Banggai language explained

Banggai
Region:Sulawesi
Date:2000 census
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Austronesian
Fam2:Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:Celebic
Fam4:Saluan–Banggai
Fam5:Eastern
Iso3:bgz
Glotto:bang1368
Glottorefname:Banggai

The Banggai language is the main language spoken by the inhabitants of the Banggai Archipelago off the island of Sulawesi. It belongs to the Saluan–Banggai branch of the Celebic subgroup.

Historically, Banggai was a spoken language without a long literary history. The earliest surviving manuscript in the Banggai language comes from the 19th century, the account of a Banggai fisherman who was sold into slavery by Maguindanaoan raiders in the 1860s-70s before escaping.[1]

Phonology

Consonants

LabialDental/
Alveolar
PalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Plosivevoicelesspronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
prenasal vl.pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
prenasal vd.pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Fricativepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Rhoticpronounced as /ink/
Lateralpronounced as /ink/
Approximantpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Closepronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /link/

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Velthoen, Esther Joy. "Contested Coastlines: Diasporas, Trade, and Colonial Expansion in Eastern Sulawesi, 1680-1905." pg. 212. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Australia: Murdoch University. Available online also at: https://www.oxis.org/theses/velthoen-2002.pdf [accessed in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia: August 10, 2018] (2002).
  2. Book: van den Bergh, J. D. . Spraakkunst van het Banggais . The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff . 1953.