Muna is a member of the Celebic branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family. It is spoken by about 300,000 people on Muna and Buton Islands southeast of Sulawesi in Indonesian. It is also spoken on Tobea Besar and a number of other islands in the area.
There are a number of dialects of Muna: Standard Muna, Tiworo, Siompua and Gumas dialects. Standard Muna is spoken by the majority of Muna people.
Muna was purely an oral language until the late 20th century. Traditional oral literature includes stories, poetry and drama, some of which has been written down and published.
Muna is used to some extent as a language of instruction in primary education, however there are no Muna textbooks.
| A a | B b | C c | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h | I i |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | be | ce | de | e | ef | ge | ha | i |
| J j | K k | L l | M m | N n | O o | P p | Q q | R r |
| je | ka | el | em | en | o | pe | ki | er |
| S s | T t | U u | V v | W w | X x | Y y | Z z | |
| es | te | u | ve | we | iks | ye | zet |
Details of the Muna alphabet provided by Michael Peter Füstumum
Ama mani te surugaa,
notifosibhala’o toha neamu.
Nohato’o toha Kafopahinta’amu,
noko’ula’o toha patudhumu we dhunia ini peda te surugaa.
Wa’a kainsami nehumaa kafaraluu mani se’oleo itu.
Amponie sabhaha dhosa mani,
pedamo dua insaodi tama’afu’ao mie koka’alano ne insaodi.
Koise folapasa kainsami weo kasoba,
tamaka dhagani kainsami ne kuasa modai.
[Kapa’amo Hintumo mahintano, kokuasano bhe
kumalabhiano ampa suhue dhamani.]
Amin.
Source: Bhihita Metaa Podhandi’a Bu’ou. Perjanjian Baru dalam Bahasa Muna (dialek selatan) di Sulawesi Tenggara. New Testament (Muna Southern Dialect) of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.M Yayasan Sumber Sejahtera, 2004.
Information provided by Wolfgang Kuhl
Information about Muna | Numbers
Information about Muna
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muna_language
http://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/mnb
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/34982830_A_grammar_of_the_Muna_language
http://research.uni-leipzig.de/exponet/Slides/Amsterdam/Ortmann.pdf
Banggai, Balantak, Bungku, Cia-Cia, Kodeoha, Kulisusu, Moma, Mori Atas, Mori Bawah, Moronene, Muna, Pendau, Tajio, Tolaki, Tukang Besi, Wolio
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 27.09.21
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