Austronesian Studies
Please note: All information given on these pages is for general informational purposes only and is not legally binding. In case of any discrepancies, the information provided by the Studienbüro (Student Services Office) always takes precedence!
Austronesian is the name of a language family whose speakers are spread in Asia and the Pacific Ocean, and are found in Madagascar.
At our department, we focus on the languages and cultures of the people in Indonesia and neighboring states: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam, where Malay is spoken, and the Philippines, where Filipino is the national language.
While the focus lies on Indonesian-Malay as the first language, Thai, Vietnamese, Sanskrit, or Arabian can be taken as the second language. (Please ask the student advisor about this in advance!) In specific cases, other secondary languages – like Filipino (Tagalog) or languages from one of the other specialization branches (Thai Studies and Vietnamese Studies) – might be approved upon request.

