Sahu language

Sahu
Native toIndonesia
RegionHalmahera
Native speakers
(7,500 excluding Waioli and Gamkonora cited 1987)
(12,000 cited in 1987)
Dialects
  • Waioli
  • Pa'disua
  • Gamkonora
  • Tala'i
  • Ibu †
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
saj  Sahu
ibu  Ibu
Glottologsahu1245  Sahu
ibuu1240  Ibu
ELPIbu

Sahu (Sa’u, Sahu’u, Sau) is a North Halmahera language. Use is vigorous; dialects are Pa’disua (Palisua), Tala’i, Waioli, and Gamkonora. A fifth dialect, Ibu, used to be spoken near the mouth of the Ibu River. Ethnologue considers Waioli and Gamkonora to be separate languages.

Sahu has many Ternate loanwords, a historical legacy of the dominance of the Ternate Sultanate in the Moluccas.