In linguistics, Melanesian is an obsolete term referring to the Austronesian languages of Melanesia: that is, the Oceanic, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, or Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages apart from Polynesian and Micronesian.
A typical classification of the Austronesian languages ca.
1970 would divide them into something like the following branches:[1] It is now known that the Melanesian languages do not form a genealogical node: they are at best paraphyletic, and very likely polyphyletic; like Papuan, the term is now used as one of convenience, and sometimes placed in scare quotes.
By one count, there are 1,319 languages in Melanesia, scattered across a small amount of land.
Most notable among these are Indonesian, Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama, and Papuan Malay.