Tombulu, also known as Minahasan language, is an Austronesian language of northern Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is a Minahasan language, a sub-group of the Philippine languages.
It is a local language of the Minahasa people spoken in the city of Tomohon and in the villages under the Kota Tomohon administration such as Rurukan, Pinaras, Kumelembuai, Woloan, and Tara-Tara. It is also spoken in the villages under the administration of the Minahasa Regency in the Tombulu district, Tombariri district, Mandolang district, Pineleng district, and two villages in the Sonder district, namely Rambunan and Sawangan.
Distribution Below are the list of villages that historically speaks bahasa Tombulu:
Kota Tomohon Sarongsong Uluindano Wailan Kayawu Woloan Tara-Tara Rurukan Pinaras Kumelembuai Pangolombian Lahendong Tondangow
Minahasa Regency
(Pineleng District) Sea Pineleng Warembungan Lotta Kali
(Tombulu District) Koka Tikela Sawangan Kamangta Tombuluan Kembes Rumengkor Suluan
(Mandolang District) Agotey Koha Tateli
(Tombariri District) Mokupa Tanawangko Senduk Poopoh Kumu Teling
(Sonder District) Sawangan Rambunan
Early settlers of Kapoya and Wuwuk village near Tumpaan traditionally were Tombulu speakers as they were part of an ancient Negri Sarongsong. There are also villages that are around Bolaang Mongondow Regency whose ancestors speaks Tombulu such as Rara'atean Village, whose ancestors are from Pangolombian, Kosio Village, whose ancestors are from Woloan, and Mariri Lama Village, whose ancestors are from Tombariri. All of these five villages no longer speaks Tombulu Language or aware that their ancestors originally speak Tombulu.
Phonology Consonants LabialAlveolarPost-alv./PalatalVelarGlottalPlosive/AffricatevoicelessvoicedNasalFricativevoicelessvoicedLateralTrillApproximant
Vowels FrontCentral Back CloseMidOpen
Vocabulary
The Tombulu language is unique among the Minahasan languages in its pronunciation of the letter . In the other four Minahasan languages the letter is pronounced as is, but in Tombulu it is pronounced like the of the English language.
For example: , meaning 'white', would be pronounced as .
English Tombulu Yes No North South West East Here There This That Hand Head Ear Eye Stomach Feet Grandma Grandfather Mom Dad Me You We They Him, her Friend Beautiful Female Male Kid (anak) Children (anak-anak) 1 kid (1 anak) 2 kids (2 anak) Female teacher Male teacher Bad Good Like Water Shower (mandi) Drink School Going to school Give Hungry Full (Stomach Full) Eat Breakfast Fish Good morning Good day Good night When Where Who Go Stop Fast Slow Fat Skinny Long Short Add Subtract Follow Sit down Stand Walk Walking Let's go Until then Because But Or Although Very Sky Rain Yesterday Today Tonight Tomorrow Face (Menghadap) Sleep Sleeping Falling Asleep Have slept Rise Ascend Descend Left Right God Holy Spirit
Numerals 1 11 20 100 1000 2 12 21 200 2000 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Phrases & examples
English Tombulu 3479 Good evening everyone How are you? all good? What's your name? What is your name? What is his/her name? Where are you going? What are you doing? Where are you from? Who is he/she? See you tomorrow Long live and stay healthy How much? Can I have some? The drinks are not here Thank you I love you God of The Highest God Almighty
Status The Tombulu language is in critical need of revitalization. It is not being spoken as a first language in highly populated areas such as Tomohon, Pineleng, and Tanawangko. Traditionally Tombulu-speaking villages such as Woloan, Tara-Tara, Lolah, and Lemoh are not so today. The Board of Education of the Indonesian government has not offered any help either to the Tombulu language or any other local languages that are in decline. It is responsible for the removal of the from the daily curriculum of all grade schools across the nation in the past few years. , if available, is a daily class which most provinces in Indonesia use to teach the new generations the local languages and culture.
Tombulu is still spoken in villages such as Kayawu, Rurukan, Kumelembuai, Pinaras, Suluan, Kembes, Tombuluan, Rumengkor, Kali, Tondangow, Sawangan, and Rambunan all the way to the children. One Sunday on every month, Tombulu language is used in sermon in its local churches.
At the beginning of 2013, an Indonesian-Tombulu dictionary was first released. A New Testament version of the Bible in Tombulu language was released in November 2018.
References