Makassarese Language

Makassar (sometimes spelled Makasar or Macassar) is both a language and a writing system used by the ethnic Makassar in South Sulawesi island (Celebes) in Indonesia.

The Makassar language is a member of the Austronesian language family, and closely related to Buginese in the group South Sulawesi languages.

Although Makassarese is now often written with the Roman alphabet, it is still widely written in its own distinctive script, also called Lontara, which once was used also to write important documents in Bugis and Mandar, two related language from Sulawesi.

The Makassar symbols are written using mostly straight oblique lines and dots. In spite of its quite distinctive appearance, it is derived from the ancient Brahmi scripts of India. Like other descendants of that script, each consonant has an inherent vowel “a”, which is not marked. Other vowels can be indicated by adding one of five diacritics above, below, or on either side of each consonant.

Some common words/phrases in the Makassar language using the Roman alphabet are as follows (’ = glottal stop):

balla’ = house;
bulu = hair/fur;
bambang = hot/warm;
cipuru’ = hungry;
doe’ = money;
iyo = yes;
jappa-jappa = to go for a walk;
lompo = big/large;
sallo = long;
tabe’ = excuse me;
tena = no;
karaeng = king;
apa kareba? = how are you?;
lakeko mae? = where are you going?;
battu kemae ko? = where have you been?
ballang = get tanned
botto’ = smelly
rantasa’ = disgusting
sallo = slowly
battala = fatty
billa = far away
gele-gele = tickle
kong kong = dog
jarang = horse
bembe’ = goat