| Also Known As: Batak Toba Language,Batta,Toba Batak
Description:
The Batak Toba language is an Austronesian language that originates from Northern Sumatra, in Indonesia, mostly west of Lake Toba. There are approximately 2,000,000 speakers worldwide. There is a traditional Batak Toba script alphabet referenced below.
Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk was involved in translating the Bible into Toba Batak.
The name of this language arises from a complex history of ethnic identity in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia. It is a generic name for the common language used by the people of the districts of Toba, Uluan, Humbang, Habinsaran, Samosir, and Silindung. Linguistically and culturally these people are closely related, and other communities such as Silalahi and Tongging may also be classified as speakers of Toba Batak.
Among the aforementioned districts, Toba is the most densely populated and politically the most prominent district so that "Toba Batak" became a lable for all communities speaking a dialect closely akin to the diaect spoken in Toba. In contemporary Indonesia the language is seldom referred to as "Toba Batak" (bahasa Batak Toba), but more commonly and simply as "Batak" (bahasa Batak). The (Toba)-Batak refer to it in their own..... full article at Wikipedia |
