Tontemboan language

Tontemboan
Native toIndonesia
RegionNorth Sulawesi
Native speakers
(150,000 cited 1990)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3tnt
Glottologtont1239
Tontemboan Bible, by M. Adriani-Gunning and J. Regar, published in 1907 by Firma P.W.M Trap, Leiden, Holland.

Tontemboan is an Austronesian language, of northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is a Minahasan language, a sub-group of the Philippine languages.[2]

Some lexical influence originates from European and other non-Minahasan languages, such as Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Malay, and Ternate.[3]

Name and dialects

Other names and dialect names are: Makela'i-Maotow, Makelai, Matana'i-Maore', Matanai, Pakewa, Kumawangkoan, Tompakewa, Tumompaso, Sonder, and Tountemboan.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t tʃ k ʔ
voiced b d dʒ (ɡ)
Fricative s ɣ h
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant w j
  • /ɣ/ can be heard as [ɡ] in free variation.
  • /s/ may also be pronounced as [ʃ] when before front vowels.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a
  • Vowels /e/ and /u/ can have allophones of [ɛ] and [ɯ].[5]

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.[6] 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.[7]

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.

Vocabulary

English Tontemboan[8]
north monge
south meko
west mako
east mico
water rano
shower lemele
eat kuman
work tamawoy
fire api
ear lunteng
cold utiŋ
large wangkər
I aku
you angko
know -taʔu
say nuwu

Numerals

1 esa
2 rua
3 tellu
4 epat
5 lima
6 enem
7 pitu
8 wallu
9 siou
10 mapulu

References

  1. ^ Tontemboan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Liao (2008), p. 3
  3. ^ Schwarz (1908b)
  4. ^ OLAC resources in and about the Tontemboan language
  5. ^ Lomban Ticoalu, H. Th.; et al. (et al.) (1984). Struktur Bahasa Tontemboan. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
  6. ^ Sneddon (1970), p. 16
  7. ^ Bruce Wallace (Director) (2013-10-10). "When New Yorker Rose Monintja speaks her native tongue, the memories flood back". The World. Public Radio International. Retrieved 2013-10-16.
  8. ^ Sneddon (1970), pp. 20–26

Sources

  • Schwarz, J. A. T. (1907a). Tontemboansche Teksten (in Dutch). Vol. 1. 's Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.
  • Schwarz, J. A. T. (1907b). Tontemboansche Teksten (in Dutch). Vol. 2. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
  • Schwarz, J. A. T. (1907c). Tontemboansche Teksten (in Dutch). Vol. 3. 's Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff.
  • Schwarz, J. A. T. (1908a). Hoofdstukken uit de Spraakkunst van het Tontemboansch (in Dutch). Uitg. door Koninklijk Instituut voor de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië [bij] M. Nijhoff.
  • Schwarz, J. A. T. (1908b). Tontemboansch-Nederlandsch Woordenboek met Nederlandsch-Tontemboansch Register (in Dutch). E. J. Brill.
  • Liao, Hsiu-chuan (2008). "A Typology of First Person Dual Pronouns and Their Reconstructibility in Philippine Languages". Oceanic Linguistics. 47 (1): 1–29. doi:10.1353/ol.0.0002. JSTOR 20172338. S2CID 144968420.
  • Sneddon, J. N. (1970). "The Languages of Minahasa, North Celebes". Oceanic Linguistics. 9 (1): 11–36. doi:10.2307/3622930. JSTOR 3622930.
Tontemboan language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator