- Makassarese language
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For the script used to write Makassar, see Lontara script.
Makassar Language ᨅᨔ ᨆᨀᨔᨑ
Basa Mangkasara'
Bahasa MakassarSpoken in 
IndonesiaRegion southern tip of South Sulawesi, Sulawesi (Celebes) Native speakers 1,600,000 (1989) Language family Austronesian- Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
- Nuclear MP
- South Sulawesi
- Makassar languages
- Makassar Language
- Makassar languages
- South Sulawesi
- Nuclear MP
Writing system Lontara, Roman alphabet Language codes ISO 639-2 mak ISO 639-3 mak Makassarese (sometimes spelled Makasar, Makassar, or Macassar) is a language used by the Makassarese people in South Sulawesi island (Celebes) in Indonesia. It is a member of the Austronesian language family of the South Sulawesi group, and thus closely related to, among others, Buginese.
Although Makassarese is now often written with the Roman alphabet, it is still widely written in its own distinctive script, also called Lontara, which once was used also to write important documents in Bugis and Mandar, two related language from Sulawesi.
The Makassar symbols are written using mostly straight oblique lines and dots. In spite of its quite distinctive appearance, it is derived from the ancient Brahmi scripts of India. Like other descendants of that script, each consonant has an inherent vowel "a", which is not marked. Other vowels can be indicated by adding one of five diacritics above, below, or on either side of each consonant.
Some common words/phrases in the Makassar language using the Roman alphabet are as follows ( ' = glottal stop):
Lontara script Latinized Indonesian Translation ᨅᨒ balla' rumah house ᨅᨚᨒᨚ bulu bulu hair/fur ᨅᨅ bambang panas hot/warm ᨌᨗᨄᨘᨑᨘ cipuru' lapar hungry ᨉᨚ ᨙᨕ doe' uang money ᨕᨗᨐᨚ iyo' iya yes ᨒᨚᨄᨚ lompo besar big/large ᨔᨒᨚ sallo lama / lambat slow ᨈ ᨙᨙᨅ tabe' permisi excuse me ᨙᨈᨊ tena tidak no ᨀᨑ ᨙᨕ karaeng raja king ᨕᨄ ᨀ ᨙᨑᨅ? apa kare'ba? apa kabar how are you? ᨒ ᨙᨀᨀᨚ ᨆ ᨙᨕ? lakeko mae? kamu mau ke mana? where are you going? ᨅᨒ ballang belang get tanned ᨅᨚᨈᨚ botto' bau smelly ᨑᨈᨔ rantasa' jorok disgusting ᨅᨈᨒ battala' gemuk fatty ᨅᨗᨒ bella' jauh far away ᨙᨁ ᨙᨒ ᨙᨁ ᨙᨒ gele-gele geli tickle ᨀᨚᨀᨚ kong-kong anjing dog ᨍᨑ jarang kuda horse ᨙᨅ ᨙᨅ bembe' kambing goat ᨆᨚ ᨙᨈ ᨙᨑ motere' pulang ke rumah return home ᨂ ᨙᨑ nganre' makan eat External links
Categories:- Sulawesi languages
- Languages of Indonesia
- Sulawesi
- Austronesian language stubs
- Malayo-Polynesian (MP)
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