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 printed or reproduced in ...
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 invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
,
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, 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 vari ...
s. The term originates from the
Javanese/
Malay 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 Soco ...
'' 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
Alesis Digital Audio Tape (ADAT) is a magnetic tape format used for the recording of eight digital audio tracks onto the same S-VHS tape used by consumer VCRs.
Although it is a tape-based format, the term ''ADAT'' now refers to its success ...
# ''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
The Lontara script (), also known as the Bugis script, Bugis-Makassar script, or Urupu Sulapa’ Eppa’ "four-cornered letters", is one of Indonesia's traditional scripts developed in the South Sulawesi region. The script is primarily used to ...
*
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 Bug ...
References
External links
Historical texts as social maps: Lontaraq bilang in early modern Makassar
Indonesian manuscripts
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