Ternate language

It is geographically widespread. It is spoken on the island of Ternate as well as elsewhere in the North Maluku province, with Ternate communities inhabiting the western coast of Halmahera, Hiri, Obi, Kayoa, and the Bacan Islands.{{Citation | first = C.L. |last = Voorhoeve |author-link = Clemens L. Voorhoeve | title = Papers in New Guinea linguistics. No. 26 | date = 1988 | isbn = 0-85883-370-0 | location = Canberra | publisher = Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University | oclc = 220535054 | pages = 181–209 | doi = 10.15144/PL-A76.181 | chapter = The languages of the North Halmaheran stock | series = Pacific Linguistics A-76 | chapter-url = }}{{Citation |editor-first = George N. |editor-last = Appell |first = E.K.M. |last = Masinambow |chapter = Ternatans |title = Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia |volume = 1: Indonesia, Andaman Islands, and Madagascar |year = 1972 |isbn = 978-0-87536-403-2 |publisher = Human Relations Area Files Press |page = 120 |oclc = 650009 |location = New Haven |chapter-url = }} Historically, Ternate served as the primary language of the Sultanate of Ternate, famous for its role in the spice trade. It has established itself as a lingua franca of the North Maluku region.{{citation |editor-first1 = Iem |editor-last1 = Brown |title = The Territories of Indonesia |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lfPJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |chapter = Maluku Islands and Papua (North Maluku) |pages = 175–182 |date = 2009 |isbn = 978-1-135-35541-8 |oclc = 881430426 |location = London/New York |publisher = Routledge |doi=10.4324/9780203403013}} ; see p. 177.

This language should be distinguished from Ternate Malay (North Moluccan Malay), a local Malay-based creole which it has heavily influenced. Ternate serves as the first language of ethnic Ternateans, mainly in the rural areas, while Ternate Malay is nowadays used as a means of interethnic and trade communication, particularly in the urban part of the island.{{Cite web | last = Litamahuputty | first = Betty | title = Description of Ternate Malay | publisher = Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Jakarta station | date = March 10, 2007 | url = http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/jakarta/ternate.php | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070610225430/http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/jakarta/ternate.php | archive-date = June 10, 2007 }} More recently, there has been a language shift from Ternate towards Malay.{{Cite journal |last1=Mahdi Ahmad |last2=Sumarlam Sumarlam |last3=Djatmika Djatmika |last4=Sri Marmanto |title=Pemertahanan bahasa Ternate pada masyarakat multilingual |journal=Prasasti: Conference Series |date=13 August 2016 |url=https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/prosidingprasasti/article/view/1574 |language=id |pages=466–473 |doi=10.20961/pras.v0i0.1574 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}{{Citation |first1 = Farida |last1 = Maricar |first2 = Ety |last2 = Duwila |title = Vitalitas bahasa Ternate di Pulau Ternate |date = 2017 |journal = Jurnal Etnohistori: Jurnal Ilmiah Kebudayaan Dan Kesejarahan |volume = 4 |number = 2 |pages = 136–151 |url = https://ejournal.unkhair.ac.id/index.php/etnohis/article/view/1003 |language = id |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200903152910/https://ejournal.unkhair.ac.id/index.php/etnohis/article/view/1003 |archive-date = 2020-09-03 }} It can be assumed that the role of Ternate as a lingua franca has greatly waned. While the Ternate people are scattered all over eastern Indonesia,{{Cite web |title=ТЕРНАТАНЦЫ |url=https://bigenc.ru/ethnology/text/4189519 |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Большая российская энциклопедия |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://archive.today/20220814041910/https://bigenc.ru/ethnology/text/4189519 |archive-date = 2022-08-14

|language=ru }} it is not known how many expatriate Ternateans still speak the language.

In Indonesian, it is generally known as bahasa Ternate; however, the term bahasa Ternate asli is sometimes used to distinguish it from Ternate Malay.{{Cite journal |last=Litamahuputty |first=Betty |date=2012 |title=A description of Ternate Malay |url=http://wacana.ui.ac.id/index.php/wjhi/article/download/66/60 |journal=Wacana |language=en |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=333–369 |doi=10.17510/wacana.v14i2.66|doi-access=free }} ; see p. 335.

