Termanu language

Termanu
Termanu
Pa'da
Central Rote
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Rote Island
Ethnicity	Rotenese
Native speakers	30,000 (2002)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern Timor–Babar Rote–Meto Nuclear Rote Termanu; ; ; ; ; ;
Dialects	Termanu; South Termanu; Korbafo; Bokai;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	twu
Glottolog	term1237

Last updated November 26, 2025

Termanu is a Central Malayo-Polynesian language of Roti Island, off Timor, Indonesia. Speakers of Korbafo and Bokai dialects are ethnically distinct.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Apical	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ŋ
Stop	voiceless	p	t	k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d̪
	prenasal	ᵐp ᵐb	ⁿd	ᵑɡ
Fricative		f	s		h
Lateral			l

/ᵑɡ, l/ have variants of [ɡ, ɾ] in other dialects.
Sounds [w, j] also occur in loanwords and interjections.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e		o
Low		a

Vowel length is also distributed.^[2]

References

↑ Termanu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Fox, James J.; Grimes, Charles E. (1995). "Roti". In Tryon, Darrell T. (ed.). Comparative Austronesian dictionary: an introduction to Austronesian studies. Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 611–621.

Sources

Fanggidaej, J. (1892). "Rottineesche Spraakkunst". Bijdragen voor de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indië (in Dutch). 41: 554–571. doi: 10.1163/22134379-90000187 .
Jonker, J. C. G. (1908). Rottineesch–Hollandsch Woordenboek (in Dutch). Leiden: E. J. Brill – via archive.org.
Jonker, J. C. G. (1915). Rottineesche Spraakkunst (in Dutch). Leiden: E. J. Brill.

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[e18-1] Termanu at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Fox, James J.; Grimes, Charles E. (1995). "Roti". In Tryon, Darrell T. (ed.). Comparative Austronesian dictionary: an introduction to Austronesian studies. Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 611–621.

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