Talk:Tambora language

classification
Can't really say this in the article, w/o a ref, but Tambora is unlikely to be related to the Papuan languages of Timor. One lookalike in 'hand' could easily be coincidence, and since the Timor languages are relatively recent arrivals to the area (from the east), Tambora would have had to have split with them just as recently, or more so. That would leave more evidence than a single word, unless we were just really unlucky w the words recorded (or they were transcribed so badly as to be unrecognizable, though with a probable rather simple sound system, that's unlikely). It might be related to the languages of Halmahera, also relatively recent arrivals from the east. That possibility has not been investigated. But it could simply be what it looks like - a language isolate, the sole survivor of the indigenous languages of central Indonesia. Whether we'd want to call that "Papuan" or not is moot. — kwami (talk) 02:22, 1 June 2018 (UTC)