Cia-Cia language
Encyclopedia
The Cia-Cia language also known as South Buton(ese), is an Austronesian language spoken principally around the town of Bau-Bau
on the southern tip of Buton Island off the southeast coast of Sulawesi
in Indonesia.
In 2009, the language gained international media attention as the town of Bau-Bau was teaching children to read and write Cia-Cia in Korean Hangul
, and the mayor consulted with the Indonesian government on the possibility of making the writing system official.
, which is closely related, or Indonesian Malay
. Wolio is falling into disuse as a written language among the Cia-Cia, as it is written using the Arabic alphabet
and Indonesian is now taught in schools with the Latin alphabet
.
, south Buton Island
, Binongko Island, and Batu Atas Island.
According to legend, Cia-Cia speakers on Binonko descend from Butonese troops sent by a Butonese Sultan.
Dialects include Kaesabu, Sampolawa (Mambulu-Laporo), Wabula (with its subvarieties), and Masiri. The Masiri dialect shows the greatest amount of vocabulary in common with the standard dialect. Konisi & Hidayat discuss two dialects, Pesisir and Pedamalan; Pedamalan has gh in native words where Pesisir has r, but has r in loan words.
In 2009, the language gained international media attention with a decision by the town of Bau-Bau to adopt Korean hangul
as the modern script for Cia-Cia, beginning a pilot project to teach a class of fifty third-grade students the alphabet using textbooks created by the Hunminjeongeum Society
.
However, Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Nicholas T. Dammen and Professor Chun Tai-hyun, who first proposed the idea of adopting the Korean alphabet to the Bau-bau mayor in 2007, discounted reports on Korea's export of hangul. They told The Korea Times
in January 2010 that hangul had yet to be officially adopted by the Cia Cia because Bau-bau Mayor Amirul Tamim had not taken due procedures necessary for a foreign alphabet to be recognized as an official writing system. In October 2010, a town official told The Korea Times that the mayor had been consulting with the Indonesian government on adopting Hangul, which would be an exception to the stipulation in Indonesia's Basic Law that all tribal languages must be recorded in Roman letters to preserve national unity. Chun Tai-hyun said that reports of official adoption had been based on a mistranslation of the mayor's statement about this consultation. However, by that time, the number of students learning Hangul had risen to 190.
An example of how the proposed Hangul writing system would appear is as follows:
Bau-Bau
Bau-Bau or Bau-bau is the main city on Buton island, Indonesia. Bau-Bau reached the city status on 21 June 2001, based on the Indonesian law number 13, year 2001...
on the southern tip of Buton Island off the southeast coast of Sulawesi
Sulawesi
Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...
in Indonesia.
In 2009, the language gained international media attention as the town of Bau-Bau was teaching children to read and write Cia-Cia in Korean Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
, and the mayor consulted with the Indonesian government on the possibility of making the writing system official.
Demographics
As of 2005 there were about 80,000 speakers. Speakers also use WolioWolio language
Wolio is an Austronesian language spoken in Bau-Bau on Buton Island, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. Also known as Buton, it is a trade language and the former court language of the Sultan at Baubau. Today it is an official regional language; street signs are written in Wolio using the Arabic...
, which is closely related, or Indonesian Malay
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
. Wolio is falling into disuse as a written language among the Cia-Cia, as it is written using the Arabic alphabet
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet or Arabic abjad is the Arabic script as it is codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right to left, in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters. Because letters usually stand for consonants, it is classified as an abjad.-Consonants:The Arabic alphabet has...
and Indonesian is now taught in schools with the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
.
Geographic distribution
Cia-Cia is spoken in Southeast SulawesiSouth East Sulawesi
South East Sulawesi is a province of Indonesia on the island of Sulawesi. The capital of the province is Kendari, on the east coast of the peninsula....
, south Buton Island
Buton
Buton , is an island in Indonesia located off the southeast peninsula of Sulawesi.-History:In the precolonial era, the island, then usually known as Butung, was within the sphere of influence of Ternate...
