Introduction

This chapter sets out the scope and rationale for The Oxford Guide to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Southeast Asia. The volume takes in around 800 members of the Austronesian language family belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian branch, excluding the Malayo-Polynesian languages of the Oceanic branch spoken throughout the Pacific. The Southeast Asian triangle in which the vast majority of these Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken forms an integrated macro-area characterized by an extended history of interaction and exchange as well as by shared waves of cultural and religious change in more recent times. The volume covers all linguistic regions of the MPSEA area, incorporating the many different viewpoints on their history and typology