On derivational processes in Fataluku, a non-Austronesian language in East-Timor

Abstract

With its 30,000 speakers, Fataluku is the fourth language of the republic of East-Timor. It genetically belongs to the non-Austronesian TimorAlor-Pantar branch that is a member of the Trans-New-Guinea phylum (van Engelenhoven 2006, Donohue & Schapper 2007). Whereas Hull still analyses Oirata as a ‘Fataluku dialect characterized by certain archaisms’ (Hull 2005: 1), van Naerssen (2007), in an unpublished paper, convincingly argues that two separate languages should be distinguished. One is Oirata, spoken on the island of Kisar in Southwest Maluku (Indonesia) characterized by its conservative morphology, the other Fataluku exclusively spoken in the nearby Lautem District, which is in the eastern tip of the republic of East-Timor. Neighbouring languages of Fataluku are Makalero, which is confined to the Iliomar Subdistrict that borders on the Vikeke District (Huber 2008), and two severely endangered Makasai dialects – Sa’ani and Naini –, spoken in the Luro Subdistrict that borders on Baukau District. They belong to the same Timor-Alor-Pantar subgroup as well. At least two other languages used to be spoken in the region: Makuva and Rusenu, or Nisa. Makuva is an Austronesian language of the East Subgroup in Extra-Ramelaic, next to the offshore isolects of Luangic-Kisaric in Southwest Maluku and the Karui-Waimaha-MidikiNaueti dialect chain in the Manatutu, Baukau and Vikeke Districts. It is confined to the Tutuala Subdistrict and was long considered to be nearly extinct. However, it turned out to be subjected to a process of ‘language concealment’ in order to prevent it from disappearing (van Engelenhoven

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