| Batak Toba | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Indonesia |
| Region | Samosir Island (2° 30′ N, 99°), and to the east, south, and west of Toba Lake in north Sumatra. |
| Native speakers | 2 million (1991) |
| Language family |
Austronesian
|
| Writing system | Latin, Batak alphabet |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bbc |
The Batak Toba language is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia. It is part of a group of languages called "Batak".
There are approximately 2,000,000 Batak Toba speakers, living west of Lake Toba. Historically it was written using Batak script but the Latin alphabet is now used for most writing.
Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk was involved in translating the Bible into Batak Toba.
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The name of this language arises from a rich and 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, centered upon the Island of Sumatra; more particularly, at Toba Lake. Linguistically and culturally these tribes of people are closely related. Other nearby communities such as Silalahi and Tongging may also be classified as speakers of Toba Batak.
The term "Toba Batak" is, itself, a derivation of the Toba Batak language. As such, it is used both as a noun and an adjective; both to describe a language, and also to describe the people who speak the language.
Among the aforementioned districts, Toba is the most densely populated and politically the most prominent district so that "Toba Batak" became a label for all communities speaking a dialect closely akin to the dialect 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 language as "Hata Batak". This "Batak" language is different from the languages of other "Batak" people that can be divided in speaking a northern Batak dialect (Karo Batak, and Pakpak-Dairi Batak – linguistically this dialect group also includes the culturally very different Alas people), a central Batak dialect (Simalungun) and closely related other southern Batak dialects such as Angkola and Mandailing.
There are several dictionaries and grammars for each of the five major dialects of Batak (Angkola-Mandailing, Toba, Simalungun, Pakpal-Dairi, and Karo). Specifically for Toba Batak the most important dictionaries are that of Johannes Warneck (Toba-German) and Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk (Toba-Dutch).