Endangered Languages Project

Language of Tobelo town and the southern portion of Kao Bay, as well as various migrant communities across Halmahera and neighboring islands.

CLASSIFICATION		North Halmaheran
ORTHOGRAPHY		Latin
CODE AUTHORITY		ISO 639-3
LANGUAGE CODE		tlb
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Heleworuru Boeng Dodinga Lake Paca Kukumutuk and Popon
DOWNLOAD		As csv
MORE RESOURCES		OLAC search

Threatened

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
15,000
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
According to Holton (2003), "Outside of the regional center of Tobelo town, Tobelo is still learned as a first language and still spoken as the language of every-day communication. Indeed, in many villages school teachers who do not speak Tobelo are frustrated by the lack of fluency in Malay among school-age children. However, in Tobelo town itself the situation is rapidly changing.

DOMAINS OF USE
SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS
TRANSMISSION
OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: All speakers are fluent in local Malay.
Scripts (Writing system): Latin
More on Orthography: limited number of religious publications are available in Tobelo

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Many Tobelo have emigrated and settled elsewhere on Halmahera and the surrounding islands. Hence, significant Tobelo populations are found on Morotai, Bacan, Obi and the Raja Ampat Islands.

					2020	Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-third edition						SIL International			Dallas						Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2020. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-third edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International.						27,700	2000	10000-99999						Malay, Indonesia.			Positive attitudes toward language.	Taught in middle school in Tobelo town.			Vulnerable (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)										1.731944,128.007778
					2003	Tobelo						LINCOM Europa			Munich						Holton, Gary							15,000	2003		According to Holton (2003), "Outside of the regional center of Tobelo town, Tobelo is still learned as a first language and still spoken as the language of every-day communication. Indeed, in many villages school teachers who do not speak Tobelo are frustrated by the lack of fluency in Malay among school-age children. However, in Tobelo town itself the situation is rapidly changing.					Malay, Indonesian				All speakers are fluent in local Malay.			Threatened (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	11			13	12		Many Tobelo have emigrated and settled elsewhere on Halmahera and the surrounding islands. Hence, significant Tobelo populations are found on Morotai, Bacan, Obi and the Raja Ampat Islands.			1.731944,128.007778

Tobelo