 He proposed the term as a replacement to "Malayo-Polynesian", because he also opposed the implied exclusion of the languages of Melanesia and Micronesia in the latter name.It became the accepted name for the language family, with Oceanic and Malayo-Polynesian languages being retained as names for subgroups.The term "Austronesian", or more accurately "Austronesian-speaking peoples", came to refer the people who speak the languages of the Austronesian language family.