Batak Toba

Toba Batak

Austronesian (Northwest Sumatran)

FamilyAustronesian (Northwest Sumatran) Speakers~2M ScriptLatin / Batak script (Surat Batak, historical) CountriesIndonesia (North Sumatra) Official inNo (regional) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3bbc

Toba Batak is the largest of the Batak languages, spoken around Lake Toba in Sumatra. The Surat Batak script, an indigenous Brahmic abugida, was widely used until the 20th century and survives ceremonially.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Toba Batak

Water

aek

/aek/

Fire

api

/api/

Sun

mata ni ari

/mata ni ari/

Moon

bulan

/bulan/

Mother

ina

/ina/

Father

ama

/ama/

Eat

mangan

/maŋan/

Drink

minum

/minum/

Love

holong

/holoŋ/

Heart

roha

/roha/

Tree

hau

/hau/

House

jabu

/dʒabu/

Dog

biang

/biaŋ/

Cat

huting

/hutiŋ/

Hand

tangan

/taŋan/

Eye

mata

/mata/

Hello

horas

/horas/

Thank you

mauliate

/mauliate/

One

sada

/sada/

Good

denggan

/deŋɡan/

Words compared

Compared with related Austronesian (Northwest Sumatran) languages

Meaning Toba BatakBatak AngkolaSimalungun BatakMusiAmbon MalayOld MalayMalay
Water aek /aek/ aek /aek/ bah /bah/ ayek /ajek/ aer /aer/ ayar /ajar/ air /ˈa.ir/
Fire api /api/ api /api/ apuy /apuj/ api /api/ api /api/ api /api/ api /api/
Sun mata ni ari /mata ni ari/ ari /ari/ mata ni ari /mata ni ari/ matahari /matahari/ mata hari /mata hari/ matari /matari/ matahari /matahari/
Moon bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/ bulan /bulan/
Mother ina /ina/ inang /inaŋ/ inang /inaŋ/ mak /mak/ mama /mama/ ibu /ibu/ ibu /ibu/
Father ama /ama/ amang /amaŋ/ bapa /bapa/ bapak /bapak/ papa /papa/ bapa /bapa/ ayah /ajah/
Eat mangan /maŋan/ mangan /maŋan/ mangan /maŋan/ makan /makan/ makang /makaŋ/ makan /makan/ makan /makan/
Drink minum /minum/ minum /minum/ minum /minum/ minum /minum/ minong /minoŋ/ minum /minum/ minum /minum/
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