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Balantak language 
Summary
Balantak is an Austronesian language spoken at the head of the eastern peninsula of Sulawesi. It is classified as a member of the Saluan-Banggai branch of the Celebic subgroup. The Balantak language is the primary language of the Balantak people. Although 90% of the population are also proficient in Indonesian, the vernacular is still vigorously used in everyday contexts, and most children only speak Balantak before entering school.[2]
| Balantak | |
|---|---|
| Wurung Balantak | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Sulawesi |
| Ethnicity | Balantak people |
Native speakers | 30,000 (2000)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | blz |
| Glottolog | bala1315 |
Phonology edit
Balantak has the following phoneme inventory:[3]
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ ⟨ng⟩ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ ⟨c⟩[a] | k | ʔ ⟨'⟩ |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ ⟨j⟩[a] | g | ||
| Fricative | s | h[a] | ||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | w | j ⟨y⟩ | ||||
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ ⟨e⟩ | ɔ ⟨o⟩ | |
| Low | a |
Sequences of like vowels are phonetically realized as long vowels, e.g. toop [tɔ:p] 'cigarette', nuur [nu:r] 'coconut'.
References edit
- ^ Balantak at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ van den Berg & Busenitz (2012), p. 4
- ^ van den Berg & Busenitz (2012)
Further reading edit
- Busenitz, Robert L.; Busenitz, Marilyn J. (1991). "Balantak Phonology and Morphophonemics" (PDF). In Sneddon, James N. (ed.). Studies in Sulawesi Linguistics, Part II. NUSA 33. Jakarta: Universitas Katolik Indonesia Atma Jaya. pp. 29–47.
- van den Berg, René; Busenitz, Robert L. (2012). A Grammar of Balantak: A Language of Eastern Sulawesi. SIL e‑Books 40. Dallas: SIL International.
External links edit
- "Balantak", at World Atlas of Language Structures