The Barito languages are around twenty Austronesian languages of Indonesia (Borneo), plus Malagasy, the national language of Madagascar, and the Sama–Bajaw languages around the Sulu Archipelago. They are named after the Barito River located in South Kalimantan, Indonesia.
The Barito subgroup was first proposed by Hudson (1967),Hudson, Alfred B. 1967. The Barito isolects of Borneo: A classification based on comparative reconstruction and lexicostatistics. Data Paper no. 68, Southeast Asia Program, Department of Asian Studies, Cornell University. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, comprising the three branches East Barito, West Barito, and Mahakam (Barito–Mahakam). It is thought by some to be a Sprachbund rather than a genuine clade. For example, Adelaar (2005) rejects Barito as a valid group despite accepting less traditional groups such as North Bornean and Malayo-Sumbawan.
The Malagasy language originates from the South East Borneo area (modern-day Indonesia), and it has been linked to Ma'anyan within the Southeast Barito group, with Malagasy incorporating numerous Indonesian-Malay and Javanese loanwords.There are also some Sulawesi loanwords, which Adelaar attributes to contact prior to the migration to Madagascar: See K. Alexander Adelaar, “The Indonesian Migrations to Madagascar: Making Sense of the Multidisciplinary Evidence”, in Truman Simanjuntak, Ingrid Harriet Eileen Pojoh and Muhammad Hisyam (eds.), Austronesian Diaspora and the Ethnogeneses of People in Indonesian Archipelago, (Jakarta: Indonesian Institute of Sciences, 2006), pp. 8–9. It is known that Ma'anyan people were brought as labourers and slaves by Malay and Javanese people in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 AD.Kumar, Ann (2012). 'Dominion Over Palm and Pine: Early Indonesia’s Maritime Reach', in Geoff Wade (ed.), Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies), 101–122. Based on linguistic evidence, it has been suggested that Malagasy was taken to East Africa between the 7th and 13th centuries. It is likely that a separate Malagasy speech community had already formed in Borneo before the early Malagasy migrants settled in Madagascar.
Greater Barito Blust (2006) proposes that the Sama-Bajaw languages also derive from the Barito lexical region, though not from any established group,Blust, Robert. 2006. 'The linguistic macrohistory of the Philippines'. In Liao & Rubino, eds, Current Issues in Philippine Linguistics and Anthropology. pp 31–68. and Ethnologue has followed, calling the resulting group 'Greater Barito'.
Smith (2017, 2018)Smith, Alexander. 2017. The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification . PhD Dissertation: University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.Smith, Alexander D. 2018. The Barito Linkage Hypothesis, with a Note on the Position of Basap. JSEALS Volume 11.1 (2018). proposes a Greater Barito linkage with the following branches, and considers Basap to be a sister of the Greater Barito linkage, forming a Basap–Greater Barito group.
Basap–Greater Barito Basap Greater Barito Northwest Barito (Kadorih, Siang, Murung) Southwest Barito (Ngaju, Kapuas, Bakumpai) Sama–Bajaw (Yakan, etc.) Southeast Barito (Ma'anyan, Dusun Witu, Dusun Balangan, Malagasy) Central-East Barito (Dusun Malang, Dusun Bayang, Paku, Semihim) Northeast Barito (Taboyan, Lawangan, Bentian, Paser, Benuaq) Tunjung
The earlier groupings East Barito (comprising Smith's Southeast Barito, Central-East Barito and Northeast Barito) and West Barito (comprising Southwest Barito and Northwest Barito) are rejected by Smith.
West Kalimantan groups
Some Barito-speaking Dayak ethnic subgroups and their respective languages in West Kalimantan province, Indonesia:Bamba, John (ed.) (2008). Mozaik Dayak keberagaman subsuku dan bahasa Dayak di Kalimantan Barat. Pontianak: Institut Dayakologi. .Istiyani, Chatarina Pancer (2008). Memahami peta keberagaman subsuku dan bahasa Dayak di Kalimantan Barat. Institut Dayakologi.
{| class="wikitable" ! Group !! Subgroup !! Language !! Regency |- | Oruung Da'an || || Oruung Da'an || Kapuas Hulu |- | Pangin || || Pangin || Melawi |- | Uud Danum || Cihie || Cihie || Sintang |- | Uud Danum || Dohoi || Dohoi || Sintang
Phonological shifts According to Hudson (1967), all West Barito languages are attested to shift *R > *h, but this change is also found in Tunjung. Furthermore, the sound change *-b > *-p, deletion of the intervocalic glottal stop and closing of final vowels with glottal stop are also found in West Barito languages, among several other Barito subgroups. Because of this, no sound changes of even medium quality which define this subgroup exist. West Barito is therefore not unambiguously considered a subgroup according to Smith.
Understanding the East Barito languages, two sound changes define this subgroup, *z > *d and *-R > *-y. In the Barito languages of East Kalimantan, intervocalic *R has also become y. However, in Maanyan and Dusun, there is a split where *-R- became either *-h- or *-y- in reflexes. Therefore, Smith argues that the sound changes listed do not provide particularly strong evidence for subgrouping.
See also
Languages of Indonesia Overseas Indonesians Native Indonesians
References