Sasak: historical linguistics and sociolinguistics

The Sasak language, spoken by the indigenous people of Lombok Island in Indonesia, has been the subject of much debate among linguists regarding its sub-grouping within the Austronesian language family. The controversy stems from two competing proposals: Adelaar's (2005) Malayo-Sumbawan hypothesis, which places Sasak in a subgroup with Balinese and Sumbawa "Balinese-Sasak-Sumbawa (BSS)," and the alternative view put forth by Blust (2010) and Smith (2017), which includes Sasak in a larger "Western Indonesian (WIn)" subgroup. This paper aims to explore the arguments and evidence presented by both sides of the debate, analyze the implications for understanding Austronesian language history and relationships, and offer a perspective on which sub-grouping seems more persuasive based on the available data.