, Binongko Island, and Batu Atas Island.
According to legend, Cia-Cia speakers on Binonko descend from Butonese troops sent by a Butonese Sultan.
Name
The name of the language comes from the negator cia "no". Cia-Cia is also known as Buton(ese), Butung, or Dutch Boetoneezen, names it shares with Wolio, and South Buton or Southern Butung.Dialects
The language situation on the island of Buton is very complicated and not known in great detail.Dialects include Kaesabu, Sampolawa (Mambulu-Laporo), Wabula (with its subvarieties), and Masiri. The Masiri dialect shows the greatest amount of vocabulary in common with the standard dialect. Konisi & Hidayat discuss two dialects, Pesisir and Pedamalan; Pedamalan has gh in native words where Pesisir has r, but has r in loan words.
Orthography
Cia-Cia was once written in a Jawi-like script, called Gundhul, based on Arabic with five additional consonant letters but no signs for vowels.In 2009, the language gained international media attention with a decision by the town of Bau-Bau to adopt Korean hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...
as the modern script for Cia-Cia, beginning a pilot project to teach a class of fifty third-grade students the alphabet using textbooks created by the Hunminjeongeum Society
Hunminjeongeum Society
The Hunminjeongeum Society, sometimes called the "Hunminjeongeum Research Institute" in English-language newspaper accounts, is a private organization in Seoul dedicated to the propagation of hangul to all the unwritten languages of the world...
.
However, Indonesian Ambassador to Korea Nicholas T. Dammen and Professor Chun Tai-hyun, who first proposed the idea of adopting the Korean alphabet to the Bau-bau mayor in 2007, discounted reports on Korea's export of hangul. They told The Korea Times
The Korea Times
The Korea Times is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea, along with The Korea Herald and The JoongAng Daily. It is part of the same newspaper group as Hankook Ilbo, a major Korean language daily...
in January 2010 that hangul had yet to be officially adopted by the Cia Cia because Bau-bau Mayor Amirul Tamim had not taken due procedures necessary for a foreign alphabet to be recognized as an official writing system. In October 2010, a town official told The Korea Times that the mayor had been consulting with the Indonesian government on adopting Hangul, which would be an exception to the stipulation in Indonesia's Basic Law that all tribal languages must be recorded in Roman letters to preserve national unity. Chun Tai-hyun said that reports of official adoption had been based on a mistranslation of the mayor's statement about this consultation. However, by that time, the number of students learning Hangul had risen to 190.
An example of how the proposed Hangul writing system would appear is as follows:
- 아디 세링 빨리 노논또 뗄레ᄫᅵ시. 아마노 노뽀옴바에 이아 나누몬또 뗄레ᄫᅵ시 꼴리에 노몰렝오.
- adi sering pali nononto televisi. amano nopo'ombae ia nanumonto televisi kolie nomolengo.
| Consonants | g | k | n | d | dh | t | r ~ gh | l | m | b | v ~ w | bh | p | s | ’ | ng | j | c | h | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA | /ɡ/ | /k/ | /n/ | /ɗ/ | /d/ | /t/ | /r ~ ʁ/ | /l/ | /m/ | /ɓ/ | /β/ | /b/ | /p/ | /s/ | /ʔ/ | /ŋ/ | /dʒ/ | /tʃ/ | /h/ | |
| Vowels | a | e | o | u | i | |||||||||||||||
| IPA | /a/ | /e/ | /o/ | /u/ | /i/ | |||||||||||||||
Words
The numerals 1–10 are:| English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
one | two | three | four | five | six | seven | eight | nine | ten |
| Romanization Romanization In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written... |
dise, ise | rua, ghua | tolu | pa'a | lima | no'o | picu | walu, oalu | siua | ompulu |
Common phrases
- Tarima kasi. "Thanks."
- Indau miano Cia-Cia. "I am a Cia-Cia."
- Indau pe'elu iso'o. "I love you."
- Moapu isau. "Excuse me."
- Umbe. "Yes."
- Cia. "No."