The Ulars are the indigenous people of the island nation of Panau. They are descended from various Micronesian and Polynesian tribes from Oceania and during the 3rd century B.C.E., they had migrated back to the Panauan archipelago in Southeast Asia.
During the Hindu-Buddhist period, lots of Indian influences came to Maritime Southeast Asia and the Ular aborigines adopted Hinduism and Buddhism and these religions had integrated in their faith and culture. Sanskrit and Pali are widely used in religious texts, and basic vocabulary entered Ular vocabulary.
During the 7th to 10th centuries C.E., the Srivijaya (Malay) and Majapahit (Indonesian) empires came and conquered portions of the archipelago. They also facilitated trade with other neighboring nations such as the Chinese, Thais, Vietnamese, and Filipinos. The Malays, Indonesians, and Filipinos migrated to the archipelago, outnumbered the natives to only 10% and loanwords from their respective languages were gained to the Ular language.
The resistance of Ular tribesmen to the sultanates during the 13th to 16th centuries C.E. led to only a handful of Arabic loanwords to the Ular tongue. About only one to two percent has Arabic origin.
During the colonial era, most of the islands were controlled by the Spanish, a third by the British, another third by the Dutch, and a small portion in the capital comes to the Portuguese. Due to colonial policies, half of the Ular natives were integrated into colonial society and absorbed colonial loanwords. However, the Ulars in the jungles maintained the native local words.
During the Japanese period, colonial tongue and even the usage of the Ular language was banned, and it was only Japanese and Malay alone to be the official language of the territory. This led to a decline of Ular speakers, from 4,000 speakers in 1937 to only 900 speakers in 1945.
The independence of Panau in the years 1945 to 1995 led to a rise of Ular speakers. However, when his son Pandak "Baby" Panay ruled Panau, he discouraged the Ular language since most Ular nationalists, under the charismatic Sri Irawan, was growing his influence throughout the islands. Nowadays, the language holds official status but spoken by a minority of the country's people.
The Ular language is an Austronesian language distinct to other Micronesian and Polynesian languages, forming its own branch: Ularic. It is greatly influenced by Malay grammar, Sanskrit vocabulary, and native pronunciation. According to historians, this is one of the most unique languages in the planet and with the cultural hybridism, it formed into a minor yet colorful language.
JC2 Inspired
↓ Read more... ↓