Discussion

In UNESCO’s Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger (Moseley 2010), the vitality of the Kodeoha language is given as 4/Vulnerable, and we suggest that this rating be maintained. Owen Edwards (2011:pers.comm.) reported vigorous language use among his Kodeoha contacts, but both he and Mantasiah also noted possible slippage toward Tolaki (see below). As is true of other small languages of Sulawesi, Kodeoha speakers are multilingual—other languages spoken by the Kodeoha include Indonesian, Bugis, and the Mekongga and Konawe dialects of Tolaki—and the situation will need to be monitored whether this multilingualism will remain a stable, balanced situation.

What Others Have Written

Mead (1999:78)

Kodeoha is the language of the home domain. Informants report considerable bilingualism in Bugis and Bahasa Indonesia.

Owen Edwards (2011:pers.comm.)

Kodeoha is in vigorous use. My main informant, a civil servant living in Lasusua, spoke Kodeoha exclusively to his family members regardless of age (though he himself did not yet have children), whether face to face or on the phone. However, because of my brief visit (I was only there three days), I cannot confirm absolutely that children are learning it. Kodeoha speakers are also fluent in the Mekongga dialect of Tolaki and use this with Tolakinese from outside the community. Additionally there are many Mekongga- and Konawe-speaking immigrants in the Kodeoha language area, which potentially poses a risk to the language, if speakers switch dialects.

Mantasiah (2007:3–4)

Bahasa Kodeoha bukan satu-satunya bahasa yang menempati kecamatan Kodeoha akan tetapi terdapat pula bahasa Tolaki. Penutur bahasa Kodeoha lebih banyak dipengaruhi oleh bahasa Tolaki. … Bahasa Kodeoha hanya digunakan sebagai bahasa keluarga dan lingkungan suku saja, dan jika masyarakat Kodeoha melakukan interaksi dengan orang luar pada umumnya penutur bahasa Kodeoha lebih banyak menggunakan bahasa Tolaki. Melihat situasi seperti ini, ada kecenderungan bahwa bahasa Kodeoha ini pun akan mengalami pergeseran dan ada kemungkinan akan lebih cepat mengalami kepunahan apalagi kalau dilihat dari jumlah penuturnya yang hanya berjumlah ±1500 orang.

Wurm (2007:503)

No literacy in it. There are conflicting reports on the number of speakers: in 1989, 300; and in 1991, 1,500. The very large Bugis language is generally used as second language, and there is pressure from Indonesian. The language is potentially endangered.

References

Mantasiah R. 2007. Sintaksis bahasa Kodeoha (suatu kajian transformasi generatif). PhD dissertation, Program Pascasarjana, Universitas Hasanuddin.

Mead, David E. 1999. The Bungku-Tolaki languages of south-eastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Pacific Linguistics, D-91.) Canberra: Australian National University.

Moseley, Christopher (ed.) 2010. Atlas of the world’s languages in danger, 3rd ed., entirely revised, enlarged and updated. (Memory of Peoples Series.) Paris: UNESCO Publishing.

Wurm, Stephen A. 2007. Australasia and the Pacific. Encyclopedia of the world’s endangered languages, edited by Christopher Moseley, 425–577. New York: Routledge.