Language Contexts

Tonsawang (Toundanow), North Sulawesi, Indonesia — Language Contexts

Author
  • Timothy C. Brickell

Abstract

Tonsawang (also known as Toundanow) is an endangered Austronesian language spoken in a predominantly mountainous area in the northern tip of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The speech community has been undergoing a sustained shift to the language of wider communication, a Malay-based creole, for over a century. Tonsawang is no longer being acquired by children, and in the few domains in which it is used the speakers are invariably middle aged or elderly. It is the most divergent of the Minahasan languages, in part due to the historically isolated location in which the community traditionally resides. This article examines and discusses aspects of history, society, culture, linguistic ecology, linguistic vitality, and language maintenance and revitalisation within the contemporary Tonsawang speech community.

Keywords: Tonsawang, Toundanow, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Austronesian language

How to Cite:

Brickell, T., (2019) “Tonsawang (Toundanow), North Sulawesi, Indonesia — Language Contexts”, Language Documentation and Description 16, 55-85. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd113

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Published on
31 Aug 2019
Peer Reviewed