Sula language

For the Malay-based creole language used in Sula Islands, see Sula Malay.

Sula (Sanana) is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Central Maluku branch. It is related to the Buru language. Sula is spoken mainly on the Sulabesi, with the Sanana as its center.

Sula
Sanana
Li Sua
Native to	Indonesia, Maluku
Region	Sula Islands
Ethnicity	Sula
Native speakers	(20,000 cited 1983)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern Central Maluku Sula–Buru Sula languages Sula
Dialects	Facei Fagudu Falahu
Language codes
ISO 639-3	szn
Glottolog	sula1245

It is definitely endangered, currently under pressure from the local variety of Malay, known as Sula Malay.

Sula has borrowed many lexical items from Ambonese Malay, as well as Ternate, a more dominant language of North Maluku. Dutch loans have entered the language too, perhaps through Malay and Ternate. Standard Indonesian has also been influential.

Mangole is sometimes listed as a distinct language.

Phonology

Consonants

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

Voiced consonant sounds /b d ɡ/ may also be heard as devoiced [b̥ d̥ ɡ̊] in word-final position.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

/e/ can also be heard as [ɛ] in lax form.

Further reading

• Bloyd, Tobias (2020). Sula: Its Language, Land, and People (PhD thesis). University of Hawai'i at Manoa. hdl:10125/69017.