Abstract
On solid evidence, Proto-Austronesian etyma have been reconstructed with final consonants. Just as clearly, word forms in the descendent Bungku-Tolaki languages of southeastern Sulawesi lack final consonants. The question addressed in this paper is whether various final consonants were lost prior or subsequent to the Proto-Bungku-Tolaki (PBT) stage. Based primarily on certain vowel correspondences found in the present-day languages that can be explained by positing final consonants at an earlier stage, I conclude that reflexes of nearly all Proto-Austronesian final consonants must have been maintained into PBT. Final-consonant loss is therefore an areal feature that may have proceeded along different paths in the daughter languages. Of particular note is a process in Mori Atas whereby *-R, *-j, and *-y were syllabified as -i. The results of this study contrast with Sneddon (1993), which found no convincing evidence for reconstructing PBT final consonants. Furthermore, they undercut any intimation that final-consonant loss in PBT might be used as a subgrouping argument. This paper is the first in over fifty years to bring together information - albeit incomplete - on historical sound change in this little-known subfamily
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