South Sulawesi languages

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South Sulawesi
Geographic
distribution
Indonesia (Sulawesi, West Kalimantan)
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Proto-languageProto-South Sulawesi
Subdivisions
Glottologsout2923
Map showing the distribution of the South Sulawesi languages in Sulawesi and Kalimantan

The South Sulawesi languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian language family. They are primarily spoken in the Indonesian provinces of South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi, with a small outlying pocket in West Kalimantan.

Subgrouping[edit]

Internal classification[edit]

This classification follows Grimes & Grimes (1987) and the Ethnologue.[1][2]

The position of the Tamanic languages, spoken in West Borneo, was unclear until the end of the last century. The Dutch linguist K.A. Adelaar showed that they are especially close to Buginese and thus can be included in the South Sulawesi subgroup.[3]

Zobel (2020) also classifies the Badaic languages with Seko as part of a Seko–Badaic group within the South Sulawesi branch.[4]

Notes: Italic writing indicates it is considered a dialect and not a separate language.

Position within Austronesian[edit]

At the current state of research, the South Sulawesi languages are considered to make up a primary branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup within the Austronesian language family.[5]

South Sulawesi influence in Malagasy[edit]

Adelaar (1995) suggested that the vocabulary of Malagasy, next to its basic stratum inherited from Barito and loanwords from Malay, also contains many words that are of South Sulawesi origin.[6] Further evidence was presented by Blench (2018).[7]

Reconstruction[edit]

Proto-South Sulawesi
Reconstruction ofSouth Sulawesi languages
RegionSulawesi
Reconstructed
ancestors

Proto-South Sulawesi (PSS) has been reconstructed by Mills (1975a, 1975b).[8][9]

Phonology[edit]

Vowels[edit]

Front Central Back
Close *i *u
Mid *e *o
Open *a

The Proto-South-Sulawesi vowel *ɨ is a reflex of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) *ə. It is only preserved in Buginese, in all other languages it mostly became a (but under certain circumstances also i, u, e, and rarely o).[10]

The main sources of the mid vowels are PMP *-iq/*-ay, which became *e, and *-uq/*-aw, which became *o,[11] e.g.

PMP *putiq > PSS *pute 'white'
PMP *matay > PSS *mate 'dead'
PMP *suluq > PSS *sulo 'torch'
PMP *pisaw > PSS *piso 'knife'

Consonants[edit]

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Stop voiceless *p *t *c *k
voiced *b *d *j *g
Fricative voiceless *s
voiced *z
Nasal *m *n
Lateral *l
Trill *r
Approximant *w *y

The velar fricative *ɣ only appears in final position as a reflex of PMP *R,[12] while *z only is found in medial position as a reflex of PMP *j.[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ Grimes & Grimes (1987).
  2. ^ South Sulawesi at Ethnologue (23rd ed., 2020).
  3. ^ Adelaar (1994).
  4. ^ Zobel, Erik (2020). "The Kaili–Wolio Branch of the Celebic Languages". Oceanic Linguistics. 59 (1/2): 297–346. doi:10.1353/ol.2020.0014.
  5. ^ Smith (2017), p. 474.
  6. ^ Adelaar (1995).
  7. ^ Blench (2018).
  8. ^ Mills (1975a).
  9. ^ Mills (1975b).
  10. ^ Mills (1975a), p. 262–265.
  11. ^ Mills (1975a), p. 257.
  12. ^ Mills (1975a), p. 360.
  13. ^ Mills (1975a), p. 310.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Friberg, Barbara (1991). "Ergativity, Focus and Verb Morphology in Several South Sulawesi Languages". In Harlow, Ray (ed.). VICAL 2: Western Austronesian and Ccontact Languages, Parts I and II: Papers from the Fifth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics. Auckland: Linguistic Society of New Zealand.

External links[edit]