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 (e.g. Wotu, Bonerate) are located in South Sulawesi province. By number of languages (but not by number of speakers), Celebic is the largest subgroup of Austronesian languages on Sulawesi.
| Celebic | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Celebic |
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | cele1242 |
Subgrouping
editInternal classification
editDavid Mead (2003a:125) classifies the Celebic languages as follows.[1][2]
- Celebic
- Tomini–Tolitoli
- Kaili–Pamona
- Wotu–Wolio
- Eastern
- Saluan–Banggai
- Southeastern
More recently, Zobel (2020) proposed that Kaili–Pamona and Wotu–Wolio form a Kaili–Wolio group, which Zobel places as a primary subgroup of Celebic. Furthermore, in Zobel's (2020) classification, Kaili–Wolio is placed as a sister to group to Tominic–Eastern Celebic, which contains Mead's (2003) Tomini–Tolitoli and Eastern Celebic groups.[3]
Position within Austronesian
editAt the current state of research, the Celebic languages are considered to make up a primary branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup within the Austronesian language family.[4]
Proto-Celebic
edit| Proto-Celebic | |
|---|---|
| Reconstruction of | Celebic languages |
| Region | Sulawesi |
Reconstructed ancestors | |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
David Mead (2003a:125) lists the following sound changes for Proto-Celebic and its subgroups.[1]
- Proto-Malayo-Polynesian to Proto-Celebic
- *C1C2 > *C2 (C1 not nasal)
- *h > Ø
- *d > *r
- *ay, *-ey > *e
- *-aw, *-ew > *o
- *j > *y, Ø
- Proto-Celebic to Proto-Eastern Celebic
- *e (schwa) > *o
- *-iq > *eq
- antepenultimate *a > *o
- Proto-Eastern Celebic to Proto-Saluan–Banggai
- *-awa- > *oa
- *-b, *-g > *p, *k
- *q > *ʔ
- Proto-Eastern Celebic to Proto-Southeastern Celebic
- *-w- > Ø
- *s > *s, *h
- *Z > *s
- *ñ > n
- *b > *b, *w
- Proto-Southeastern Celebic to Proto-Bungku–Tolaki
- *q > *ʔ
- *w- > *h
- *ʀ > Ø initially and contiguous to *i
- Proto-Southeastern Celebic to Proto-Muna–Buton
- *w > Ø
- final consonant loss (?)
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Mead, David (2003a). "Evidence for a Celebic supergroup" (PDF). In Lynch, John (ed.). Issues in Austronesian historical phonology. Pacific Linguistics 550. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 115–141.
- ^ Mead, David (2003b). "The Saluan-Banggai microgroup of eastern Sulawesi" (PDF). In Lynch, John (ed.). Issues in Austronesian historical phonology. Pacific Linguistics 550. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. pp. 65–86.
- ^ Zobel, Erik (2020). "The Kaili–Wolio Branch of the Celebic Languages". Oceanic Linguistics. 59 (1/2). University of Hawai'i Press: 297–346. doi:10.1353/ol.2020.0014.
- ^ Smith, Alexander D. (2017). "The Western Malayo-Polynesian Problem". Oceanic Linguistics. 56 (2): 435–490. doi:10.1353/ol.2017.0021.
External links
edit- Celebic languages at Ethnologue (22nd ed., 2019).
- Classification of Sulawesi languages