Tombulu, also known as Minahasan language, is an
Austronesian language of northern
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 ...
in Indonesia. It is a
Minahasan language, a sub-group of the
Philippine languages
The Philippine languages or Philippinic are a proposed group by R. David Paul Zorc (1986) and Robert Blust (1991; 2005; 2019) that include all the languages of the Philippines and northern Sulawesi, Indonesia—except Sama–Bajaw (language ...
.
It is a local language of the
Minahasa people
The Minahasans (alternative spelling: Minahassa) are an ethnic group native to the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia, formerly known as North Celebes. The Minahasa people sometimes refer to themselves as Manado people. Although the Minahasan p ...
spoken in the city of
Tomohon and in the villages under the Kota Tomohon administration such as Rurukan, Pinaras, Kumelembuai, Woloan, and Tara-Tara. It is also spoken in the villages under the administration of the
Minahasa Regency
Minahasa Regency is a regency in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Its capital is Tondano. It covers an area of 1,141.64 km2 and had a population of 310,384 at the 2010 Census; this rose to 347,290 at the 2020 Census.
Several cities and regencies r ...
in the Tombulu district, Tombariri district, Pineleng district, and two villages in the Sonder district, namely Rambunan and Sawangan.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
Vocabulary
The Tombulu language is unique among the Minahasan languages in its pronunciation of the letter . In the other four Minahasan languages the letter is pronounced as is, but in Tombulu it is pronounced like the of the English language.
For example: , meaning 'white', would be pronounced as '.
Phrases & examples
Status
The Tombulu language is in critical need of revitalization. It is not being spoken as a first language in highly populated areas such as Tomohon, Pineleng, and Tanawangko. Traditionally Tombulu-speaking villages such as Woloan, Tara-Tara, Lolah, and Lemoh are not so today. The Board of Education of the Indonesian government has not offered any help either to the Tombulu language or any other local languages that are in decline. It is responsible for the removal of the from the daily curriculum of all grade schools across the nation in the past few years. , if available, is a daily class which most provinces in Indonesia use to teach the new generations the local languages.
Tombulu is still spoken in villages such as Kayawu, Rurukan, Kumelembuai, Pinaras, Suluan, Kembes, Tombuluan, Rumengkor, Kali, Tondangow, Sawangan, and Rambunan all the way to the children. Once every month, it is used in sermons in local churches.
At the beginning of 2013, an Indonesian-Tombulu dictionary was first released. A New Testament version of the Bible in Tombulu language was released in November 2018.
References
Languages of Sulawesi
Minahasan languages
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