Uab Meto language

Last updated
Uab Meto
Uab Metô
Native to Indonesia, East Timor
Region West Timor, Oecusse
Native speakers
800,000 (2009–2011) [1]
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
aoz   Uab Meto
bkx   Baikeno
Glottolog uabm1237
ELP Uab Meto
  Baikeno [2]
Baikeno.png
Map of the Meto language cluster Metos cluster according to Edwards (2020).pdf
Map of the Meto language cluster

Uab Meto or Dawan is an Austronesian language spoken by Atoni people of West Timor. The language has a variant spoken in the East Timorese exclave of Oecussi-Ambeno, called Baikenu. Baikenu uses words derived from Portuguese, for example, obrigadu for 'thank you', instead of the Indonesian terima kasih. [4]

Contents

Phonology

Dawan has the following consonants and vowels: [5]

Consonant sounds
Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b
Nasal m n
Fricative f s h
Lateral l

Voiceless plosives [p t k] can have unreleased allophones [p̚ t̚ k̚] in word-final position. A phonemic /r/ can be heard in place of /l/ among dialects. [6]

Vowel sounds
Front Back
High i u
Mid e o
ɛ ɔ
Low a

Vocabulary

A wordlist of 200 basic vocabulary items is available at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database, [7] with data provided by Robert Blust and from Edwards (2016). [8]

Basic Uab Meto vocabulary
Uab MetoEnglish
Pah (polite), Tua (polite), Hao (normal), He’ (informal), Ya (normal)Yes
Kaha’, Kahfa’No
Nek seun banit (in West Timor)Thank you
Obrigadu (in East Timor)Thank you
Nek seunbanit namfau/´naek’, Terimakasih ‘nanaek (in West Timor)Thank you very much
Obrigadu namfau’ (in East Timor)Thank you very much
Sama-sama, leko, naleokYou are welcome
Neu’Please
Maaf, permisi, parmisExcuse me
Halo, TabeHello
Tkoenok tem pa´Welcome, please come in
Tkoenok pa´ (to say good bye to one who leaves)Good bye
Selamat tinggal (said to one staying)Good bye
Selamat Jalan (said to one leaving)Good bye

Numbers

Numbers
Uab MetoEnglish
Nol, LumanZero
Mese'One
NuaTwo
TeunThree
HaaFour
NiimFive
NeeSix
HiutSeven
Faun, FaonEight
SioNine
Bo'-, Bo'esTen
Bo'es-am-mese'Eleven
Bo'es-am-nuaTwelve
Bo'es-am-teunThirteen
Bo'es-am-haaFourteen
Bo'es-am-niimFifteen
Bo'es-am-neeSixteen
Bo'es-am-hiutSeventeen
Bo'es-am-faunEighteen
Bo'es-am-sioNineteen
Bo'nuaTwenty
Bo'nua-m-mese'Twenty-one
Bo'teunThirty
Bo'haaForty
Bo'niimFifty
Bo'neeSixty
Bo'hiutSeventy
Bo'faunEighty
Bo'sioNinety
Natun mese', NautnesOne hundred
Nifun mese', NiufnesOne thousand
Juta mese', Juta es, JuutesOne million

See also

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References

  1. Uab Meto at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Baikeno at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Baikeno.
  3. Edwards, Owen (2020). Metathesis and Unmetathesis in Amarasi. Berlin: Language Science Press. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.3700413 . ISBN   978-3-96110-223-5.
  4. "Dawan (Uab Meto)". omniglot.com.
  5. Tarno et al. (1992)
  6. Edwards (2016) , pp. 71–72
  7. "Uab Meto Wordlist". Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database.
  8. Edwards (2016) , pp. 79–85

Further reading