Relating to a large language family spoken across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, including languages like Tagalog, Malay, and Hawaiian.
From austro- (southern) + -nesian (relating to islands). Linguists coined this term to describe the world's most geographically dispersed language family, spanning 3,000 miles.
Austronesian speakers can travel from Madagascar to Easter Island speaking related languages—this family spread across the ocean before European navigation, representing one of history's greatest human migrations.
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