The Ternate language has been recorded with the Arabic script since the 15th century, while the Latin alphabet is used in modern writing.{{sfnp|Hayami-Allen|2001|p=7}} Ternate and Tidore are notable for being the only indigenous non-Austronesian languages of the region to have established literary traditions prior to first European contact.{{Cite journal |last=Warnk |first=Holger |year=2010 |title=The coming of Islam and Moluccan-Malay culture to New Guinea c.1500–1920 |journal=Indonesia and the Malay World |language=en |volume=38 |issue=110 |pages=109–134 |doi=10.1080/13639811003665454|s2cid=162188648 }} ; see p. 112, fn. 2.{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Paul Michael |date=1988 |title=From mantra to mataráa: Opacity and transparency in the language of Tobelo magic and medicine (Halmahera Island, Indonesia) |journal=Social Science & Medicine |language=en |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=425–436 |doi=10.1016/0277-9536(88)90365-6 |pmid=3067356 }} ; see p. 430. Other languages of the North Halmahera region, which were not written down until the arrival of Christian missionaries, have received significant lexical influence from Ternate.{{cite book |author-link = Andrew Dalby |first = Andrew |last=Dalby |title = Dictionary of Languages: The Definitive Reference to More than 400 Languages |year = 2015 |isbn = 978-1-4081-0214-5 |location = London |publisher = A & C Black |oclc = 842286334 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7dHNCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA620 | page=620 |language = en}}

Ternate is a member of the North Halmahera language family,{{Cite web | last = Lewis | first = M. Paul | title = Ternate - A language of Indonesia (Maluku) | work = Ethnologue: Languages of the World| publisher = SIL International | year = 2009 | url = https://www.ethnologue.com/16/show_language/tft|edition=16th}} which is classified by some as part of a larger West Papuan family, a proposed linking of the North Halmahera languages with the Papuan languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula.{{Cite book |author-link=David Gil (linguist) |first = David |last = Gil |chapter = The Mekong-Mamberamo linguistic area |location = Berlin/Boston | doi = 10.1515/9781501501685-008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_BeCAAAQBAJ |editor-last=Enfield |editor-first=Nick |editor-last2=Comrie |editor-first2=Bernard |editor-link2 = Bernard Comrie |title=Languages of Mainland Southeast Asia: The State of the Art |date=2015 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=9781501501685 |pages=266–355 }} ; see p. 269. It is most closely related to the Tidore language, which is native to the southern neighboring island. The distinction between Ternate and Tidore appears more rooted in sociopolitical rather than linguistic differences.{{citation|contribution=Emic and Etic Classifications of Languages in the North Maluku Region|first=John|last=Bowden|author-link=John Bowden (linguist)|title=Workshop on the Languages of Papua 3, 20–24 January 2014, Manokwari, West Papua, Indonesia|contribution-url=https://indoling.com/wlp/3/abstracts/Bowden.pdf|access-date=2024-07-10}} While many authors have described these varieties as separate languages,{{Cite journal |last=Bowden |first=John |author-link=John Bowden (linguist) |date=2005 |title=Language Contact and Metatypic Restructuring in the Directional System of North Maluku Malay |url=http://www.concentric-linguistics.url.tw/upload/articlesfs141402110859119523.pdf |journal=Concentric: Studies in Linguistics |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=133–158 |doi=10.6241/concentric.ling.200512_31(2).0006}} ; see p. 139. some classifications identify them as dialects of a single language, collectively termed as either "Ternate" or "Ternate-Tidore".{{Cite web | url = http://118.98.223.79/petabahasa/infobahasa2.php?idb=482&idp=Maluku%20Utara | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180618025639/http://118.98.223.79/petabahasa/infobahasa2.php?idb=482&idp=Maluku%20Utara | archive-date = 2018-06-18 | title = Ternate | work = Peta Bahasa | publisher = Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa | language = id}}{{sfnp|Hayami-Allen|2001|p=1}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2VCDwAAQBAJ |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |editor-last=Palmer |editor-first=Bill |date=2018 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=9783110295252 |author-link=Gary Holton (linguist) |author-link2 = Marian Klamer |first1=Gary |last1 = Holton |first2 = Marian |last2 = Klamer |chapter = The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird‘s Head |location = Berlin/Boston |doi = 10.1515/9783110295252-005 |pages=569–640 |hdl=1887/3463908 }} ; see p. 577.

Ternate, like other North Halmahera languages, is not a tonal language.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

• {{Cite thesis |title=A Descriptive Study of the Language of Ternate, the Northern Moluccas, Indonesia |last=Hayami-Allen |first=Rika |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Pittsburgh |year=2001 |url=http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&res_dat=xri:pqm&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:3038240 |language=en}}

{{West Papuan languages}}

{{Languages of Indonesia}}

Category:Languages of Indonesia

Category:North Halmahera languages