Gorontalo–Mongondow languages

The Gorontalo–Mongondow languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Gorontalo–Mongondow
Geographic distribution	Gorontalo, parts of North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi provinces, Indonesia
Linguistic classification	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Philippine Greater Central Philippine Gorontalo–Mongondow
Proto-language	Proto-Gorontalo–Mongondow
Subdivisions	Gorontalic Mongondowic
Language codes
Glottolog	goro1257

Languages

The Gorontalo–Mongondow languages are divided into two branches:^[1]

• Gorontalo–Mongondow^[2]
  • Gorontalic
    • Bolango
    • Buol
    • Bintauna
    • Gorontalo
    • Kaidipang
    • Lolak
    • Suwawa
  • Mongondowic
    • Mongondow
    • Ponosakan

Classification

Similarities between Mongondow and the languages of the Philippines were already recognized in the first half of the 20th century.^[3] Noorduyn (1982) presented phonological and morphological evidence for a close connection between Gorontalo and Mongondow,^[4] while the full extent of the subgroup including all other Gorontalic languages was established by Usup (1986).^[1] Blust (1991) has shown that the Gorontalo–Mongondow languages link up with many languages of the central and southern Philippines in the Greater Central Philippine subgroup.^[5] The following table exemplifies the close relationship, listing Greater Central Philippine innovations which are found in Mongondow (representing the Gorontalo–Mongondow languages) and Tagalog (the northernmost member of the Greater Central Philippine subgroup):

Mongondow	Tagalog	Meaning
modaliʔ-daliʔ	madalíʔ	'quick'
modolom	madilím	'dark'
duguʔ	dugóʔ	'blood'
obuʔ	ubó	'cough'
pugad	púgad	'nest'
tapaʔ	sápaʔ	'brook'
tubig	túbig	'water'

Reconstruction

Proto-Gorontalo–Mongondow
Reconstruction of	Gorontalo–Mongondow languages
Reconstructed ancestors	Proto-Austronesian Proto-Malayo-Polynesian Proto-Philippine

The lexicon and phonology of Proto-Gorontalo-Mongondow has been reconstructed by Usup (1986).^[1] Proto-Gorontalo-Mongondow pronouns have been reconstructed by Lobel (2011).^[6]

Sound changes

Initial sound changes from Proto-Greater Central Philippine:^[7]

• *ə > *o
• *N[-hom.]P > *N[+hom.]P
• in reduplications *C¹C² > *C²
• *a > *o in the first syllable of reduplications

Modern outcomes in Gorontalo-Mongondowic languages

Gorontalic							Mongondowic
Gorontalo	Buol	Kaidipang	Suwawa	Atinggola	Bolango	Bintauna	Mongondow	Ponosakan
*ay > e							*ay > oy
*aw > o							*aw > ow
*iw > i							*iw > uy
*C# > Co[8]
*b / _*u > h	*b / _*u > v
*a / _# > o
*n# > ∅, lo, ngo[9]	*n# > ∅, n, ng[10]	*n# > ∅
*o > u / {*b, *d, *g}_
*a > o / *b_	*a > o / {*b, *d, *g}_
*a > e / {*d, *g}_
*mb, *nd > m, n
	*ŋg > ng[11]
*s > t			*s > t				*s > t[12]
*P[-voice] > P[+voice] / *N_
*#V > wV[13]			*#V > wV[13]	*#V > wV
*#i > yi			*#i > yi
*k > ʔ[14]			*k > ʔ[14]
*r > l		*r > h
*n > l
*s > d / *N_		*s > j / *N_
*g > h[15]						*g > k
						*b > v, *d > r[15]

See also

• Languages of Sulawesi
• Minahasan languages
• Sangiric languages

References

1. Usup, Hunggu Tadjuddin (1986). Rekonstruksi Proto-Bahasa Gorontalo-Mongondow [Proto-Gorontalo-Mongondow Language Reconstruction] (Doctoral thesis) (in Indonesian). Universitas Indonesia.
2. Moseley, Christopher (2008). Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-1357-9640-2.
3. Esser, S.J. (1938). "Talen". Atlas van Tropisch Nederland [Atlas of Tropical Netherlands] (in Dutch). Blad 9a. Batavia: Topografische Dienst.
4. Noorduyn, J. (1982). "Sound Changes in the Gorontalo Language". In Halim, A.; Carrington, L.; Wurm, S.A. (eds.). Papers from the Third International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Vol. 2: Tracking the travellers. Pacific Linguistics, C-75. Canberra: Australian National University. pp. 241–261. doi:10.15144/PL-C75.241. hdl:1885/145067. ISBN 978-0-85883-275-6.
5. Blust, Robert (1991). "The Greater Central Philippines Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. 30 (2): 73–129. doi:10.2307/3623084. JSTOR 3623084.
6. Lobel, Jason (2011). "Pronominal Number in Mongondow-Gorontalo". Oceanic Linguistics. 50 (2): 543–550. doi:10.1353/ol.2011.0029. JSTOR 41337067.
7. Sneddon, James N.; Usup, Hunggu Tadjuddin (1986). "Shared sound changes in the Gorontalic language group: Implications for subgrouping". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 142 (4): 407–26. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003347. JSTOR 27863783.
8. Buol originally has the epenthetic vowel -o, but now often reverted by apocope.
9. Modern reflexes are inconsistent, the most common is -∅, and the least common is -ngo.
10. Modern reflexes are inconsistent, the most common is -n, and the least common is -ng.
11. As in the orthography, pronounced the same as ŋ.
12. Possibly except before -i-
13. Except *i, see below.
14. Non-phonemic word-initially. Did not happen after nasals.
15. Did not happen after nasals.