Toba Batak language

Toba Batak (/ˈtoʊbə ˈbætək/[2]) is an Austronesian language spoken in North Sumatra province in Indonesia.

[3] The name of this language arises from a rich and complex history of ethnic identity in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia.

There are several dictionaries and grammars for each of the five major dialects of Batak (Angkola-Mandailing, Toba, Simalungun, Pakpak-Dairi, and Karo).

Specifically for Toba Batak the most important dictionaries are that of Johannes Warneck (Toba-German) and Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk (Toba-Dutch).

In (2), the subject dakdanakon 'this child' precedes the verb phrase mangatuk biangi 'hit the dog'.

This analysis provides a basis for understanding Austronesian languages that have more fully become SVO (e.g. Indonesian: Chung 2008;[7] Jarai: Jensen 2014[8]).

Like many Austronesian languages (e.g. Tagalog), DP wh-movement is subject to an extraction restriction (e.g. Rackowski & Richards 2005).

The distribution of Batak languages in northern Sumatra. Toba Batak is the majority language in the blue-colored areas labeled with its ISO 639-3 code "bbc".
A Toba Batak speaker.
Manuscript in Toba Batak language, central Sumatra, early 1800s.
Toba Batak houses and residents in a photograph by Christiaan Benjamin Nieuwenhuis .
Figure 1: VP movement to derive VOS word order.