Toraja-Saʼdan language

Toraja-Saʼdan (also Toraja, Saʼdan, South Toraja) is an Austronesian language spoken in South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi, Indonesia by the Toraja people. It shares the name Taeʼ with East Toraja. Most of the Toraja language mapping was done by Dutch missionaries working in Sulawesi, such as Nicolaus Adriani and Hendrik van der Veen.

Toraja-Saʼdan
South Toraja
Sa’dan, Sa’dansche, Sadan, Sadang, Ta’e, Tae’, Toradja, Toraja
Native to	Indonesia
Region	South Sulawesi West Sulawesi
Ethnicity	Torajan
Native speakers	590,000 (2010 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian South Sulawesi Northern Toraja Toraja-Saʼdan
Dialects	Makale Rantepao West Toraja South Toraja (Luwu)
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sda
Glottolog	tora1261
Map showing the distribution of the South Sulawesi languages in Sulawesi and Kalimantan, Toraja-Sa'dan language in number 29.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	(tʃ)	k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	(dʒ)	ɡ
Fricative			s			(h)
Rhotic			r
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

Sounds [tʃ, dʒ] are heard from Indonesian loanwords. /h/ only rarely occurs.

In final position, only /n/, /ŋ/, /k/ and /ʔ/ can occur.

Alphabet

Vocals

A

I

U

E

Oh

Consonants

B

C

D

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

P

R

T

W

Y

Diphthong

• Ng

Quotation marks

• '

Numbers

Indonesian	Toraja
Nol (Zero)
Satu (One)	Misa'
Dua (Two)	Da'dua
Tiga (Three)	Tallu
Empat (Four)	A'pa'
Lima (Five)	Lima
Enam (Six)	Annan
Tujuh (Seven)	Pitu
Delapan (Eight)	Karua
Sembilan (Nine)	Kasera
Sepuluh (Ten)	Sangpulo
Sebelas (Eleven)	Sangpulo misa'
Dua belas (Twelve)	Sangpulo da'dua
Dua puluh (Twenty)	Duang pulo
Tiga puluh (Thirty)	Tallung pulo
Empat puluh (Forty)	Patang pulo
Lima puluh (Fifty)	Limang pulo
Enam puluh (Sixty)	Annan pulo
Tujuh puluh (Seventy)	Pitung pulo
Delapan puluh (Eighty)	Karuang pulo
Sembilan puluh (Ninety)	Kaserang pulo
Seratus (One hundred)	Saratu'
Seribu (One thousand)	Sang sa'bu

Dialects

The Toraja-Sa'dan language has several dialects, including:

• Makale (Tallulembangna)
• Rantepao (Kesu’, North Toraja)
• West Toraja (Mappa-Pana)
• South Toraja (Luwu, Kamanre, Bastem, Latimojong)

Further reading

• Waterson, Roxana (2012). "Flows of Words and Flows of Blessing: The Poetics of Invocatory Speech among the Sa'dan Toraja". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 168 (4): 391–419. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003550. JSTOR 23339340. S2CID 145289982. Accessed 21 Jan. 2023.