Bajau, Indonesian

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A language of Indonesia

ISO 639-3
bdl
Alternate Names
Badjaw, Badjo, Bajao, Bajo, Bayo, Gaj, Indonesian Bajaw, Orang Laut, Sama, Taurije’ne’
Population

150,000 (Mead, Lee, and Neveux 2007). 5,000 or more in North Maluku (Grimes 1982), 8,000 to 10,000 in South Sulawesi (Grimes and Grimes 1987), 7,000 in North Sulawesi and Gorontalo, 36,000 in Central Sulawesi, 40,000 in Southeast Sulawesi (Mead, Lee, and Neveux 2007), and several thousand in Nusa Tenggara (Wurm and Hattori 1981; Verheijen 1986).

Location

Well dispersed throughout north central Indonesia; Sulawesi Utara Province, Wori, Tumpaan, and Belang subdistricts; Sulawesi Selatan Province, Selayar, Bone, and Sinjai regencies; Sulawesi Tengah and Sulawesi Tenggara provinces; Gorontalo Province, Popayato and Tilamuta subdistricts; Maluku Utara Province on Bacan, Obi, Kayoa, and Sula islands.

Language Status

6b (Threatened).

Classification
Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Greater Barito, Sama-Bajaw, Sulu-Borneo, Borneo Coast Bajaw
Dialects

Jampea, Jaya Bakti, Kajoa, Matalaang, Poso, Roti, Same’, Sulamu, Togian 1, Togian 2, Wallace.

Language Use

Vigorous in north Maluku and Southeast Sulawesi. Also use Indonesian [ind].

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Bajau, Indonesian
Other Comments

Known as Bayo and Taurije’ne’ in the Makasar [mak] language. Known as Bajo in Buginese [bug]. Schools in some villages. They live in houses on stilts over water. Other Bajau languages are in Sabah, Malaysia, and the southern Philippines. Muslim, traditional religion.