Kairui-Midiki language

Last updated
Kairui-Midiki
RegionNortheast East Timor
Native speakers
18,600: 14,600 Midiki and 4,000 Kairui (2015 census) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 krd
Glottolog kair1265
ELP
Mideki.png
Distribution of Midiki
Kairui.png
Distribution of Kairui
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Kairui-Midiki (also known simply as Midiki or Kairui, or Hoso by its speakers) is a language of East Timor spoken by 18,600 people in 2015, primarily in Venilale Administrative Post in Baucau, parts of the Viqueque Municipality, and suco Kairui (Manatuto Municipality). [1]

Contents

Kairui-Midiki is closely related to the Waima'a and Naueti languages. These four varieties' level of mutual intelligibility has led some to categorize them as dialects of a single language: Kawaimina. [2]

Kairui and Midiki were listed separately in the Timor-Leste 2010 Census, but are often considered dialects of a single language, in the literature named Kairui-Midiki. [3] According to some sources Kairui is spoken in and around the village of that name in Manatuto, and Midiki is heard in of Lacluta, Liaruca, Uai-Mori, and Venilale. However in some districts the names Midiki and Kairui are used interchangeably.

Examples

Numerals [2]
Numeral Tetun KairuiMidiki
1idasese
2ruakiruakairuo
3tolukitelekaitelu
4haatkihookaihaa
5limakiliimkailime
6neenkineekainee
7hitukihitikaihitu
8walukikohokaikaha
9siakisiakaisiwe
10sanulubosébasé

References

  1. 1 2 Kairui-Midiki at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 Geoffrey Hull (2004-08-24). "The Languages of East Timor". Macquarie University. Archived from the original on 2008-07-20.
  3. Eberhard, David M., Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2023. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Twenty-sixth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.