MALAYO-POLYNESIAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Malayo-Polynesian mean? 

• MALAYO-POLYNESIAN (noun)
  The noun MALAYO-POLYNESIAN has 1 sense:

1. the branch of the Austronesian languages spoken from Madagascar to the central Pacific

  Familiarity information: MALAYO-POLYNESIAN used as a noun is very rare.

• MALAYO-POLYNESIAN (adjective)
  The adjective MALAYO-POLYNESIAN has 1 sense:

1. of or relating to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages

  Familiarity information: MALAYO-POLYNESIAN used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MALAYO-POLYNESIAN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The branch of the Austronesian languages spoken from Madagascar to the central Pacific

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

Malayo-Polynesian; Polynesian

Hypernyms ("Malayo-Polynesian" is a kind of...):

Austronesian; Austronesian language (the family of languages spoken in Australia and Formosa and Malaysia and Polynesia)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Malayo-Polynesian"):

Eastern Malayo-Polynesian; Oceanic (an eastern subfamily of Malayo-Polynesian languages)

Tongan (the Polynesian language spoken by the Tongan people)

Western Malayo-Polynesian (a western subfamily of Malayo-Polynesian languages)

• MALAYO-POLYNESIAN (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Malayo-Polynesian (the branch of the Austronesian languages spoken from Madagascar to the central Pacific)