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In this paper, I want to present evidence for a Kaili-Wolio subbranch of the Celebic branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup. This proposal unites languages that were assigned to two subbranches of Celebic in previous classifications, viz. Kaili-Pamona and Wotu-Wolio. An outline of the phonological history from Proto Malayo-Polynesian to Proto Kaili-Wolio and its daughter languages is presented, together with an initial corpus of Proto Kaili-Wolio reconstructions.
1. INTRODUCTION.1 Within the Austronesian language family, MalayoPolynesian (MP) is one of the established and generally accepted subgroups. Many aspects of the internal subgrouping of MP, however, are still disputed and the subject of current research. Of the two major branches proposed by Blust in his "standard" classification (e.g., Blust 2013), "Western MalayoPolynesian" (WMP) has long been known to be a "paraphyletic" grouping consisting of the MP languages that do not belong to the Central-Eastern MalayoPolynesian (CEMP) subgroup. In the most recent attempt toward a classification ofthe WMP languages, Smith (2017a) classifies the MP languages outside of the Philippines into eight primary branches (CEMP, Palauan, Chamorro, Moken, Sumatran, Western Indonesian, South Sulawesi, and Celebic), while he leaves the question open whether the Philippine languages make up a single linkage or rather multiple primary branches. Smith's classification is an important step forward from earlier schemes such as that proposed by Ross (1995), who lists twenty-four branches for the WMP languages, or that by Adelaar (2005), who lists twenty-three branches. Furthermore, it clearly shows that the rapid expansion model for the settlement of Insular South East Asia does not preclude larger subgroups in the western MP area, as has been claimed, for example, by Blench (2016).
The Celebic languages are one of the eight primary extra-Philippine MP branches in Smith's classification scheme. Celebic consists of a number of undisputed microgroups (cf. section 2); two of these, viz. Kaili-Pamona and Wotu-Wolio, share some innovations that are significant enough as to provide evidence for a Kaili-Wolio subbranch of Celebic that unites the languages previously assigned to Kaili-Pamona and Wolio-Wotu.
The study of mid- and low-order subgrouping within MP is highly important-if not prerequisite-for high-order subgrouping and is essential for getting a clearer picture of the migration of Austronesian speakers into Insular South East Asia and Oceania, which was followed by in-situ diversification...