Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup

E34674

branch of the Austronesian language family language subgroup

The Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup is a branch of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily by maritime Sama-Bajau peoples across the southern Philippines, eastern Malaysia, and parts of Indonesia.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Sama–Bajaw languages	11
Sama-Bajaw languages	3
Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup canonical	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T200748 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup
Context triple: [Austronesian languages, hasSubfamily, Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup]

A. Bisayan languages subgroup
The Bisayan languages subgroup is a branch of the Austronesian language family comprising closely related languages spoken primarily in the Visayas and parts of Mindanao and Luzon in the Philippines.
B. Muna–Buton languages
The Muna–Buton languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in southeastern Sulawesi and nearby islands in Indonesia.
C. Timor–Babar languages
The Timor–Babar languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily on Timor and nearby islands in eastern Indonesia, noted for their complex phonologies and diverse grammatical structures.
D. Danao languages
The Danao languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in the southern Philippines, including languages such as Maranao, Maguindanaon, and Iranun.
E. Central Banda languages
The Central Banda languages are a group of closely related Banda languages spoken primarily in the Central African Republic and neighboring regions of central Africa.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup
Target entity description: The Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup is a branch of the Austronesian language family spoken primarily by maritime Sama-Bajau peoples across the southern Philippines, eastern Malaysia, and parts of Indonesia.

A. Bisayan languages subgroup
The Bisayan languages subgroup is a branch of the Austronesian language family comprising closely related languages spoken primarily in the Visayas and parts of Mindanao and Luzon in the Philippines.
B. Muna–Buton languages
The Muna–Buton languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in southeastern Sulawesi and nearby islands in Indonesia.
C. Timor–Babar languages
The Timor–Babar languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily on Timor and nearby islands in eastern Indonesia, noted for their complex phonologies and diverse grammatical structures.
D. Danao languages
The Danao languages are a subgroup of Austronesian languages spoken primarily in the southern Philippines, including languages such as Maranao, Maguindanaon, and Iranun.
E. Central Banda languages
The Central Banda languages are a group of closely related Banda languages spoken primarily in the Central African Republic and neighboring regions of central Africa.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	branch of the Austronesian language family ⓘ language subgroup ⓘ
associatedWith	maritime communities ⓘ sea nomadism ⓘ
ethnicallyAssociatedWith	Sama-Bajau peoples ⓘ surface form: Bajau people Sama people ⓘ
geographicDistribution	Celebes Sea ⓘ surface form: Celebes Sea region Sulu Archipelago ⓘ Sulu Sea ⓘ surface form: Sulu Sea region coastal Borneo ⓘ coastal Mindanao ⓘ
hasAlternativeName	Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup ⓘ surface form: Sama-Bajaw languages Sama–Bajau language group ⓘ Bajau language ⓘ surface form: Sama–Bajau languages
hasCharacteristic	high dialect diversity ⓘ strong maritime lexical domain ⓘ widespread bilingualism with neighboring languages ⓘ
hasNotableLanguage	Bajau language ⓘ Central Sama ⓘ Kota Belud Bajau ⓘ Mapun ⓘ Pangutaran Sama ⓘ Pangutaran Sama ⓘ surface form: Sama Pangutaran Sama language ⓘ Sibutu Sama ⓘ Southern Sama ⓘ West Coast Bajau ⓘ Yakan ⓘ
hasWritingSystem	Latin script ⓘ
historicallyUsedScript	Arabic script ⓘ Jawi script ⓘ
languageFamily	Malayo-Polynesian languages ⓘ
partOf	Austronesian languages ⓘ surface form: Austronesian language family
region	Maritime Southeast Asia ⓘ
relatedTo	Bornean languages ⓘ Philippine languages ⓘ
spokenBy	Sama-Bajau peoples ⓘ
spokenIn	Labuan ⓘ Sabah ⓘ Sulawesi region ⓘ eastern Indonesia ⓘ East Malaysia ⓘ surface form: eastern Malaysia parts of Indonesia ⓘ southern Philippines ⓘ
subclassOf	Austronesian languages ⓘ
usedBy	boat-dwelling populations ⓘ fishing communities ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (15)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Austronesian languages → hasSubfamily → Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup ⓘ

Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup → hasAlternativeName → Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup ⓘ

this entity surface form: Sama-Bajaw languages

Iranun → neighboringLanguage → Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup ⓘ

this entity surface form: Sama-Bajaw languages

Bornean languages → includesLanguage → Sama–Bajaw languages subgroup ⓘ