| Toba Batak | |
|---|---|
| Hata Batak Toba ᯂᯖ ᯅᯖᯂ᯲ ᯖᯬᯅ | |
 Batak written inSurat Batak (Batak script) | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Samosir Island (2° 30′ N, 99°), and to the east, south, and west of Toba Lake in north Sumatra. |
| Ethnicity | |
Native speakers | 1,610,000 (2010 census)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Latin,Batak alphabet | |
| Official status | |
| Regulated by | Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bbc |
| Glottolog | bata1289 |
Toba Batak (/ˈtoʊbəˈbætək/[2]) is anAustronesian language spoken inNorth Sumatra province inIndonesia. It is part of a group of languages calledBatak. There are approximately 1,610,000 Toba Batak speakers, living to the east, west and south ofLake Toba. Historically it was written using theBatak script, but theLatin script is now used for most writing.[3]
The name of thislanguage arises from a rich and complex history of ethnic identity incolonial and post-colonialIndonesia. It is a generic name for the common language used by the people of the districts of Toba, Uluan, Humbang, Habinsaran, Samosir, and Silindung, centered upon the Island ofSumatra; more particularly, atLake Toba. Linguistically and culturally these tribes of people are closely related. Other nearby communities such as Silalahi and Tongging may also be classified as speakers of Toba Batak.
The termToba Batak is, itself, a derivation of the Toba Batak language. As such, it is used both as a noun and an adjective, both to describe a language, and also to describe the people who speak the language.
Among the aforementioned districts, Toba is the most densely populated and politically the most prominent district so thatToba Batak became a label for all communities speaking a dialect closely akin to the dialect spoken in Toba. In contemporary Indonesia the language is seldom referred to asToba Batak (bahasa Batak Toba), but more commonly and simply asBatak (bahasa Batak). The (Toba)-Batak refer to it in their own language asHata Batak. This "Batak" language is different from the languages of other Batak people that can be divided into speaking a northern Batak dialect (Karo Batak, andPakpak-Dairi Batak – linguistically this dialect group also includes the culturally very different Alas people), a central Batak dialect (Simalungun) and closely related other southern Batak dialects such asAngkola andMandailing.
There are several dictionaries and grammars for each of the five major dialects of Batak (Angkola-Mandailing, Toba, Simalungun, Pakpak-Dairi, and Karo). Specifically for Toba Batak the most important dictionaries are that of Johannes Warneck (Toba-German) andHerman Neubronner van der Tuuk (Toba-Dutch). The latter was also involved in translating the ChristianBible into Toba Batak.[4]
This description follows Nababan (1981).[5]
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | (Alveolo-) palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | t͡ɕ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʑ | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||
| Trill | r | |||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||
In native words,/k/ and/h/ are in complementary distribution, where the latter only occurs when followed by vowels and not doubled, and the former elsewhere. Thus,hódok "perspiration" →hodohí "the perspiration", butdɔkkɔ́nɔn "will be invited"./k/ in other positions, are only recent developments from loanwords.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Close-mid | e | (ə) | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Note:
Stress is phonemic, e.g./'tibbo/ 'height' vs./tib'bo/ 'high';/'itɔm/ 'black dye' vs./i'tɔm/ 'your sibling'.
Toba Batak has a rathermorphophonemic orthography, consonant clusters should be written instead of double consonants, thus clusters such as ⟨ngh⟩ actually represents double ⟨kk⟩ in pronunciation. In 2016, Surung Sihombing has criticized common orthographic errors in Toba Batak, regarded that the greetingGokhon Dohot Jou-Jou on invitation cards should be correctly written instead asGonghon Dohot Jou-Jou.[6]
Toba Batak hasverb-initial, VOS word order, as with manyAustronesian languages. In (1), the verbmangallang 'eat' precedes the objectkue 'cake', and the verb phrase precedesdakdanak i 'the child'.
Mangallang
kue
cake
dakdanak
child
i.
the
Mangallang kue dakdanak i.
AT-eat cake child the
'The child is eating a cake.' (Silitonga 1973:3)
SVO word order (as in English), however, is also very common (Cole & Hermon 2008). In (2), the subjectdakdanakon 'this child' precedes the verb phrasemangatuk biangi 'hit the dog'.
Dakdanak-on
child-this
mang-atuk
biang-i.
dog-DEF
Dakdanak-on mang-atuk biang-i.
child-thisACT-hit dog-DEF
'This child hit the dog.' (Cole & Hermon 2008)
Cole and Hermon (2008) claim that VOS order is the result ofVP-raising (specifically, of VoiceP) (Figure 1). Then, the subject may optionally raise over the verb phrase because of information structure. This analysis provides a basis for understanding Austronesian languages that have more fully become SVO (e.g. Indonesian: Chung 2008;[7] Jarai: Jensen 2014[8]).
Like many Austronesian languages (e.g.Tagalog), DPwh-movement is subject to an extraction restriction (e.g. Rackowski & Richards 2005). The verb in (3a) must agree withaha 'what' (in (3a): TT or "theme-topic") for it to be extracted in front of the verb. If the verb agrees with the subject,si John 'John' (in (3b): AT or "actor-topic"),aha 'what' may not extract.
Aha
what
diida
si
John?
John
Aha diida si John?
what TT.see PM John
'What did John see?' (Cole & Hermon 2008) Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
*Aha
what
mangida
si
John?
John
*Aha mangida si John?
what AT.see PM John
Intended: 'What did John see?' (Schachter 1984:126) Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
TT:theme-topicAT:actor-topic
