Musi language
Musi is a Malayic variety spoken primarily in parts of South Sumatra, Indonesia. While the name Musi in the broad sense can also refer to the wider Musi dialect network comprising both Upper Musi and Palembang–Lowland clusters, it is locally used as an endonym specific to the variety spoken in the upstream parts of Musi River.
Classification
Based on lexicostatistical analyses, mappings of sound changes, and mutual intelligibility tests, classify Malayic varieties in southern Sumatra into two dialect groups, namely 1) South Barisan Malay Musi. The Musi grouping can be further divided into two clusters: 1) Upper Musi, containing Musi Proper Palembang–Lowland, containing Palembang and Lowland subcluster.All Upper Musi lects lost Proto-Malayic *h word-medially, including between like vowels, e.g. *dahan > dan 'branch'. As with other Southern Sumatran Malayic lects, *r is sometimes reflected as and , contrasting with a velar/uvular rhotic. More uniquely, Upper Musi lects evince 1) the loss of initial *r, e.g. *rumah 'house' > umah and *rusa 'deer' > use; 2) the shift of final *-ri > -ray, e.g. *jari 'finger' > jaray and *duri 'thorn' > duray, and 3) the merger of final *-ar, *-ur, and *-ir > -, e.g. *akar 'root' > ako, *bibir 'lip' > bibo, and *kapur 'lime' > kapo. The last merger did not happen in Rawas, as it only reflects the *-ar > -o shift. In addition, while most Upper Musi lects shifted final *a > , Rawas shifted the vowel to .
Musi Proper is spoken throughout parts of Musi Banyuasin and Musi Rawas regencies in South Sumatra. Internally, it can be divided into three subdialects, namely 1) Sekayu, 2) Kelingi, and 3) Penukal, each roughly corresponding to the names of the geographical area where they are spoken. Sekayu is spoken in and around the town of Sekayu, Musi Banyuasin, and is the central variety. Kelingi is spoken in parts of Musi Rawas Regency and neighbors the Sindang Kelingi subdialect of Col to the west. Meanwhile, Penukal speech area covers most of Penukal Abab [Lematang Ilir Regency], bordering to its south the Lowland lects of Lematang Ilir and Belide, as well as the Highland lect of Benakat.