The Simeulue language is spoken by the

Simeulue people The Simeulue people (other names include Simalur, Simeuloë, Simulul, Long Bano and Devayan) are an indigenous group of people inhabiting Simeulue Island off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. They are mostly found in Teupah Barat, Simeulue ...

Simeulue Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1754 square kilometres (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census ...

off the western coast of

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

Names

''Simeulue'' is also called , which literally means 'Where are you going?'. Ethnologue also lists ''Long Bano'', ''Simalur'', ''Simeuloë'', and ''Simulul'' as alternate names.

Varieties

Simeulue is spoken in five of eight subdistricts (''kecamatan'') of

Simeulue Regency Simeulue Regency ( id, Kabupaten Simeulue) is a regency in the Aceh special region of Indonesia. It occupies the whole island of Simeulue (Pulau Simeulue), 150 km off the west coast of Sumatra, with an area of . It had a population of 80,674 ...

. It includes two dialects. * Defayan: spoken in the four eastern subdistricts of

Teupah Selatan Teupah Selatan is a district (''Kecamatan'') of the Simeulue Regency on Simeulue island in the Indonesian province of Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Ind ...

, Simeulue Timur,

Teupah Barat Teupah Barat is a district of the Simeulue Regency on Simeulue island in the Indonesian province of Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is locat ...

, and

Teluk Dalam Teluk Dalam (also written as Telukdalam) is a town and district in the South Nias Regency, North Sumatra province, Indonesia. Following the splitting off of parts of the original district to form new districts, it is now mainly confined to the tow ...

* Simolol (prestige dialect): spoken around Kampung Aie and

Simeulue Tengah Simeulue Tengah (Central Simeulue) is a district of the Simeulue Regency on Simeulue island in the Indonesian province of Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of ...

* Leukon: spoken in two villages in Alafan, namely Langi and Lafakha. * Haloban: spoken in two villages in

Banyak Islands The Banyak Islands (sometimes spelled Banjak Islands) are a group of inhabited islands located between Simeulue and Nias off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia's Aceh Province. Surveys of the area approximate around 71 islands and additio ...

, namely Haloban and Asantola. Sikule, related to

Nias Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre ...

, is spoken in Salang,

Alafan Alafan is a district of the Simeulue Regency on Simeulue in the Indonesian province of Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the nor ...

and

Simeulue Barat Simeulue Barat is a district of the Simeulue Regency on Simeulue in the Indonesian province of Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on ...

in northern Simeulue, while Jamu (also called ''Kamano''), related to

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

, is spoken in the capital city of

Sinabang Sinabang is a town on the east coast of Simeulue Island, which lies off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. Sinabang is the administrative seat (capital) of the Simeulue Regency, in Aceh Province of Indonesia and has a population of approxim ...

and has become the lingua franca of the island.

Names

Varieties

See also

References

Further reading