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Simalungun, or Batak Simalungun, is an Austronesian language of Sumatra. It is spoken mainly in Simalungun Regency and Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
A Simalungun museum in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra, Indonesia.. Long before Dutch colonialism was established in North-East Sumatra, people now known collectively as Batak Timur (Eastern Batak) claimed the area as their original homeland, for example, Sin Raya (Raya's peoples), Sin Silou (Silou's peoples), Sin Bandar (Bandar's peoples), and so forth.
Simalungun was long considered an intermediary, but in current classifications it is recognized as part of the Southern branch. [4] [5] Within Northern Batak, a study noted 80% cognate words between Karo and Alas, 81% with Pakpak, 76% with Simalungun & Toba, and 30% with Malay (Indonesian). [6] Karo and Toba Batak are mutually unintelligible.
Map showing the distribution of language families; the pink color shows where Austronesian languages are spoken. This is a list of major and official Austronesian languages, a language family originating from Taiwan, that is widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia (Indonesia and Philippines) and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia and Madagascar.
Simalungun is an early offspring of the southern branch. Some Simalungun dialects can be understood by speakers of Batak Karo, whereas other dialects of Simalungun can be understood by speakers of Toba. This is due to the existence of a linguistic continuum that often blurs the lines between the Batak dialects.
Simalungun Regency is a regency in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia.Its seat was formerly at Pematangsiantar, but this city was under Law No.15 of 10 March 1986 was separated from the Regency and made into an independent city (kota), although it remains geographically surrounded by the regency, whose new administrative seat is at Raya, while the regency's two most populous districts are ...
Pematangsiantar (sometimes written as Pematang Siantar, acronym PS or P. Siantar, colloquially just Siantar), and also known as the City of Pematangsiantar, [2] is an independent city in North Sumatra Province of Indonesia, surrounded by, but not part of, the Simalungun Regency, making Pematangsiantar an enclave within Simalungun Regency.
[12] [13] [14] The Indonesian language is primarily used in commerce, administration, education and the media, and thus nearly every Indonesian speaks the language to varying degrees of proficiency. [15] Most Indonesians speak other languages, such as Javanese, as their first language. [2] This makes plurilingualism a norm in Indonesia. [15]