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 List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
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–
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 Makass ...
(
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...
).
*
Wolio–
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 List of islands by area, largest is ...
(
Southeast Sulawesi
Southeast Sulawesi (, ; often abbreviated to Sultra, ), 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 Wawon ...
).
*''
Wotu'', spoken in Wotu district (
South Sulawesi
South Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...
) at the northern shore of the
Bone Gulf
__NOTOC__
The Gulf of Boni (), also known as the Gulf of Bone, Bay of Boni, and Bone Bay, is the gulf which divides the South and Southeast Peninsulas of the island of Sulawesi (Celebes) in Indonesia. It opens on the south into the Banda Sea.
E ...
.
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,
Wolio,
Kamaru,
Kalao, 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 () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province in the South Peninsula, Sulawesi, southern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital and largest ci ...
, but has a Wotu–Wolio lexical substratum.
References
Further reading
*
External links
"Wotu-Wolio"at ''
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' 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 comprehensive catalogue of languages. It w ...
'' (23rd ed, 2020).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wotu-Wolio languages
Celebic languages