Saluan language explained

Saluan
Nativename:	Loinang
Region:	Sulawesi
Speakers:	76,000
Date:	1978
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Fam2:	Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:	Celebic
Fam4:	Saluan–Banggai
Fam5:	Saluanic
Iso3:	loe
Glotto:	salu1253
Glottorefname:	Saluan

Saluan, or Loinang after one of its dialects, is the main language of the eastern peninsula of the island of Sulawesi.

Phonology

Consonants^[1] ! colspan="2"

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	voiced	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative			pronounced as /ink/			pronounced as /ink/
Rhotic			pronounced as /ink/
Lateral			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/

In some dialects, the distinction between /l/, /r/ and /n/ is neutralized to /n/ in word-final position, as in putan 'rope' (putal in most dialects).

Vowels!!Front!Central!Back

Close	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	(pronounced as /link/)	pronounced as /link/
Open		pronounced as /ink/

The central vowel pronounced as /[ə]/ is restricted to certain dialects.

In final position, there is a phonemic distinction between long and short vowels, e.g. pronounced as //ikuː// 'tail' vs. pronounced as //siku// 'elbow'.^[2]

Notes and References

1. Book: Pamolango, Valantino . Geografi Dialek Bahasa Saluan . Manado: Universitas Sam Ratulangi . 2012.
2. Mead, David and Edy Pasanda (2015). An Initial Appreciation of the Dialect Situation in Saluan and Batui (Eastern Sulawesi, Indonesia). SIL Electronic Survey Reports 2015-013. SIL International.