Makassarese language

Makasar
Bahasa Makassar
ᨅᨔ ᨆᨀᨔᨑ Basa Mangkasaraʼ
Native to	Indonesia
Region	South Sulawesi (Sulawesi)
Ethnicity	Makassarese
Native speakers	2.1 million (2000 census)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian South Sulawesi Makassaric Makasar
Dialects	Gowa-Takalar (Lakiung) Jeʼneʼponto (Turatea) Marusuʼ-Pangkajeʼneʼ
Writing system	Lontara (present) Latin (present) Serang (Makassar Annals, religious purpose) Old Makassarese (historical)
Language codes
ISO 639-2	mak
ISO 639-3	mak
Glottolog	maka1311

This article contains Lontara script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Lontara characters.

Makassarese (basa Mangkasaraʼ or basa Mangkasarak), sometimes called Makasar, Makassar, or Macassar, is a language of the Makassarese people, spoken in South Sulawesi province of Indonesia. It is a member of the South Sulawesi group of the Austronesian language family, and thus closely related to, among others, Buginese, also known as Bugis. The areas where Makassarese is spoken include the Gowa, Sinjai, Maros, Takalar, Jeneponto, Bantaeng, Pangkajene and Islands, Bulukumba, and Selayar Islands Regencies, and Makassar. Within the Austronesian language family, Makassarese is part of the South Sulawesi language group, although its vocabulary is considered divergent compared to its closest relatives. In 2000, Makassarese had approximately 2.1 million native speakers.