Sulawesi Language Alliance

Championing Local Languages in the Heart of Indonesia

Language Group

Overview
ISO 639-3: 
mqj
Alternate Names: 
Mamasa Toraja
Dialects: 
Northern Mamasa; Central Mamasa; Pattae' (Southern Mamasa, Patta' Binuang, Binuang, Tae', Binuang-Paki-Batetanga-Anteapi))
Population: 
100000 (1991)
Microgroup: 
Province: 
West Sulawesi
Overall Vitality: 
5/Safe

Location

The Mamasa language is spoken in the watershed of the Mamasa River in West Sulawesi Province.

Dialects

Mamasa comprises northern, central and southern dialects (Valkama 1987:124–126). The southern dialect, which some have considered to be a separate language, also goes by the names Pattae' and Binuang. Located on the coast, these people adopted Islam and their royalty intermarried with Bugis, whereas interior (more northern) Mamasa communities remained animistic until converting to Christianity in the first half of the twentieth century. Formerly Binuang was also one of the kingdoms which composed the Pitu Baqbana Binanga (‘seven river mouths’) coastal confederation, and when the new Mamasa Regency was formed in 2002, the Pattae' area was not included in it, but remained part of the Polewali Mandar Regency.

Population

Matti and Matti (1991:3) estimated 100,000 speakers of Mamasa or, broken down by dialect, northern and central areas 65,000 and southern area (Pattae') 35,000. 

References

Matti, David; and Sharon Matti. 1991. Tinjauan sosiolinguisitk bahasa Mamasa. Unpublished typescript, 9 pp.

Valkama, Kari. 1987. Kabupatens Pinrang, Enrekang, Tana Toraja, Luwu and eastern part of Poliwali Mamasa. UNHAS-SIL South Sulawesi sociolinguistic surveys, 19831987 (Workpapers in Indonesian Languages and Cultures, 5), edited by Timothy Friberg, 119–136. Ujung Pandang: Summer Institute of Linguistics.

Vitality

Summary

 

Discussion

David Matti, who has worked with Mamasa speakers since the late 1980s, primarily in the northern dialect, confirms a rating of 5/Safe.

What Others Have Written

Matti and Matti (1991:7)

Bahasa Mamasa digunakan dalam banyak kegiatan seperti di rumah, di tempat kerja dan pada saat bermain. Kenyataan ini terjadi hampir pada semua tingkat sosial dan usia masyarakat. Bahasa yang digunakan dalam lingkungan pendidikan, pemerintahan, dan di gereja umumnya Bahasa Indonesia tetapi Bahasa Mamasa kadang-kadang juga digunakan. Program-program pemerintah di tingkat desa atau tingkat kampung yang berhubungan dengan kepentingan masyarakat umum sering kali disebarluaskan dengan menggunakan Bahasa Mamasa. Para pendeta dan anggota majelis gereja kadang-kadang mengguna­kan Bahasa Mamasa pada waktu berkhotbah di gereja. Pembacaan Alkitab dan lagu-lagu rohani semuanya menggunakan Bahasa Indonesia tetapi gereja Toraja Mamasa berminat agar kitab suci diterjemahkan ke dalam bahasa daerah.

References

Matti, David; and Sharon Matti. 1991. Tinjauan sosiolinguisitk bahasa Mamasa. Unpublished typescript, 9 pp.

Documentation

This tab is not yet functional.

To view a mockup of what this tab will feature, please visit the Banggai language page.


Home  |  Top  |  Print

Close