IS MALIMPUNG [MLI] A DIALECT OF BUGIS [BUG]?

Abstract

Malimpung is a language spoken by 9,000 people in South Sulawesi (Ruwayari et al. 2019). It is part of a dialect chain that includes Enrekang [ptt] and Bugis (Grimes & Grimes 1987; Pelenkahu et al. 1974). We recently conducted a language survey with the Malimpung speech community in Enrekang using a 210-word list, Recorded Text Test (RTT), and a questionnaire. Analyzing the Malimpung wordlist by comparing it to eleven Bugis wordlists from different locations indicated an average lexical similarity of 68%. The results of the RTT were a little lower, averaging 62%. This was because the RTT text was a combination of highland lects of Toraja [sda] and Duri [mvp]. It is not surprising that Malimpung scored closer to Bugis because it is located in a lowland surrounded by the Bugis whereas Duri and Toraja are in the mountainous area. Our questionnaires reveal that they have a positive attitude towards being identified as Bugis. These results question the classification of Malimpung as a separate language from Bugis.