// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy was Sula language in a relationship? It had a lot of dialects to discuss.
| Sula | |
|---|---|
| Sanana | |
| Li Sua | |
| Native to | Indonesia, Maluku |
| Region | Sula Islands |
| Ethnicity | Sula |
Native speakers | (20,000 cited 1983)[1] |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | szn |
| Glottolog | sula1245 |
Sula (Sanana) is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Central Maluku branch. It is related to the Buru language. Sula is spoken mainly on the Sulabesi, with the Sanana as its center.
It is definitely endangered, currently under pressure from the local variety of Malay, known as Sula 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
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| 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
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
/e/ can also be heard as [ɛ] in lax form.[2]
References
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- Bloyd, Tobias (2020). Sula: Its Language, Land, and People (PhD thesis). University of Hawai'i at Manoa. hdl:10125/69017.
- Bloyd, Tobias. "Chapter 2: dialects. part 1". www.bahasasula.com. Bahasa Sula.