Buru language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buru

Bahasa Buru

Spoken in Indonesia

Region Southeast Asia

Total speakers 33,000 (1989)[1]

Austronesian
Language family
 Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
 Nuclear MP
 Central-
Eastern MP
 C
entral Maluku



Writing system Latin alphabet

Language codes

ISO 639-1 id

ISO 639-2 ind

ISO 639-3 mhs

Linguasphere –
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols inUnicode.

Buru (Indonesian: Bahasa Buru) is an Austronesian language; as of 1989, it was spoken by about 33,000 Buru

people of whom about 30,000 lived onIndonesian island Buru (Indonesian: Pulau Buru). It is also preserved in
the Buru communities on Ambon and some other Maluku Islands, as well as in the Indonesian
capital Jakarta and in the Netherlands.[1]

The language belongs to the Central Maluku branch of Malayo-Polynesian languages. Three dialects are
distinguished, which are used by the corresponding ethnic groups of Buru island: Rana (named after the lake in
the center of Buru; more than 14,000 speakers), Masarete (more than 9,500 speakers) and Wae Sama (more
than 6,500 speakers). some 3,000–5,000 of Rana people along with their main dialect use the so-called "secret
dialect" Ligahan. The previously existing in the west of the island dialect Fogi is now considered extinct.
[2]
 Lexical differences between the dialects are relatively small: about 90% between Masarete and Wae Sama,
88% between Masarete and Rana and 80% between Wae Sama and Rana. Apart from native dialects, most
Buru people, especially in the coastal regions and towns have knowledge of the official language of the
country, Indonesian. The coastal population also uses the Ambon dialect of Malay language (Melayu Ambon),
which is a simplified Indonesian language with additions of the local lexicon. [1][3]

Contrary to other indigenous languages of Buru and the nearby island of Ambelau
(Lisela, Kayeli and Ambelau), Buru language has a functional writing system based on Latin alphabet. So,
Buru Christians use for worship Bible written in their native language, the first translations of which were made
back in 1904 by Dutch missionaries.[1]

Buru people, along with the Muslim or Christian names, also use traditional ones, the most common being
Lesnussa, Latbual, Nurlatu, Lehalima, Wael and Sigmarlatu. The language has several sets of taboo words,
which are both behavioral and linguistic. For example, relatives refer to each other by kin names, but not by
proper names (i.e., father, but not Lesnussa). However, contrary to many other Austronesian cultures, Buru
people do refer to the deceased relatives by name. Other restrictions apply to the objects of nature, harvest,
hunting and fishing, for which certain words should be chosen depending on the island area. These taboos
have explanations in associated myths of legends. In all cases, the words for taboo items are not omitted, but
substituted by alternatives.[2] All Buru dialects have loanwords. Many of them originated from Dutch and
Portuguese during the Dutch colonization and referred to the objects not previously seen on the island. Other
types of borrowed words came from Malayan languages as a result of inflow of people from the nearby island. [2]

The most detailed study of Buru language was conducted in the 1980s by Charles E. Grimes and Barbara Dix
Grimes – Australian missionaries and ethnographers, active members of SIL International(they should not be
confused with Joseph E. Grimes and Barbara F. Grimes, Charles' parents, also known Australian
ethnographers)