Uab Meto language

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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]
Metos cluster according to Edwards (2020).pdf
Map of the Meto language cluster according to Edwards (2020)
Percentage of people using Baikeno as mother tongue in Timor-Leste, according census 2010 Baikeno.png
Percentage of people using Baikeno as mother tongue in Timor-Leste, according census 2010

Uab Meto or Dawan is an Austronesian language cluster spoken by the Atoni people of the Indonesian region of West Timor, as well as the East Timorese municipality of Oecussi-Ambeno.

Contents

In East Timor and other Portuguese-speaking countries the language is often called Baikenu (Portuguese : baiqueno), but more narrowly this term refers only to the variety spoken in East Timor, which is more influenced by Portuguese rather than Indonesian (for example, using obrigadu for 'thank you', instead of the Indonesian terima kasih). [3] In other languages it may also be erroneously referred to as West Timorese (with Tetum being "East Timorese") or even just Timorese, but these terms are misleading, as they ignore the linguistic diversity on both sides of the island.

Phonology

Dawan has the following consonants and vowels: [4]

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 [ptk] can have unreleased allophones [p̚t̚k̚] in word-final position. A phonemic /r/ can be heard in place of /l/ among dialects. [5]

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, [6] with data provided by Robert Blust and from Edwards (2016). [7]

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

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. ↑ "Dawan (Uab Meto)". omniglot.com.
  4. ↑ Tarno et al. (1992)
  5. ↑ Edwards (2016) , pp. 71–72
  6. ↑ "Uab Meto Wordlist". Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database. Archived from the original on 2022-02-08. Retrieved 2019-04-13.
  7. ↑ Edwards (2016) , pp. 79–85

Further reading


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