| South Sulawesi | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Indonesia (Sulawesi, West Kalimantan) |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-South Sulawesi |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog | sout2923 |
 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.
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.
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]
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]
| Proto-South Sulawesi | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | South Sulawesi languages |
| Region | Sulawesi |
Reconstructed ancestors | |
Proto-South Sulawesi (PSS) has been reconstructed by Mills (1975a, 1975b). [8] [9]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | *i | *ɨ | *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.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | voiceless | *p | *t | *c | *k |
| voiced | *b | *d | *j | *g | |
| Fricative | voiceless | *s | |||
| voiced | *z | *ɣ | |||
| Nasal | *m | *n | *ñ | *ŋ | |
| 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]
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan. They are spoken by about 386 million people. This makes it the fifth-largest language family by number of speakers. Major Austronesian languages include Malay, Javanese, Sundanese, Tagalog, Malagasy and Cebuano. According to some estimates, the family contains 1,257 languages, which is the second most of any language family.
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia in the areas near the Malay Peninsula, with Cambodia, Vietnam and the Chinese island Hainan as the northwest geographic outlier. Malagasy, spoken in the island of Madagascar off the eastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean, is the furthest western outlier.
The Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian (CEMP) languages form a proposed branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages consisting of over 700 languages.
The Central Malayo-Polynesian languages (CMP) are a proposed branch in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The languages are spoken in the Lesser Sunda and Maluku Islands of the Banda Sea, in an area corresponding closely to the Indonesian provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and Maluku and the nation of East Timor, but with the Bima language extending to the eastern half of Sumbawa Island in the province of West Nusa Tenggara and the Sula languages of the Sula archipelago in the southwest corner of the province of North Maluku. The principal islands in this region are Sumbawa, Sumba, Flores, Timor, Buru, and Seram. The numerically most important languages are Bima, Manggarai of western Flores, Uab Meto of West Timor, and Tetum, the national language of East Timor.
The Batanic languages are a dialect cluster of the Austronesian language family. They are spoken on Babuyan Island, just north of Luzon; three of the Batanes Islands, between the Philippines and Taiwan; and on Orchid Island of southern Taiwan.
The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The most prominent member is Malay, a pluricentric language given national status in Brunei and Singapore while also the basis for national standards Malaysian in Malaysia and Indonesian in Indonesia. The Malayic branch also includes local languages spoken by ethnic Malays, further several languages spoken by various other ethnic groups of Sumatra, Indonesia and Borneo even as far as Urak Lawoi in the southwestern coast of Thailand.
Proto-Austronesian is a proto-language. It is the reconstructed ancestor of the Austronesian languages, one of the world's major language families. Proto-Austronesian is assumed to have begun to diversify c. 4000 BCE – c. 3500 BCE in Taiwan.
The Greater North Borneo languages are a proposed subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The subgroup historically covers languages that are spoken throughout much of Borneo and Sumatra, as well as parts of Java, and Mainland Southeast Asia. The Greater North Borneo hypothesis was first proposed by Robert Blust (2010) and further elaborated by Alexander Smith. The evidence presented for this proposal are solely lexical. Despite its name, this branch has been now widespread within the Maritime Southeast Asia region.
The Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages are a group of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken by the Batak and related peoples in the interior of North Sumatra and by the Nias, Mentawai people, and others on the Barrier islands off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
The Kaili–Pamona languages are a branch of the Celebic subgroup in the Austronesian language family spoken in western Central Sulawesi province, Indonesia.
The Wotu–Wolio languages are a group of closely related languages spoken in Sulawesi that belong to the Celebic subgroup of the Austronesian family.
The Celebic languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, formerly called Celebes. Almost all of the languages spoken in the provinces of Central Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi belong to the Celebic group. A few Celebic languages are located in South Sulawesi province. By number of languages, Celebic is the largest subgroup of Austronesian languages on Sulawesi.
On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, 114 native languages are spoken, all of which belong to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. With a total number of 17,200,000 inhabitants, Sulawesi displays a high linguistic diversity when compared with the most densely populated Indonesian island Java, which hosts 4–8 languages spoken by 145,100,000 inhabitants.
Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is by far the largest branch of the Austronesian language family. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian is ancestral to all Austronesian languages spoken outside Taiwan, as well as the Yami language on Taiwan's Orchid Island. The first systematic reconstruction of Proto-Austronesian ("Uraustronesisch") by Otto Dempwolff was based on evidence from languages outside of Taiwan, and was therefore actually the first reconstruction of what is now known as Proto-Malayo-Polynesian.
The Tamanic languages are a small group of languages of Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan:
Seko Padang is an Austronesian language spoken in the North Luwu Regency of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Together with Seko Tengah, Panasuan and Budong-Budong, it belongs to the Seko branch of the South Sulawesi subgroup.
The Badaic languages are a group of three closely related Austronesian languages spoken in the North Lore and South Lore districts in Poso Regency, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, viz. Bada (Bada’), Behoa (Besoa), and Napu. The three languages are 80–91% lexically similar and to a great degree mutually intelligible, but their speakers are culturally distinct.
Taliabo (Taliabu) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the island of the same name in the Moluccas of Indonesia.
Budong-Budong is an Austronesian language of Sulawesi, Indonesia, spoken in the village of Tongkou, Budong-Budong District, Central Mamuju Regency. Together with Seko Padang, Seko Tengah and Panasuan, it belongs to the Seko branch of the South Sulawesi subgroup.
The Seko languages are a group of four closely related Austronesian languages spoken in West Sulawesi and South Sulawesi provinces, Indonesia. They make up a primary branch of the South Sulawesi subgroup. The languages of the Seko branch are: Seko Padang, Seko Tengah, Panasuan and Budong-Budong.