Mongondow language
Mongondow, or Bolaang Mongondow, is one of the Philippine languages spoken in Bolaang Mongondow Regency as well as Kotamobagu city and neighbouring regencies of North Sulawesi and Gorontalo Provinces, Indonesia. With more than 200,000 speakers, it is the major language of the regency. Historically, it served as the official language of the Kingdom of [Bolaang Mongondow|Bolaang Mongondow Kingdom].
There is some lexical influence from Malay and Ternate, as well as the Indonesian national language. It is a threatened language, with a shift to Manado Malay in the younger generation. The moribund Lolak language has borrowed much of its lexicon from Mongondow, but appears to be more closely related to Gorontalo.
Phonology
Mongondow has the following phoneme inventory:| Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | |||
| Mid | |||
| Open |
The lateral is pronounced as alveolar when adjacent to the front vowels,. In all other environments, it is a retroflex.