Celebic languages
The Celebic languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages spoken on the 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.Subgrouping
David Mead classifies the Celebic languages as follows.
- Tomini–Tolitoli
- Kaili–Pamona
- Wotu–Wolio
- Eastern
- *Saluan–Banggai
- *Southeastern
- **Bungku–Tolaki
- **Muna–Buton
Position within Austronesian
At the current stage of research, the Celebic languages are considered to make up a primary branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup within the Austronesian language family.Proto-Celebic
David Mead lists the following sound changes for Proto-Celebic and its subgroups.
1. Proto-Malayo-Polynesian to Proto-Celebic
- *C1C2 > *C2
- *h > Ø
- *d > *r
- *ay, *-ey > *e
- *-aw, *-ew > *o
- *j > *y, Ø
2. Proto-Celebic to Proto-Eastern Celebic
- *e > *o
- *-iq > *eq
- antepenultimate *a > *o
3. Proto-Eastern Celebic to Proto-Saluan–Banggai
- *-awa- > *oa
- *-b, *-g > *p, *k
- *q > *ʔ
4. Proto-Eastern Celebic to Proto-Southeastern Celebic
- *-w- > Ø
- *s > *s, *h
- *Z > *s
- *ñ > n
- *b > *b, *w
5. Proto-Southeastern Celebic to Proto-Bungku–Tolaki
- *q > *ʔ
- *w- > *h
- *ʀ > Ø initially and contiguous to *i
6. Proto-Southeastern Celebic to Proto-Muna–Buton
