Following Clark (2009) and
Glottolog 4.0, three major groups can be delineated, which are
North-Central Vanuatu,
South Vanuatu, and
New Caledonian. The first group is a
linkage, while the others form genetic subgroups. •
North-Central Vanuatu •
South Vanuatu •
New Caledonian Lynch (1995) Lynch (1995) tentatively grouped the languages as follows: •
Banks–Torres family •
Northwest Santo family •
Southwest Santo family •
Sakao •
East Santo family •
Ambae–Maewo family • Nuclear Southern Oceanic linkage • Central Vanuatu linkage •
Malekula Coastal •
Malekula Interior •
Pentecost •
Ambrym–Paama • Epi–Efate •
Epi •
Shepherds–North Efate • South Efate – Southern Melanesian linkage •
South Efate dialect network • Southern Melanesian family •
Southern Vanuatu family •
New Caledonian family The non-nuclear branches are subsumed under Northern Vanuatu.
Ross, Pawley, & Osmond (2016) Ross, Pawley, & Osmond (2016) propose the following internal classification for Southern Oceanic. • Southern Oceanic linkage •
North Vanuatu linkage • Nuclear Southern Oceanic linkage •
Central Vanuatu linkage •
South Vanuatu languages •
Loyalties-New Caledonia languages ==See also==