Banda language (Maluku)

Banda
Native toIndonesia
RegionKei Islands
Native speakers
(3,000 cited 1987)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bnd
Glottologband1355

Banda is an Austronesian language of the Central Maluku subgroup. Along with Kei, it is one of the two languages of the Kei Islands in the Indonesian province of Maluku.

Originally, the Banda language was spoken on the Banda Islands until the Dutch military campaign in 1621, during which almost all indigenous inhabitants were killed, enslaved or exiled. Survivors of the campaign found refuge on the island of Kei Besar, where the language is still in active use in the villages Banda Elat and Banda Eli.[2]

  1. ^ Banda at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Collins, James T.; Kaartinen, Timo (1998). "Preliminary Notes on Bandanese Language Maintenance and Change in Kei". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde. 154 (4): 521–570. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003884. JSTOR 27865462.