Wolio language

Wolio is an <a href="/facts/Austronesian_language/jpygNVzl">Austronesian language</a> spoken in and around <a href="/facts/Baubau/3kcWdbSJ">Baubau</a> on <a href="/facts/Buton/M2cRWGMm">Buton Island</a>, <a href="/facts/Southeast_Sulawesi/DyA0ye8j">Southeast Sulawesi</a>, <a href="/facts/Indonesia/vQnWU3IW">Indonesia</a>. It belongs to the <a href="/facts/Wotu%25E2%2580%2593Wolio_languages/QqwWRxNG">Wotu–Wolio</a> branch of the <a href="/facts/Celebic_languages/YCG5l6ha">Celebic</a> subgroup. Also known as Buton, it is a trade language and the former court language of the Sultan at Baubau. Today it is an official regional language; street signs are written in the <a href="/facts/Buri_Wolio/V9pCpDT6">Buri Wolio</a> alphabet, based on the Arabic script.
Wolio has lexical borrowings from Malay, Arabic, and Dutch. Local languages of eastern Indonesia, such as <a href="/facts/Buginese_language/BDuU29NQ">Bugis</a>, <a href="/facts/Makassarese_language/YktIMjMS">Makasar</a>, and <a href="/facts/Ternate_language/zPaHVUPl">Ternate</a>, have also been influential. The name "Buton", which also refers generically to various ethnic and linguistic groups of the Buton area, is said to be of Ternatese origin (butu, ‘market; marketplace’).

Wolio language open-in-new

Wolio language