North Halmahera languages
The North Halmahera (NH) languages are a family of languages spoken in the northern and eastern parts of the island of Halmahera and some neighboring islands in Indonesia. The southwestern part of the island is occupied by the unrelated South Halmahera languages, which are a subgroup of Austronesian. They may be most closely related to the languages of the Bird's Head region of West Papua, but this is not well-established.
| North Halmahera | |
|---|---|
| Halmaheran | |
| Geographic distribution | Maluku Islands, Indonesia |
| Linguistic classification | West Papuan or independent language family
|
| Glottolog | nort2923 |
Map of the North Halmahera languages. | |
The best known North Halmaheran language is Ternate (50,000 native speakers), which is a regional lingua franca and which, along with Tidore, were the languages of the rival medieval Ternate and Tidore sultanates, famous for their role in the spice trade.
Most of these languages are very closely related to each other, and their family status is well-demonstrated. West Makian stands out as an isolate. Their external links remain unclear. While genealogically distinct from most languages of Indonesia, they all show evidence of extensive contact with the dominant Austronesian language family.
Some of the North Halmahera languages are characterized by their elaborate morphological structures. Others exhibit deep external influence, having shifted to a more Austronesian-type grammar as a consequence of prolonged contact.