Page 184 - THE MELANESIA DIASPORA FILE CETAK ISI 10022017

the relationship is thought to be between any two compared languages. The smaller the
percentage of similarity of the basic vocabulary, the more distant the relationship between
the two languages if both exist at the level of language group. Similarity of vocabulary is
assumed to show that the languages are related at the level of dialect or possibly language
sub-group while a small percentage of vocabulary similarity indicates that the compared
languages exist at the level of language.
The non-Austronesian language group according to Grimes and Grimes (1984: 48)
is a phylum of West Papuan which is classified as a language group.40 In North Maluku,
the non-Austronesian language group is represented by: (1) the super stock language
group of North Halmahera (North Halmahera is also used to refer to the language group),
and (2) the super stock language group of West Makian. The super stock is a group of
languages from the same group, namely Papua Barat. In other words, when we talk about
northern Halmahera, it can mean a super stock or it can also mean a group of languages
a stock. According to Grimes and Grimes (1984: 47), West Makian language classifications
remain controversial. West Makian is classified as a super stock separate from the North
Halmahera super stock. However, Watuseka and Voorhoeve (date) argue otherwise. Both
of them classify West Makian within the North Halmahera stock.
If we look back to a classification according to Grimes & Grimes (date), North Halmahera
as a language group is divided into six sub-groups: (1) Ternate-Tidore; (2) Sahu ( Sahu,
Gamkonora, and Ibu languages) a sub-group of languages from the languages of mainland
SEA; (3) Galela-Loloda; (4) Koa river languages (Modole, Pagu, and Kao); (5) Tobaru (North
and South Tobaru); and (6) Tobelo (Tobelo and Tugutil) (Grimes and Grimes, 1984: 48).
One of the defining features of non-Austronesian languages is the grammatical
structure of subject-object-verb (SOV). Others are the appearance of gender in nouns and
complex concepts of space and direction (Bowden, 2013). Some examples are given below.

A Complex Linguistic Situation: Languages in Contact
The linguistic situation in North Maluku as represented by North Halmahera languages is
complicated because of two things: first, linguistically there had been a meeting between
the Austronesian languages with non-Austronesian language group. Second, non-linguistic
factors namely socio-cultural, economic and political situation have contributed to the
linguistic complexity. This section discusses the complexities caused by linguistic factors.
In North Maluku, there are two main language areas, Austronesian which is spoken
in Southern Halmahera and non-Austronesian which is spoken in Northern Halmahera.

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