Taeʼ language

Taeʼ
Basa Taeʼ
Native toIndonesia
RegionSouth Sulawesi
EthnicityToala
Luwu
Native speakers
270,000 (2010 census)
DialectsNortheast Luwu
South Luwu
Rongkong
Bua
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3rob
Glottologtaee1237
  Distribution of the Tae' language in the Toraja language group in South Sulawesi

Taeʼ is a language spoken in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It belongs to the Austronesian language family and is one of the languages of the ten tribes[citation needed] that inhabit the Tana Luwu region of South Sulawesi. The Taeʼ language is used by most of the inhabitants of the three regencies of Tana Luwu (Luwu Regency, North Luwu Regency, and East Luwu Regency), and the city of Palopo. Taeʼ is part of the South Sulawesi group of languages. It is closely related to Toraja, and more distantly to Mandar, Massenrempulu, and Mamuju. Taeʼ is used as a lingua franca from south of the border with Buriko Wajo Regency to Malili East Luwu Regency, as well as in Tana Toraja and Massenrempulu.

Naming

Other names for the Tae’ language include Toala’, Luwu, East Toraja, Sada, Toware, Sangngalla’, Tae’-Tae’, the Rongkong dialect, or Rongkong Kanandede. People within Tanah Luwu itself refer to the language differently depending on the region. In the southern part of Luwu (specifically Luwu Regency), the dominant term is *Bahasa Luwu'*. The term *Tae'* is also used—though less widely than in the north—with people in the southern areas often preferring to reduplicate the term as *Tae'-Tae'*.

This variation in naming—between *Tae'* and *Luwu'*—is further complicated by the fact that the term *Luwu'* is sometimes used to refer to the Bugis in Tana-Luwu (particularly those originating from the north), whereas the term used in the south is simply *Bugis*. According to Vail, using *Tae'* as the overarching term for this group of language dialects is considered appropriate.

Diagram showing the relationships between language varieties/dialects within the Tae' language based on lexical similarity percentages.

Classification

Affiliation

The Tae' language is part of the Austronesian language family, specifically the South Sulawesi branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subfamily; it belongs to the northern group, which also includes the Toraja-Sa'dan, Mamasa, and Kalumpang languages[citation needed]. Tae' is a language of South Sulawesi and shares similarities with Toraja-Sa'dan, particularly in terms of lexicon. Lexical similarity stands at 92% among its own dialects (Rongkong, Northeast Luwu, South Luwu, Bua, Toala', Palili') and 80% with Toraja-Sa'dan.

Dialects

The Tae' language has several dialects, including:

  • Bua (spoken in Bua, Ponrang, Bupon, and parts of Palopo)
  • Northeast Luwu (spoken in Bone-Bone)
  • South Luwu (spoken in Belopa, Bajo, Suli, and surrounding areas)
  • Rongkong (spoken in Rongkong, Baebunta, Sabbang, Masamba, and surrounding areas)

The following table shows vocabulary differences among Tae' dialects:

Vocabulary Differences in Tae' (+Toraja, Duri)
Language Dialect Go Leg/Foot Bathe Morning Banana Vegetable Above/Up Below/Down Sand Intestine Red
Tae' Bua ingka aje minjio makale loka bukkaju jao jiong bone parru maeja
South Luwu manjo aje minjio makale punti utang jao jiong kassi parru mararang
Northeast Luwu lao * * * * * * * * *
Rongkong vale/wale lettek mindio melambi putti * yao * * isi tambuk mararang
Duri language male aje menjio makale punti utan jao jiong kassiq tambuk malea
Toraja-Sa'dan language male lentek mendioq melambiq punti utan dao diong kassiq tambuk mararang

Demographics and distribution

The people of Luwu currently remain active in communicating using the Tae’ language. Tae’ is most widely spoken in Luwu Regency and Palopo City. Conversely, usage of the Tae’ language is less common in North Luwu Regency and East Luwu Regency due to the presence of migrants who speak other regional languages—such as Bugis, Wotu, Balinese, Bawa, Sundanese, and others. In addition to these regional languages, Indonesian is also used for communication, particularly in the many immigrant settlements inhabited by people from outside the island of Sulawesi. There are approximately 250,000 speakers of this language (1992 SIL). *Ethnologue* classifies the Tae' language as Level 5 (Developing) on the EGIDS scale, indicating that the language is still commonly used in face-to-face conversation across all generations and its situation is sustainable.

Phonology

Vocals

Tae' language has five types of phoneme vowels, namely /a e i u o/.

1. Vowels
Front Middle Behind
Closed i u
Currently e o
Open a

Consonants

The Tae' language has eighteen types of phonemes consonants.

2. Consonant
Labial Dental/
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ⟨ny⟩ ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Inhibit voiceless p t c k ʔ ⟨ʼ⟩
voiced b d ɟ ⟨j⟩ ɡ
Hissing s
Lateral l
Vibrating r
Semivocal j ⟨y⟩ w

Grammar

Pronouns

The Tae’ language features four types of pronominal forms: proclitics, enclitics, possessive enclitics, and free pronouns. Tae’ exhibits morphological ergativity.

4. Personal pronouns
Gloss Free pronouns

(PRO)

 Proclitic

(ERG)

 Enclitic

(ABS)

 Owned bookmark

(POSS)

1SG me my= =naʼ ≡ku
1PL EXCL we ki= =right ≡ta
1PL INCL/2POL us ta= =ki ≡ta
2FAM iko mu= =ko/=kun ≡mu
3 he na= =i ≡na
(1)
Sulei ambe'ku

sule

home

=i

=3

ambe'

father

≡ku

≡1.POSS

sule =i ambe' ≡ku

home =3 father ≡1.POSS

He (my father) is home.

References

  1. ↑ Taeʼ at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. 1 2 Vail, Ian W. 1991. Sociolinguistic survey report, Kabupaten Luwu: Report on the Rongkong-Luwu languages. In UMBAS-SIL South Sulawesi Sociolinguistic Surveys 1987-1991, 55-120. SIL Indonesia.
  3. ↑ Idawati; Tolla, Ahmad (2016). "Morphosyntax of Tae' Language (Morfosintaksis Bahasa Tae')". Journal of Language Teaching and Research. 7 (3): 492. doi:10.17507/jltr.0703.08.
  4. ↑ Garing, Jusmianti (2015). "Bentuk, Fungsi, dan Makna Eufemisme dalam Bahasa Tae'". Sawerigading Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra. 21 (1): 1–9.
  5. ↑ Nur Hidayah, Asri M. (2017). "Frasa dalam Bahasa Tae'". Sawerigading Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra. 23 (2): 195–204.
  6. ↑ Eberhad, David M. (2020). "Tae'". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
  7. 1 2 Garim, Idawati; Garing, Jusmiati; Ridwan, M. (2019). Phonological structure, morphology and syntax of Tae' language. Makassar: State University Publishing Agency Makassar.
  8. 1 2 Ibrahim, Gufran Ali (2013). "Tiga tataran ergativitas dalam Bahssa Tae'". Linguistik Indonesia. 31 (1). Masyarakat Linguistik Indonesia: 15–41.