Sula language
| Sula | |
|---|---|
| Sanana | |
| Native to | Indonesia, Maluku |
| Region | Sula Islands |
Native speakers | (20,000 cited 1983)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | szn |
| Glottolog | sula1245 |
Sula is a
Malayo-Polynesian language of the Central Maluku branch. It is related to the Buru language
.
It is definitely endangered, currently under pressure from the local variety of Malay.[2]
Sula has borrowed many lexical items from Ambonese Malay, as well as Ternate, a more dominant language of North Maluku.[2]: 141, 342–535 Dutch loans have entered the language too, perhaps through Malay and Ternate. Standard Indonesian has also been influential.[2]: 141
Mangole is sometimes listed as a distinct language.[2]: 50
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive/
Affricate |
voiceless | p | t
|
tʃ | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d
|
dʒ | ɡ | ||
| Nasal | m | n
|
ŋ | |||
Fricative
|
f | s | (ʃ) | h | ||
| Trill | r
|
|||||
| Lateral | l
|
|||||
Approximant
|
w | j | ||||
Voiced consonant sounds /b d ɡ/ may also be heard as devoiced [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊] in word-final position.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
/e/ can also be heard as [ɛ] in lax form.[2]
References
Further reading
- Bloyd, Tobias (2020). Sula: Its Language, Land, and People (PhD thesis). University of Hawai'i at Manoa. hdl:10125/69017.
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