Banggai language

{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in Sulawesi, Indonesia}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Banggai

|nativename=

|state=Indonesia

|region=Sulawesi

|speakers={{sigfig|88,300|2}}

|date=2010 census

|ref=e27

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Celebic

|fam4=Saluan–Banggai

|fam5=Eastern

|iso3=bgz

|glotto=bang1368

|glottorefname=Banggai

}}

The Banggai language is the main language spoken by the inhabitants of the Banggai Archipelago off the island of Sulawesi. It belongs to the Saluan–Banggai branch of the Celebic subgroup.

Historically, Banggai was a spoken language without a long literary history. The earliest surviving manuscript in the Banggai language comes from the 19th century, the account of a Banggai fisherman who was sold into slavery by Maguindanaoan raiders in the 1860s-70s before escaping.Velthoen, Esther Joy. "Contested Coastlines: Diasporas, Trade, and Colonial Expansion in Eastern Sulawesi, 1680-1905." pg. 212. Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Australia: Murdoch University. Available online also at: https://www.oxis.org/theses/velthoen-2002.pdf [accessed in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia: August 10, 2018] (2002).