The Gorontalo language (also called Hulontalo) is a language spoken in Gorontalo Province, Sulawesi, Indonesia by the Gorontalo people. With around one million speakers (2000 census), it is a major language of northern Sulawesi. Considerable lexical influence comes from Malay, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and the North Halmahera languages. The Gorontalo region used to be controlled by the Sultanate of Ternate. Manado Malay and Indonesian are also spoken in the area. Despite its relatively large number of speakers, Gorontalo is under much pressure from Malay varieties, especially in urban settings. Sizable Gorontalo communities can be found in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi, as well as Jakarta.

Dialects

Musa Kasim et al. (1981) give five main dialects of Gorontalo: east Gorontalo, Limboto, Gorontolo City, west Gorontalo, and Tilamuta.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant sequences include NC (homorganic nasal–plosive), where C may be. Elsewhere, are relatively rare and only occur before high vowels. , written ⟨ḓ⟩ in linguistic materials, but not distinguished from ⟨d⟩ elsewhere, is a laminal post-alveolar coronal stop that is indeterminate as to voicing. The phonemic status of is unclear; if is interpreted as vowel sequences, then this contrasts with long vowels (where the two V's are the same) and vowel sequences separated by linking glides (where the two V's are different).

Vowels

Gorontalo has five vowels.