Tae is a language spoken in Tana Luwu (Land of Luwu). It is an Austronesian language of

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and one of the languages of the ten tribes that inhabit Tana Luwu, South Sulawesi. The Tae language is used by most of the inhabitants of the three regencies of Tana Luwu (

Luwu Regency Luwu Regency (Kabupaten Luwu in Indonesian) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency of South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. The administrative capital now lies at Belopa, since the former capital (Palopo) became an independent municipality (city) i ...

North Luwu Regency North Luwu Regency is a regency of South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands ...

and

East Luwu Regency East Luwu Regency is the most easterly of the twenty-one regencies in South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia. Malili is the capital of East Luwu Regency. The population of East Luwu Regency was 243,069 at the 2010 Census and 296,741 at the 2020 C ...

), and the city of

Palopo Palopo or Kota Palopo is a city located in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, and the second-largest city in the province. Until it acquired its autonomy, Palopo was the capital of Luwu Regency. The area of the city is 247.52 km2, and it had a popu ...

. ''Tae'' is part of the

South Sulawesi South Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Selatan) is a province in the southern peninsula of Sulawesi. The Selayar Islands archipelago to the south of Sulawesi is also part of the province. The capital is Makassar. The province is bordered by Central Sula ...

group of languages. It is closely related to

Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the regency of Tana Toraja ("Land of Toraja"). Most of the population is Chri ...

, and more distantly to Mandar, Massenrempulu, and Mamuju. Tae is used as a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

from south of the border with Buriko Kabupatan Wajo to Malili East Luwu regency, as well as in Tana Toraja and Massenrempulu. Since Islam as the official religion in official United Luwu, Luwu Government has made Buginese the language of introduction and Tae is the language in everyday situations.

References

Languages of Sulawesi South Sulawesi languages {{au-lang-stub