Sahu language

Sahu (Sa’u, Sahu’u, Sau) is a North Halmahera language. Use is vigorous; dialects are Pa’disua (Palisua), Tala’i, Waioli, and Gamkonora. A fifth dialect, Ibu, used to be spoken near the mouth of the Ibu River.[2]

Not to be confused with the Saho language.
Sahu
Native toIndonesia
RegionHalmahera
Native speakers
(7500 cited 1987)[1]
Dialects
  • Waioli
  • Pa'disua
  • Gamkonora
  • Tala'i
  • Ibu †
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
saj – Sahu
ibu – Ibu
Glottologsahu1245  Sahu
ibuu1240  Ibu
ELPIbu

Sahu has many Ternate loanwords, a historical legacy of the dominance of the Ternate Sultanate in the Moluccas.[3]

Phonology[4]

Sahu, like other North Halmahera languages, is not a tonal language.

Consonants
Sahu consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palato-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/Affricate voiceless p t tʃ k ʔ
voiced b d dʒ ɡ
implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ
Fricative voiceless f s
Approximant central w j h
lateral l
Trill r

When preceding /a/, /o/, and /u/, the consonants /d/, /ɗ/, and /l/ become retroflex (/ɖ/, /ᶑ/, and /ɭ/, respectively). The trill /r/ alternates freely with /ɾ/, but, according to Visser and Voorhoeve, /r/ is the more usual allophone. The glottal /h/ may be realized as the unvoiced uvular fricative /χ/ by educated speakers for certain words deriving from Arabic.

Vowels
Sahu vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e ə o
Low a

The phoneme /ə/ is only found in loans (primarily from Indonesian).

References
  1. Sahu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
    Ibu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
  2. Visser, L. E. and C.L. Voorhoeve. 1987. Sahu-Indonesian-English Dictionary and Sahu Grammar Sketch. Dordrecht: Foris.
  3. Holton, Gary; Klamer, Marian (2018). "The Papuan languages of East Nusantara and the Bird's Head". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 569–640. ISBN 978-3-11-028642-7.
  4. Visser, L. E. and C.L. Voorhoeve. 1987. Sahu-Indonesian-English Dictionary and Sahu Grammar Sketch. Dordrecht: Foris.
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