Paul Sidwell (2009), in a lexicostatistical comparison of 36 languages which are well known enough to exclude loanwords, finds little evidence for internal branching, though he did find an area of increased contact between the Bahnaric and Katuic languages, such that languages of all branches apart from the geographically distant Munda and Nicobarese show greater similarity to Bahnaric and Katuic the closer they are to those branches, without any noticeable innovations common to Bahnaric and Katuic.
pˈɔːl sˈɪdwɛl tˈuː θˈaʊzənd nˈaɪn, ɪn ɐ lˌɛksɪkˌɔstɐtˈɪstɪkəl kəmpˈæɹɪsən ʌv θˈɜːɾi sˈɪks lˈæŋɡwɪdʒᵻz wˌɪtʃ ɑːɹ wˈɛl nˈoʊn ɪnˈʌf tʊ ɛksklˈuːd lˈoʊnwɜːdz, fˈaɪndz lˈɪɾəl ˈɛvɪdəns fɔːɹ ɪntˈɜːnəl bɹˈæntʃɪŋ, ðˌoʊ hiː dˈɪd fˈaɪnd ɐn ˈɛɹiə ʌv ɪŋkɹˈiːst kˈɑːntækt bᵻtwˌiːn ðə bɑːnˈæɹɪk ænd kætˈuːɪk lˈæŋɡwɪdʒᵻz, sˈʌtʃ ðæt lˈæŋɡwɪdʒᵻz ʌv ˈɔːl bɹˈæntʃᵻz ɐpˈɑːɹt fɹʌmðə dʒˌɪəɡɹˈæfɪkli dˈɪstənt mˈʌndə ænd nˈɪkəbˌɛɹs ʃˈoʊ ɡɹˈeɪɾɚ sˌɪmɪlˈæɹᵻɾi tə bɑːnˈæɹɪk ænd kætˈuːɪk ðə klˈoʊsɚ ðeɪ ɑːɹ tə ðoʊz bɹˈæntʃᵻz, wɪðˌaʊt ˌɛni nˈoʊɾɪsəbəl ˌɪnəvˈeɪʃənz kˈɑːmən tə bɑːnˈæɹɪk ænd kætˈuːɪk.