Alas language

{{Short description|Austronesian language spoken in Sumatra, Indonesia}}

{{Infobox language

|name = Alas

|nativename = Batak Alas

|states = Indonesia

|region = Sumatra

|ethnicity = {{plainlist|

• Alas
• Kluet

}}

|speakers = {{sigfig|195,000|2}}

|date = 2000 census

|ref = e18

|familycolor = Austronesian

|fam2 = Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3 = Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands

|fam4 = Batak

|fam5 = Northern

|iso3 = btz

|glotto = bata1292

|glottorefname = Batak Alas-Kluet

|script = Latin
Batak

}}

Alas-Kluet, Alas, or Batak Alas is an Austronesian language of Sumatra. The three dialects, Alas, Kluet, and Singkil (Kade-Kade), may not constitute a single language; Alas may be closer to Karo, and the others closer to Dairi. By linguistic affiliation, Alas–Kluet belongs to the Batak subgroup. Ethnically, however, its speakers generally do not identify as Batak, mostly because of their religion, and also due to political reasons.{{cite book|author=Akifumi Iwabuchi|title=The People of the Alas Valley: A Study of an Ethnic Group of Northern Sumatra|year=1994|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=0-19-827902-7}}