Fataluku language

Fataluku
Fataluku
Region	Eastern East Timor
Native speakers	48,000 (2020); regional usage
Language family	Trans–New Guinea ? West Bomberai ? Timor–Alor–Pantar Eastern Timor Oirata–Fataluku Fataluku–Rusenu Fataluku; ; ; ; ; ;
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	East Timor
Language codes
ISO 639-3	ddg
Glottolog	fata1247
	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.

It has a considerable number 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
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i /i/		u /u/
Mid	e /e/		o /o/
Open		a /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/^[a]	c^[b] /t͡ʃ/^[a]
Affricates	voiced				j /d͡ʒ/
Fricatives	voiceless		f /f/	s /s/			h /h/
Fricatives	voiced	v /β/^[c]	v /v/^[c]	z /z/
Flap			v /ⱱ/^[c]	r /ɾ/
Lateral				l /l/
Semivowel		v /w/^[c]			y /j/

^ ^a ^b Pronunciation of ⟨c⟩ varies in dialects.
^ Spelled ⟨tj⟩ in Nácher orthography.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Pronunciation of ⟨v⟩ varies in dialects.

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

Notes

^ Fataluku at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Heston (2015), p. 3
^ ^a ^b Usher, Timothy. "Fataluku". newguineaworld.
^ Heston (2015), p. 6
^ Heston (2015), p. 5
^ Van Engelenhoven, Aone (2009). "On derivational processes in Fataluku, a non-Austronesian language in East Timor". In Wetzels, W. L. (ed.). The linguistics of endangered languages: Contributions to morphology and morphosyntax. Vol. 13. Utrecht: LOT. pp. 331–362. hdl:1874/297133.
^ Van Engelenhoven, Aone; Huber, Juliette (2020). "East Fataluku". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar. Vol. 3. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 347–425. doi:10.1515/9781501511158. ISBN 978-1-5015-1115-8.

References

Nácher Lluesa, Alfonso María; Fidalgo Castro, Alberto; Legaspi Bouza, Efrén; Delgado Rosa, Frederico; Hull, Geoffrey Stephen (2012). Léxico Fataluco-Português (PDF) (in Portuguese). Dili: Salesianos de Dom Bosco Timor-Leste. hdl:2183/9927. ISBN 978-84-695-4633-8.
Heston, Tyler M. (2015). The Segmental and Suprasegmental Phonology of Fataluku (PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Hawai'i at Mānoa. hdl:10125/51090. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
Conceição Savio, Edegar da (2016). Studi Sosioliguistik Bahasa Fataluku di Lautém [Sociolinguistic study of the Fataluku language in Lautém] (Doctoral thesis) (in Indonesian). Leiden University. hdl:1887/37552.

External links

Fataluku Language Project
Fataluku language website
Fataluku community and language with Fataluku/English and English/Fataluku wordlists Archived 2017-05-04 at the Wayback Machine
Fataluku wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database
Materials on Fataluku are included in the open access Arthur Capell collection. (AC2) held by Paradisec.
Songs in Fataluku are included in the Ros Dunlop collection held by Paradisec.
The UCLA Library Modern Endangered Archives Program collection of Fataluku Language and Culture

[c1-8] Pronunciation of ⟨c⟩ varies in dialects.

[c2-9] Spelled ⟨tj⟩ in Nácher orthography.

[v-10] Pronunciation of ⟨v⟩ varies in dialects.

[e25-1] Fataluku at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)

[2] Heston (2015), p. 3

[Usher-3] 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 Wetzels, W. L. (ed.). The linguistics of endangered languages: Contributions to morphology and morphosyntax. Vol. 13. Utrecht: LOT. pp. 331–362. hdl:1874/297133.

[7] Van Engelenhoven, Aone; Huber, Juliette (2020). "East Fataluku". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar. Vol. 3. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 347–425. doi:10.1515/9781501511158. ISBN 978-1-5015-1115-8.

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