The Wotu–Wolio languages are a group of closely related languages spoken in
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
that belong to the
Celebic subgroup of the
Austronesian family.
Classification
The Wotu–Wolio languages comprise five languages which are grouped into three branches:
*
Kalao
Kalao, or ''Kalaotoa,'' is an Austronesian language of Kalao Island, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consis ...
–
Laiyolo, spoken on the
Selayar Islands
Selayar or Saleyer (Indonesian: ''Kabupaten Selayar'', Dutch: ''Saleijer''), is an archipelago of South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. It lies in the Flores Sea, between Sulawesi and Flores, around 150 km southeast of the major city of Makassar ...
(
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sula ...
).
*
Wolio
Wolio is an Austronesian language spoken in and around Baubau on Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs to the Wotu–Wolio branch of the Celebic subgroup. Also known as Buton, it is a trade language and the former court lang ...
–
Kamaru, spoken on
Buton Island
Buton (also Butung, Boeton or Button) is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi. It covers roughly 4,727 square kilometers in area, or about the size of Madura; it is the 129th largest island in the world and In ...
(
Southeast Sulawesi
Southeast Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Tenggara) is a province on the island of Sulawesi, forming the southeastern peninsula of that island, together with a number of substantial offshore islands such as Buton, Muna, Kabaena and Wawonii (formerly ca ...
).
*''
Wotu
Wotu is an endangered Austronesian language of South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 isl ...
'', spoken in Wotu district (
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sula ...
) at the northern shore of the
Bone Gulf.
While in earlier classifications, Wolio, Laiyolo, and later also Wotu, were included in the
Muna–Buton subgroup, Donohue (2004) has shown that based on phonological evidence, the Wotu–Wolio languages form a distinct subgroup of their own.
Mead (2003) included the Wotu–Wolio languages as one out of six branches in the
Celebic subgroup.
[Mead, David. (2003). "Evidence for a Celebic supergroup." In Lynch, John (ed.). ''Issues in Austronesian historical phonology'', pp. 115-141. Canberra: Australian National University. (Pacific Linguistics 550)]
Zobel (2020) lists the Wotu–Wolio languages, which he calls ''Southern Kaili–Wolio'', as
Ledo,
Wotu
Wotu is an endangered Austronesian language of South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 isl ...
,
Wolio
Wolio is an Austronesian language spoken in and around Baubau on Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs to the Wotu–Wolio branch of the Celebic subgroup. Also known as Buton, it is a trade language and the former court lang ...
,
Kamaru,
Kalao
Kalao, or ''Kalaotoa,'' is an Austronesian language of Kalao Island, South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consis ...
, and
Loa' (
Barang-Barang). Wolio, Kamaru, Kalao, and Loa' (Barang-Barang) make up the ''Island Kaili–Wolio'' subgroup within Southern Kaili–Wolio.
Ledo has
Kaili–Pamona morphological and grammatical features, while its lexicon is mainly of Wotu–Wolio origin.
Mamuju is traditionally classified as
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sula ...
, but has a Wotu–Wolio lexical substratum.
References
Further reading
*
External links
"Wotu-Wolio"at ''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
'' (23rd ed, 2020).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wotu-Wolio languages
Celebic languages