Tontemboan language
Tontemboan is an Austronesian language, of northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a Minahasan language, a sub-group of the Philippine languages.
Some lexical influence originates from European and other non-Minahasan languages, such as Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Malay, and Ternate.
Name and dialects
Other names and dialect names are: Makela'i-Maotow, Makelai, Matana'i-Maore', Matanai, Pakewa, Kumawangkoan, Tompakewa, Tumompaso, Sonder, and Tountemboan.
Phonology
Consonants
- /ɣ/ can be heard as [ɡ] in free variation.
- /s/ may also be pronounced as [ʃ] when before front vowels.
Vowels
- Vowels /e/ and /u/ can have allophones of [ɛ] and [ɯ].
Usage
As of 2013, an estimated 100,000 people speak the language, but it is not being passed on to children. It is used in the areas of Sonder, Kawangkoan, Tompaso, Langowan, Tumpaan, Suluun, Amurang, Kumelembuai, Motoling, Tompaso Baru, and Modoinding. Documentation of the language assembled by missionaries in the early 20th century is relatively inaccessible to Tontemboan speakers, as it is written in the Dutch language.
In 1907, Firma P.W.M Trap, Leiden, Holland published a Bible in the Tontemboan language. It was edited by Maria Lamberta Adriani-Gunning and Johannis Regar.