Sulawesi Language Alliance

Championing Local Languages in the Heart of Indonesia

Language Group

Overview
ISO 639-3: 
wow
Alternate Names: 
Wawoni'i, Wawoni, Wowoni, Boboni, Wawony, WaWony, Wawany, Wargay, Waxway
Dialects: 
Wawonii; Menui (Manui, Manoei, Menoei)
Population: 
30000 (2004)
Microgroup: 
Province: 
Southeast Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi
Overall Vitality: 
4/Vulnerable

Location

The Wawonii language is spoken on the island of Wawonii in Southeast Sulawesi and on the smaller island of Menui just to its north, located in the province of Central Sulawesi. The name Wawonii means ‘coconut mountian.’

Dialects

Wawonii comprises two dialects, one spoken on the island of Wawonii and the other spoken on the island of Menui. While these dialects are very similar in terms of word stock, a conspicuous difference is the bilabial fricative. On Wawonii this sound is always voiced [β ~ w] and spelled with a w (e.g. wuku ‘bone,’ owose ‘big’) but on Menui it is usually pronounced with a voiceless quality [ɸ] and written f (fuku ‘bone,’ ofose ‘big’)—a feature which Menui shares in common with certain Bungku dialects (Mead 1999).

Classification

Wawonii is the central member of a language chain which stretches from Bungku in the north to Kulisusu in the south. In a lexicostatistical study, Wawonii was calculated to be 75% similar in basic vocabulary wih both languages, while Bungku and Kulisusu—at the ends of the chain—scored only 65% lexically similar with each other (Mead 1999:45).

Population

Andersen (2006:4) estimated 30,000 speakers of Wawonii or, broken down by dialect, 22,500 on the island of Wawonii and 7,500 on the island of Menui.

References

Andersen, T. David. 2006. Suku bahasa di Sulawesi Tenggara. Unpublished typescript, 11 pp.

Mead, David E. 1999. The Bungku-Tolaki languages of south-eastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Pacific Linguistics, D-91.) Canberra: Australian National University.

Vitality

Summary

 

Discussion

Following visits to Wawonii and Menui islands in 1988, Mead (1999:47) reported vigorous language use. Based on recent investigations in two Wawonii villages, however, Andersen appraises the language instead as 4/Vulnerable (David Andersen 2011:pers.comm.).

What Others Have Written

Mead (1999:47)

Language use is vigorous, and Wawonii can be heard in all locations, including mosques and government offices. Traditional Wawonii songs and dances are still performed. On Menui Island, even second-generation Bugis immigrants know the local language. 

References

Mead, David E. 1999. The Bungku-Tolaki languages of south-eastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Pacific Linguistics, D-91.) Canberra: Australian National University.

Documentation

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