Lontara or lontaraq () are Bugis-Makassar
palm-leaf manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
s that record knowledge on such topics as
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
,
custom
Custom, customary, or consuetudinary may refer to:
Traditions, laws, and religion
* Convention (norm), a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted rules, norms, standards or criteria, often taking the form of a custom
* Norm (social), a r ...
, and
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
s. The term originates from the
Javanese/
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
word ''lontar'', which is the name of the palm tree ''
Borassus flabellifer
''Borassus flabellifer'', commonly known as doub palm, palmyra palm, tala or tal palm, toddy palm, wine palm or ice apple, is native to South Asia (especially in Bangladesh & South India) and Southeast Asia. It is reportedly naturalized in Socot ...
'' that provides the leaves used.
The types of lontara includes
# ''attoriolong'' (
bug) ''patturioloang'' (
mak) – history
# ''bilang'' or ''kotika'' (
bug-
mak) – characteristics of each days of the week
# ''ade'' (
bug) or ''ada'' (
mak) –
adat
# ''ulu ada'' (
bug) or ''ulu kana'' (
mak) – past treaties or texts between kingdoms or countries
# ''alopi-lopping'' (
bug) – shipping adat
# ''pangoriseng'' (
bug) or ''pannossorang'' (
mak) – genealogies of the royals.
See also
*
Lontara script
*
Buginese language
Buginese or Bugis (Buginese: ) is a language spoken by about five million people mainly in the southern part of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
History
The word Buginese derives from the word '' Bugis'' in Malay. In Buginese, it is called while the Bu ...
References
External links
Historical texts as social maps: Lontaraq bilang in early modern Makassar
Indonesian manuscripts
{{Indonesia-stub