What is Papuan languages?
The term '''Papuan languages''' means [[language]]s of the western Pacific which are neither [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] nor [[Australian Aboriginal languages|Australian]]. That is, the term is defined negatively and does not mean a linguistic relationship. ==The languages== The majority of the Papuan languages are spoken on the island of [[New Guinea]] (which is divided between the country of [[Papua New Guinea]] and Indonesian provinces of [[Papua (Indonesian province)|Papua]] and [[West Irian Jaya]]), with a number spoken in the [[Bismarck Archipelago]], [[Bougainville Island]], and the [[Solomon Islands]] to the east, and in [[Halmahera]], [[Timor]], and the [[Alor]] archipelago to the west. One Papuan language, [[Meriam Mir language|Meriam Mir]], is spoken within the national borders of [[Australia]], in the eastern [[Torres Strait]]. The only Papuan languages with official recognition are those of [[East Timor]]. New Guinea is perhaps the most linguistically diverse region in the world. Besides the Austronesian languages, there are some 800 languages divided into perhaps sixty small language families, with unclear relationships to each other or to anything else, plus a large number of [[language isolate]]s. ==References== * {{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/67292782|title=Papuan pasts : cultural, linguistic and biological histories of Papuan-speaking peoples|date=2005|publisher=Pacific Linguistics|isbn=0-85883-562-2|location=Canberra, ACT, Australia|oclc=67292782}} ==Other websites== *[http://www.papuaweb.org/bib/hays/loc/ 2003 bibliography of languages (Papuan and Austronesian) of Indonesian Papua] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422025649/http://papuaweb.org/bib/hays/loc/ |date=2016-04-22 }} *[http://www.sil.org/pacific/png/index.asp Summer Institute of Linguistics site on languages (Papuan and Austronesian) of Papua New Guinea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707140445/http://www.sil.org/pacific/png/index.asp |date=2010-07-07 }} *[http:/