Languages of Oceania

Native languages of Oceania fall into three major groups:

• The large Austronesian language family, with such languages as Malay (Indonesian), Tagalog (Filipino), and Polynesian languages such as Maori and Hawaiian
• The Aboriginal Australian languages, including the large Pama–Nyungan family
• The Papuan Languages of New Guinea and neighbouring islands, including the large Trans–New Guinea family

Colonial languages include English in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii and many other territories; French in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, Portuguese in East Timor, Japanese in the Bonin Islands, Spanish on Easter Island.

There are also Creoles formed from the interaction of the European and indigenous languages, such as Tok Pisin, Chavacano, various Malay Trade and Creole languages, Hawaiian Pidgin, Norfuk, and Pitkern.

Finally, immigrants brought their motherlanguages, like Italian and Greek in Australia, or Fiji Hindi in Fiji.