Hawaiian, the Fijian language and around a thousand other languages.

Years of intermarriages created the Malagasy people, who primarily speak Malagasy, an Austronesian language with Bantu influences.

* Austronesian languages appear to form comparative adverbs by repeating the root ( as in WikiWiki ), similarly to the plural noun.

Malayo-Polynesian languages are now spoken across a huge area from Madagascar to Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand, but form only one branch of the Austronesian family, the rest of whose branches are found only on Taiwan.

In 2008 an analysis, of basic vocabulary only, from the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database is contradictory in that while in part it suggests that Tongan and Samoan form a subgroup, the old subgroups Tongic and Nuclear Polynesian are still included in the classification search of the database itself.

According to linguist Robert Blust the Formosan languages form nine of the ten principal branches of the Austronesian language family, while the one remaining principal branch contains nearly 1, 200 Malayo-Polynesian languages found outside of Taiwan.

These deny that the Formosan languages form a coherent language family apart from Austronesian.

Traditional instruments reflect these widespread origins: the mandoliny and kabosy owe their existence to the introduction of the guitar by early Arab or European seafarers, the ubiquitous djembe originated in mainland Africa and the valiha — the bamboo tube zither considered the national instrument of Madagascar — directly evolved from an earlier form of zither carried with the first Austronesian settlers on their outrigger canoes.

According to, the Formosan languages form nine of the ten primary branches of the Austronesian language family.

The Ongan languages may form part of a family with Austronesian, and thus not be part of Indo-Pacific ( Blevins, 2007 ).

The Philippine languages are a 1991 proposal by Robert Blust that all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi — except Sama – Bajaw ( languages of the " Sea Gypsies ") and a few languages of Palawan — form a subfamily of Austronesian languages.

The over 200 Central-Eastern Oceanic languages form a branch of the Oceanic language family within the Austronesian languages.

Their relationship is not supported by much linguistic data: per Malcolm Ross, there is " essentially no evidence " that the Halmahera – Cenderawasih ( South Halmahera – West New Guinea ) and Oceanic families form an exclusive clade within Malayo-Polynesian, while a 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database gives the proposal a confidence level of only 58 %.

A reduced form of the family ( excluding the Meso-Melanesian languages ) was fully supported by a 2008 analysis of the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database.

The Ngero – Vitiaz languages form a linkage of Austronesian languages in northern Papua New Guinea.

Many Sanskrit loanwords are also found in Austronesian languages, such as Javanese particularly the old form from which nearly half the vocabulary is derived from the language.

The three Korap languages form a group of Austronesian languages of northern Papua New Guinea:

The 16 Schouten languages form a group of Austronesian languages in northern Papua New Guinea.

The eight Bel languages form a group of Austronesian languages of northern Papua New Guinea.

The five Nuclear Bel languages form a group of Austronesian languages of northern New Guinea.

The 17 Southwest New Britain languages form a group of Austronesian languages of southwest New Britain, Papua New Guinea.

The three Upper Markham languages form a group of Austronesian languages in northern Papua New Guinea.

The seven Lower Markham languages form a group of Austronesian languages in northern Papua New Guinea.

The six Ngero languages form a group of Austronesian languages in northern Papua New Guinea.

Indonesian is a normative form of the Malay language, an Austronesian ( or Malayo-Polynesian ) language which had been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries, and was elevated to the status of official language with the Indonesian declaration of independence in 1945, drawing inspiration from the Sumpah Pemuda ( Youth's Oath ) event in 1928.