| Tansi | |
|---|---|
| Tansi Creole | |
| Bahasa Tansi | |
| Native to | West Sumatra (Sawahlunto) |
| Region | Indonesia |
| Ethnicity | Tansi people |
Native speakers | few native speakers left |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
Tansi language (Bahasa Tansi), also known asTansi Creole, is acreole ormixed language spoken by a community known as the Tansi people, inSawahlunto, a former mining town previously underDutch colonial rule.[1][2] The Tansi people developed through the use of forced labour from a range of ethnic communities, of whichJavanese prisoners were the majority.[1] The community's name comes from the wordtansi meaning 'barracks where the labourers lived'.[1]
Tansi language began as apolygeneticpidgin language, combining the languages ofMinangkabau,Javanese,Chinese,Madurese,Sundanese,Balinese,Buginese, andBatak, with basicMalay andDutch.[3][4]
The Tansi people have developed a performance practice calledTonel, which relies heavily on the Tansi language.[1]Tonel performances incorporate "mimicry and mockery; hybridization; and parody and satire".[1][5] In theTonel performances, women reclaimed their identities by acting as main characters in significant roles rather than being used in the colonial period as objects of desire.[1] Within the performances, speakers of the Tansi language illustrate both practices ofdecreolization towards the source languages of Minangkabau and Javanese, and recreolization illustrating Tansi people solidarity.[1]
The mining city where the Tansi language originated,Ombilin Coal Mine, was recognized as aUNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019.[1] The language itself was also recognized by UNESCO as part of the region's intangible cultural heritage.[4]