tsg ISO 639
Bahasa Sūg, بَهَسَ سُوگ (Bahasa Sūg) Autonyms
Tausug
Visualizations
A language of Philippines
- ISO 639
- tsg
- Alternate Names
- Jolohano, Moro Joloano, Sinug, Sinug Tausug, Sulu, Suluk, Tausog, Taw Sug
- Autonym
- Bahasa Sūg, بَهَسَ سُوگ (Bahasa Sūg)
- Population
- 784,000 in Philippines (2005 UNSD), increasing. 250,000 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 1,230,000 (2010 census). Total users in all countries: 946,000.
- Location
- Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: Sulu province, Jolo, in Sulu archipelago; Basilan province, Basilan island; Mimaropa region: Palawan province on Palawan island; Zamboanga Peninsula region: Zamboanga city and environs.
- Language Maps
- Malaysia: Sabah, Southern Philippines
- Language Status
- 3 (Wider communication). De facto language of provincial identity in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces. Came as a trade language from northeast Mindanao around the 10th century. Lingua franca of the Sulu sultanate at the beginning of the 15th century. Tausug people now the dominant group in the Sulu archipelago. Used in all domains by all generations.
- Classification
- Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Greater Central Philippine, Central Philippine, Bisayan, South, Butuan-Tausug
- Language Use
- Vigorous. All domains. Used by all. Positive attitudes. Also use Kalagan [kqe]. Used as L2 by Balangingih Sama [sse], Central Sama [sml], Chavacano [cbk], Mapun [sjm], Pangutaran Sama [slm], Southern Sama [ssb], Yakan [yka].
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L1: 50%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%. Taught in primary schools through grade 3. Literature. Radio. Videos. Dictionary. Grammar. Texts. NT: 1985–2002. Agency: Anak-Sug Association.
- Writing
- Arabic script, Naskh variant [Arab]. Latin script [Latn].
- Other Comments
- Muslim.
- Language Resources
- OLAC resources in and about Tausug
Also Spoken in
- Location
- Sabah state: Beluran, Kudat, Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Semporna, and Tawau districts’ coasts; Kota Kinabalu, Labuan, and Papar coasts.
- Language Status
- 6b (Threatened)
- Language Use
- Home. Mixed use: Friends, Religion, Work, Education. Some young people, all adults. Positive attitudes. All also use Sabah Malay [msi]. Many also use Standard Malay [zsm]. Some also use English [eng]. Some also use Southern Sama [ssb]. A few also use Ida’an [dbj]. Used as L2 by Brunei [kxd], Ida’an [dbj], Mapun [sjm], Southern Sama [ssb].
- Language Development
- Literacy rate in L1: 95%. Literacy rate in L2: 95% in Sabah Malay [msi], 30% in English [eng]. Agency: Pusaka.
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. While some have lived in North Borneo for hundreds of years, many are recent immigrants from the southern Philippines seeking work and fleeing conflict. Muslim. View other languages of Malaysia
Language Name
Suluk
User Population
150,000 in Malaysia (2000 SIL), increasing. No monolinguals (2015 N. Dino).
- Location
- North Kalimantan province: scattered coastal settlements; immigrants from Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines.
- Language Status
- 5 (Dispersed)
- Other Comments
- Non-indigenous. Muslim. View other languages of Indonesia
Language Name
Tausug
User Population
12,000 in Indonesia (Wurm and Hattori 1981).
