Makassarese language

Makassarese (sometimes spelled Makasar, Makassar, or Macassar) is a language used by the Makassarese people in South Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is a member of the South Sulawesi group of the Austronesian language family, and thus closely related to, among others, Buginese.

Although Makassarese is now often written in Latin script, 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 languages 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, transcribed in the Latin script, are as follows ( ' = glottal stop):

Makassar

Makassar (Buginese-Makassar language: ᨀᨚᨈ ᨆᨀᨔᨑ) – sometimes spelled Macassar, Mangkasara' – is the provincial capital of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is the largest city on Sulawesi Island in terms of population, and the fifth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, and Medan. From 1971 to 1999, the city was named Ujung Pandang, after a precolonial fort in the city, and the two names are often used interchangeably. The city is located on the southwest coast of the island of Sulawesi, facing the Makassar Strait.

The city's area is 19,926 square kilometres (7,693 sq mi) and it had a population of around 1.6 million in 2013. Its built-up (or metro) area had 1,976,168 inhabitants covering Makassar City and 15 districts. Its official metropolitan area, known as Mamminasata, with 17 additional districts, covers an area of 2,548 square kilometres (984 sq mi) and had a population of around 2.4 million at the 2010 Census.

History

Beginning in the sixteenth century, Makassar was the dominant trading center of eastern Indonesia, and soon became one of the largest cities in island Southeast Asia. The Makassar kings maintained a policy of free trade, insisting on the right of any visitor to do business in the city, and rejecting the attempts of the Dutch to establish a monopoly.

Makassar people

The Makassar people (also known as Mangasara, Mengkasara, Macassar, Taena, Tena, or Gowa) are an ethnic group that inhabits the southern part of the South Peninsula, Sulawesi. They live around Makassar, the capital city of the province of South Sulawesi, as well as the Konjo highlands, the coastal areas, and the Selayar and Spermonde islands. They speak Makassarese, which is closely related to Buginese and also a Malay creole called Makassar Malay.

Lifestyle

The main source of income of the Makassar is rice farming; however, they are also famous throughout Indonesia for their skill in trading and as fishermen.

Labor division is strict because of the rigid separation of the sexes, as in all traditional Muslim communities. Men are engaged in matters outside the house such as farming, fishing, etc. Women are usually responsible for the household duties, while the man is the head of the family. While they are in public, respect should be shown to him by the wife and children. Usually the final decisions concerning the family are made by the husband. In rural areas, arranged marriage is still widely practiced.