Gorontalo

The Gorontalo language (also called Hulontalo) is a Austronesian language spoken in provinces of Gorontalo, North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi, Indonesia by the Gorontalo people and Polahi people. With around one million speakers (2000 census), it is a major language of northern Sulawesi. They belong to the Philippine sub-group, its related language is Mongondow.

Considerable lexical influence comes from Malay, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and the North Halmahera languages. The Gorontalo region used to be controlled by the Sultanate of Ternate. Manado Malay and Indonesian are also spoken in the area. Despite its relatively large number of speakers, Gorontalo is under much pressure from Malay varieties, especially in urban settings.

Sizable Gorontalo communities can be found in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi, as well as Jakarta.

From Wikipedia · Gorontalo language · CC BY-SA 4.0