| Welaun | |
|---|---|
| Bekais, Wekais | |
| Native to | Indonesia, East Timor |
Native speakers | 2,000-5,575 (ca. 2006/2019) [1] [2] |
Austronesian
| |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wlh |
| Glottolog | wela1235 |
 Distribution of Welaun (Bekais) in East Timor (West Timor not shown) | |
Welaun (also known as Bekais or Wekais) is an Austronesian language spoken on the border of East Timor and West Timor (a part of Indonesia). It is closely related to Tetun. [3]
Welaun was documented by Hull (2003) [4] and Edwards (2019). Edwards (2019) estimates a speaker population of 5,575. [2] A dictionary of Welaun has been written by da Silva (2012). [5]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | t | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | |||
| Fricative | f | s | h | ||
| Approximant | l | w | |||
| Trill | r | ||||
It has five vowels: /ieaou/
Tetum is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Timor. It is one of the official languages of Timor-Leste and it is also spoken in Belu Regency and in Indonesian West Timor.
The languages of East Timor include both Austronesian and Papuan languages. The lingua franca and national language of East Timor is Tetum, an Austronesian language influenced by Portuguese, with which it has equal status as an official language. The language of the Oecusse exclave is Uab Meto (Dawan). Fataluku is a Papuan language widely used in the eastern part of the country. A dialect of Malay-based creole called Dili Malay is spoken by a number of residents in the capital Dili, it borrowed words mostly from Portuguese and Tetum. Both Portuguese and Tetum have official recognition under the Constitution of East Timor, as do other indigenous languages, including: Bekais, Bunak, Galoli, Habun, Idalaka, Kawaimina, Kemak, Lovaia, Makalero, Makasae, Mambai, Tokodede and Wetarese.
Fataluku 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. Fataluku's closest relative is Oirata, spoken on Kisar island, in the Moluccas of Indonesia. Fataluku is given the status of a national language under the constitution. Speakers of Fataluku normally have a command of Tetum and/or Indonesian, those speakers who are educated under Portuguese rule or from younger generation educated under Portuguese-language educational system during independence speak Portuguese.
Ermera is one of the municipalities of East Timor, located in the west-central part of the country. It has a population of 117,064 and an area of 756.5 km2.
Cova Lima is a municipality of East Timor, in the Southwest part of the country. It has a population of 59,455 and an area of 1,230 km2. The capital of the municipality is Suai, which lies 136 km from Dili, the national capital.
Dili Municipality is one of the 14 municipalities, formerly districts, of Timor-Leste, and includes the national capital Dili. The municipality had a population of 277,279 as of 2015, most of whom live in the capital city.
The Bunak people are an ethnic group that live in the mountainous region of central Timor, split between the political boundary between West Timor, Indonesia, particularly in Lamaknen District and East Timor. Their language is one of those on Timor which is not an Austronesian language, but rather a Papuan language, belonging to the Trans–New Guinea linguistic family. They are surrounded by groups which speak Malayo-Polynesian languages, like the Atoni and the Tetum.
Kawaimina is a cluster of four languages and dialects of East Timor:
The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austronesian languages. They also include indigenous ethnic minorities in Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Hainan, the Comoros, and the Torres Strait Islands. The nations and territories predominantly populated by Austronesian-speaking peoples are sometimes known collectively as Austronesia.
Tais is a form of Tenun weaving tradition native to the eastern Indonesian regions of the Maluku Islands, the Tanimbar Islands, the East Nusa Tenggara Islands and the independent nation of Timor Leste. It has become an essential part of people in the eastern Indonesia hemisphere region, which mainly used for ceremonial adornment, sign of respect and appreciation towards guests, friends, relatives, home decor, and personal apparel.
East Timorese Portuguese, or Nusantaran Portuguese, is the variety of the Portuguese language spoken in Timor-Leste. It is one of the official languages of Timor-Leste alongside Tetum. As with other Lusophone countries besides Brazil, the Portuguese language curriculum in East Timor is based on European Portuguese, with some localisations in pronunciation. East Timor is the only sovereign state in Asia with Portuguese as an official language. There is a growing demand for Portuguese-language courses in the country, both at early-learning and tertiary levels of education.
East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-western half, and the minor islands of Atauro and Jaco. The western half of the island of Timor is administered by Indonesia. Australia is the country's southern neighbour, separated by the Timor Sea. The country's size is 14,950 square kilometres (5,770 sq mi). Dili, on the north coast of Timor, is its capital and largest city.
The Timoric languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken on the islands of Timor, neighboring Wetar, and Southwest Maluku to the east.
Geoffrey Stephen Hull is an Australian linguist, ethnologist and historian who has made contributions to the study of Romance, Celtic, Slavonic, Semitic, Austronesian and Papuan languages, in particular to the relationship between language and culture.
Oecusse, also known as Oecusse-Ambeno and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno, is an exclave, municipality and the only Special Administrative Region (SAR) of East Timor.
Mambai, also called Mambae or Manbae, is a language spoken by the Mambai people, the second largest ethnic group in the island country of East Timor.
Idalaka is a Malayo-Polynesian dialect chain spoken in East Timor. The name is a portmanteau of Idaté and Lakalai.
Virgílio do Carmo da Silva, SDB is an East Timorese Catholic prelate who was appointed Bishop of Dili on 30 January 2016. He became an archbishop when the diocese was elevated in 2019.
Dionísio da Costa Babo Soares is an East Timorese politician, and a member of the National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT). From June 2018 to May 2020, he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, under the VIII Constitutional Government of East Timor; he had earlier served as Minister of State, Coordinator of State Administration Affairs and Justice, Minister of State Administration, and Minister of Justice.
Cape Fatucama is a cape or large headland a short distance north east of Dili, on the north coast of East Timor. It is best known as the site of the Cristo Rei of Dili, a colossal statue of Jesus Christ.
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