Muna–Buton languages

The Muna–Buton languages are a group of languages spoken on the islands of Muna and Buton off the coast of South East Sulawesi province, Indonesia. They belong to the Celebic subgroup of the Austronesian family.^[1]

Muna–Buton
Geographic distribution	Sulawesi
Linguistic classification	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Celebic Muna–Buton
Proto-language	Proto-Muna-Buton
Subdivisions	Nuclear Muna–Buton Tukang Besi–Bonerate
Glottolog	muna1246

Internal classification

The Ethnologue classifies the Muna–Buton languages as follows, based on van den Berg (2003) and Donohue (2004):^[2][3]

• Nuclear Muna–Buton
  • Buton
    • East Buton: Lasalimu, Kumbewaha
    • West Buton: Cia-Cia
  • Munan
    • Busoa
    • Munic
      • Kaimbulawa
      • Western Munic: Liabuku, Muna (Wuna), Pancana, Kioko
• Tukangbesi–Bonerate: Tukang Besi, Bonerate

In earlier classifications, Wolio, spoken in the city of Baubau (seat of the court of the former Sultanate of Buton) and its immediate surroundings, and Laiyolo, spoken in the southern part of Selayar Island, were also included in the Muna–Buton group,^[4][5] but Donohue (2004) has shown that they form a distinct subgroup of their own, Wotu–Wolio, which also includes Wotu, spoken at the northern shore of the Bone Gulf.^[3]

Reconstruction

Proto-Muna–Buton
Reconstruction of	Muna–Buton languages
Reconstructed ancestors	Proto-Austronesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Celebic

Proto-Muna–Buton has been reconstructed by van den Berg (2003).^[2]

Phonology

Vowels

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

Consonants

			Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	plain	*p	*t		*k	*q
		prenasalized	*mp	*nt		*ŋk
	voiced	plain/implosive	*ɓ	*ɗ		*g
		prenasalized	*mb	*nd		*ŋg
Fricative	voiceless	plain		*s				*h
		prenasalized		*ns
	voiced						*R
Nasal			*m	*n		*ŋ
Trill				*r
Lateral				*l
Approximant			*w		*y

Vocabulary

Van den Berg proposes around 30 lexical innovations for Proto-Muna–Buton, e.g., *ɓeka 'cat', *kaɓi 'throw away', *kenta 'fish', *kompa 'eel', *potu 'head', *weŋke 'split open (fruit)', *woru 'under'.^[2]

References

1. 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)
2. van den Berg, René (2003). "The place of Tukang Besi and the Muna-Buton languages". In Lynch, John (ed.). Issues in Austronesian historical phonology. Pacific Linguistics 550. Canberra: Australian National University. pp. 87–114. doi:10.15144/PL-550.87.
3. Mark Donohue. (2004). "The pretenders to the Muna-Buton group". In John Bowden and Nikolaus Himmelmann (eds.), Papers in Austronesian subgrouping and dialectology, 21-35. Canberra: Australian National University.
4. Esser, S.J. (1938). "Talen". Atlas van Tropisch Nederland. Blad 9a. Batavia: Topografische Dienst.
5. Noorduyn, J. (1991). "The Languages of Sulawesi". In H. Steinhauer (ed.). Papers in Austronesian linguistics. Pacific Linguistics A-81. Canberra: Australian National University.

External links

• "Muna-Buton" at Ethnologue (23rd ed, 2020).