West Makian language
| West Makian | |
|---|---|
| Moi | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Western part of Makian island and much of Kayoa. |
Native speakers | (12,000 cited 1977) |
West Papuan?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mqs |
| Glottolog | west2600 |
| ELP | Moi (Maluku, Indonesia) |
West Makian (also known by the endonym Moi: 104 ) is a divergent North Halmahera language of Indonesia. It is spoken on the coast near Makian Island, and on the western half of that island.
West Makian has been strongly influenced by a neighboring Austronesian language or languages to the extent that it was once classified as Austronesian, as East Makian (Taba) still is. As a family-level isolate, it is not closely related to any other language. A brief description of the language can be found in Voorhoeve (1982). Much influence comes from Taba, as well as Malay, Ternate, Dutch, and potentially Portuguese.