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Ethnologue: Languages of the World
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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > Indonesia (Sulawesi) > Wolio

Wolio

A language of Indonesia (Sulawesi)

ISO 639-3: wlo

Population  65,000 in Indonesia (2005 SIL). Population does not include L2 speakers and those in other provinces.
Region  Southeast Sulawesi, southwest Buton Island, Bau-Bau. Also in Malaysia (Sabah).
Language map  Indonesia, Sulawesi, reference number 113
Alternate names   Baubau
Dialects  Lexical similarity: 61% with Cia-Cia [cia], 60% with Masiri dialect of Cia-Cia [cia] and Lantoi dialect of Kaimbulawa [zka].
Classification  Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Celebic, Wotu-Wolio, Wolio-Kamaru
Language use  Trade language. Former court language of the Sultan at Baubau and a few surrounding communities, and formerly used by the nobility in the region. Official regional language. Also use Indonesian [ind].
Language development  Dictionary. Grammar.
Writing system  Arabic script.
Comments  ‘Buton’ usually used generically inside Southeast Sulawesi to refer to Wolio; outside Southeast Sulawesi it refers to people from Southeast Sulawesi, or is sometimes confused with Bajau people as sailors. Muslim.

Also spoken in:

Malaysia (Sabah)

Language name   Wolio
Alternate names  Buton, Butonese, Butung
Comments  ‘Buton’ is often used generically outside southeast Sulawesi for people from southeast Sulawesi, or is confused with Bajau people as sailors. Sabah varieties may be Cia-Cia [cia], Tukang Besi [bhq], Indonesian Bajau [bdl], or some other.
 

Entries from the SIL Bibliography about this language:

Academic Publications

Anceaux, J. C., Charles E. Grimes and René van den Berg. 1995. "Wolio: introduction and wordlist."

Liebner, Horst. 1990. "Istilah-istilah kemaritiman dalam bahasa-bahasa buton."