Fataluku language

Last updated
Fataluku
RegionEastern East Timor
Native speakers
48,000 (2020) [1]
regional usage
Trans–New Guinea  ?
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3 ddg
Glottolog fata1247
Fataluku.png
Distribution of Fataluku in East Timor

Fataluku (also known as Dagaga, Dagoda', Dagada) is a Papuan language spoken by approximately 37,000 people of Fataluku ethnicity in the eastern areas of East Timor, especially around Lospalos. It is a member of the Timor-Alor-Pantar language family, which includes languages spoken both in East Timor and nearby regions of Indonesia. [2] Fataluku's closest relative is Oirata, [3] spoken on Kisar island, in the Moluccas of Indonesia. [4] Fataluku is given the status of a national language under the constitution. Speakers of Fataluku normally have a command of Tetum and/or Indonesian, [5] those speakers who are educated under Portuguese rule or from younger generation educated under Portuguese-language educational system during independence speak Portuguese.

Contents

It has a considerable amount of Austronesian loanwords, and it has borrowed elements of Sanskrit and Arabic vocabulary via Malay and elements of Portuguese. [3]

The five main Fataluku dialects are identified as follows: East Fataluku, South Fataluku, Central Fataluku, North Fataluku and Northwest Fataluku. [6] The differences that exist between these dialects, especially beyond phonology, are unclear and require more research. Dialects differ with respect to the phonetic realization of palatal obstruents, the presence of a glottal stop phoneme and a voicing distinction in stops, as well as aspects of the stress system. [7]

Phonology

Vowels

Fataluku vowels
FrontCentralBack
Closei /i/u /u/
Mide /e/o /o/
Opena /a/

Consonants

Fataluku consonants
Bilabial Labiodental Coronal Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasals m /m/n /n/
Plosive p /p/t /t/k /k/' /ʔ/
Affricates voiceless c /t͡s/²c /t͡ʃ/¹ ²
voiced j /d͡ʒ/
Fricatives voiceless f /f/s /s/h /h/
voiced v /β/²v /v/²z /z/
Flap v //²r /ɾ/
Lateral l /l/
Semivowel v /w/²y /j/

Words and phrases

In the examples below, the letter 'c' and the letter combination 'tx' are pronounced as the 'ch' in the English word 'church'.

Rau ana kapare? / e nicha rau rau / maice ana umpe? "how are you?" Rau "good" Kapare "not good" Hó "yes" Xaparau "thank you" Tali even xaparau "thank you very much" nitawane "you're welcome" Favoruni "please" itu nae tini "excuse me" Ó lai'i "hello" mua toto, ia toto,purupale " take care" Kois ta niat ali fanuhene "see you later"  Pronoun                      Possessive pronoun        I   :  Aniri/Ana     My: Ahani    You :  Eri (singular), Iri (plural)   Your:  Eheni(sing), Eheniere (plur)  We  :  Iniri (excl), Afiri (inclusive)   Our: Inihini (exc), Afihini: (incl)  They :   Tawari, Márafuri    Their: Their Tavarhini, Marafurhini He/She : Tavai, marí, mármocoi    His/Her: Tavahini, Marmokoihini It :  Iví      Its: Ivihini, Tavahini 

See also

Notes

  1. Fataluku at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Heston (2015) , p. 3
  3. 1 2 Usher, Timothy. "Fataluku". newguineaworld.
  4. Heston (2015) , p. 6
  5. Heston (2015) , p. 5
  6. Van Engelenhoven, Aone. 2009. On derivational processes in Fataluku, a non-Austronesian language in East Timor. In W.L. Wetzels (ed.), The linguistics of endangered languages: Contributions to morphology and morphosyntax, 331–362. Utrecht: LOT.
  7. Engelenhoven, Aone van & Juliette Huber. 2020. East Fataluku. In The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 3, vol. 3, 347–425. De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501511158.

Further reading

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References