The language belongs to the
Sula–Buru group of
Central Maluku branch of
Malayo-Polynesian languages. It has two dialects, major Lisela and minor Tagalisa, the latter is used by the inhabitants of the north-east coast of Buru.[3][4][5] The language is dying as most Lisela people switch either to the national language of Indonesia,
Indonesian, or to the Ambonese variety of the
Malay language (
Melayu Ambon). The latter is widely used in the
Maluku Islands as a lingua franca and is a local form of Malay with additions of the local lexicon.[3][4]
The language most closely related to Lisela is
Buru, especially its dialect Masarete – their lexical similarity is 68%.[6] Thus many sources regard Lisela as a dialect, though the most diverging, of Buru. Lisela had also borrowed much from the Sula language, as a result of the interaction between the Lisela and Sula people living together as the northern Buru coast.[2] The language has no writing system. The most detailed study of Lisela language was conducted in the 1980s by Charles E. Grimes and Barbara Dix Grimes – Australian missionaries and ethnographers, active members of
SIL International (they should not be confused with Joseph E. Grimes and Barbara F. Grimes, Charles' parents, also known Australian ethnographers).[7][8][9]