Due to the historical role of the
Ternate Sultanate, Ternate influence is present in many languages of eastern Indonesia. Borrowings from Ternate extend beyond the Maluku Islands, reaching the regions of central and northern
Sulawesi.[6] Languages such as
Taba and
West Makian have borrowed much of their polite lexicons from Ternate,[7][8] while the languages of northern Sulawesi have incorporated many Ternate vocabulary items related to kingship and administration.[9] The language has been a source of lexical and grammatical borrowing for
North Moluccan Malay, the local variant of Malay, which has given rise to other eastern Indonesian offshoots of Malay, such as
Manado Malay.[10][11]
Location and use
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.[12][13] 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.[14][15]
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.[16][17] More recently, there has been a
language shift from Ternate towards Malay.[18][19] It can be assumed that its role as a lingua franca has greatly waned.[12] While the Ternate people are scattered all over eastern Indonesia,[14] it is not known how many expatriate Ternateans still speak the language.[12]
In Indonesian, it is generally known as bahasa Ternate; however, the term bahasa Ternate asli is sometimes used to distinguish it from Ternate Malay.[16]
Written records
The Ternate language has been recorded with the
Arabic script since the 15th century, while the
Latin alphabet is used in modern writing.[2][20] 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.[21][22] 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.[23]
Classification
Ternate is a member of the
North Halmahera language family,[5] 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.[24] 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.[25][26] While many authors have described these varieties as separate languages,[26] some classifications identify them as dialects of a single language, collectively termed as either "Ternate" or "Ternate-Tidore".[27][20][28]
Phonology
Ternate, like other North Halmahera languages, is not a
tonal language.
^Watuseke, F.S. (1991). "The Ternate Language". In Dutton, Tom (ed.).
Papers in Papuan Linguistics No. 1(PDF). Pacific Linguistics A-73. Translated by Voorhoeve, Clemens L. Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. pp. 223–244.
doi:
10.15144/PL-A73.223.
ISBN0-85883-393-X.
OCLC24406501.
^Bowden, John (2005). "Taba". In Adelaar, K. Alexander; Himmelmann, Nikolaus P. (eds.). The Austronesian languages of Asia and Madagascar. Abingdon/New York: Routledge. p. 770.
doi:
10.4324/9780203821121.
ISBN978-0-203-82112-1.
OCLC53814161.
^Taylor, Paul Michael (1999).
"Introduction"(PDF). F.S.A. de Clercq's Ternate: The Residency and its Sultanate (Smithsonian Institution Libraries digital ed.). Smithsonian Institution Libraries. p. 7.
^Allen, Robert B.; Hayami-Allen, Rika (2002).
"Orientation in the Spice Islands"(PDF). In Macken, Marlys (ed.). Papers from the Tenth Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, 2000. Tempe: Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies. p. 21.
ISBN1-881044-29-7.
OCLC50506465.
^
abcVoorhoeve, C.L. (1988), "The languages of the North Halmaheran stock", Papers in New Guinea linguistics. No. 26, Pacific Linguistics A-76, Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, pp. 181–209,
doi:
10.15144/PL-A76.181,
ISBN0-85883-370-0,
OCLC220535054
^Masinambow, E.K.M. (1972), "Ternatans", in Appell, George N. (ed.), Ethnic Groups of Insular Southeast Asia, vol. 1: Indonesia, Andaman Islands, and Madagascar, New Haven: Human Relations Area Files Press, p. 120,
ISBN978-0-87536-403-2,
OCLC650009
^
ab"ТЕРНАТАНЦЫ". Большая российская энциклопедия (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-11-13.
^
abHayami-Allen, Rika (2001). A Descriptive Study of the Language of Ternate, the Northern Moluccas, Indonesia. University of Pittsburgh.
^Warnk, Holger (2010). "The coming of Islam and Moluccan-Malay culture to New Guinea c.1500–1920". Indonesia and the Malay World. 38 (110): 109–134.
doi:
10.1080/13639811003665454.
S2CID162188648.
^Taylor, Paul Michael (1988). "From mantra to mataráa: Opacity and transparency in the language of Tobelo magic and medicine (Halmahera Island, Indonesia)". Social Science & Medicine. 27 (5): 430.
doi:
10.1016/0277-9536(88)90365-6.
PMID3067356.