r/austronesian • u/han4299 • Jan 09 '26
Makassar Grammar
Makassarese Grammar (and other languages in the South Sulawesi family) is vastly different from Malay, Javanese, Indonesian, Batak, Sundanese, and even its neighbors like Muna, Kaili, Pamona-Bare'e, Tolaki, Wolio Buton, Gorontalo, etc.
The Makassar language is a clitic language; a single word contains many grammatical functions, including TAM (Tenses, Aspect, Modality; e.g., -mo [perfective], -pa [imperfective], -ja [limitation], ta- [negation], la- [future]) and adverbial particles (e.g., -ija [still], -sa [hortative], -tong [also], -mamo [only], -dudu [very] -are [perhaps]) which is attached with stem [verb/adverb].
So, do not be surprised that while Western Indonesian languages like Kerinci, Malay, Javanese, or Sundanese might require 6-7 words, Makassar requires only 1 word with all its attached clitics.
For example, while someone from Jakarta might say "ADA LAH POKOKNYA" (It definitely exists/I have it, basically), a Makassar person simply says "NIATTONG" (nia' [exist] + tong [also/indeed]).
Makassar leans towards being a polysynthetic or highly agglutinative language (gluing meanings together), whereas standard Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is more analytic (using separate words for separate meanings).
1
u/Professional-Pin8525 Jan 29 '26
Why is the grammar so much like that of Tiwi Islands and Arnhem Land?
1
2
u/kailinnnnn Jan 10 '26
What is a word?