Gorontalo

Gorontalo, known to its speakers as Hulontalo, is the major language of the Gorontalo peninsula in northern Sulawesi, spoken by the Gorontalo and Polahi peoples. It belongs to the Gorontalo-Mongondow branch of the Philippine subgroup of Austronesian, and is closest to Mongondow. Its vocabulary carries layers of Malay, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch and North Halmahera loanwords, reflecting trade links and the spread of Islam.

Before the Portuguese arrival in 1525, Islam had reached the peninsula, which was divided among Muslim states including Gorontalo, Limboto and Suwawa and stood under the influence of the Sultanate of Ternate.

Traditionally a language of oral poetry such as the narrative tanggomo and the rhymed tuja'i, Gorontalo acquired written forms through Islamic missionaries and Dutch colonial officials. A Malay-based creole, Gorontalo Malay, increasingly served as the regional lingua franca.