Fataluku language

{{Infobox language

| name = Fataluku

| region = Eastern East Timor

| speakers = 48,000

| date = 2020

| ref = e25

| speakers2 = regional usage

| familycolor = Papuan

| fam1 = Trans–New Guinea ?

| fam2 = West Bomberai ?

| fam3 = Timor–Alor–Pantar

| fam4 = Eastern Timor

| fam5 = Oirata–Fataluku

| fam6 = Fataluku–Rusenu

| minority = East Timor

| iso3 = ddg

| glotto = fata1247

| glottorefname = Fataluku

| map = Fataluku.png

| mapcaption = Distribution of Fataluku in East Timor

| ethnicity = Fataluku people

}}

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.{{harvp|Heston|2015|p=3}} Fataluku's closest relative is Oirata,{{Cite web |last=Usher |first=Timothy |title=Fataluku |url=https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/trans-new-guinea/berau-gulf/west-bomberai/timor-alor-pantar/east-timor/fataluku-oirata/fataluku |website=newguineaworld |language=en}} spoken on Kisar island, in the Moluccas of Indonesia.{{harvp|Heston|2015|p=6}} Fataluku is given the status of a national language under the constitution. Speakers of Fataluku normally have a command of Tetum and/or Indonesian,{{harvp|Heston|2015|p=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.

The five main Fataluku dialects are identified as follows: East Fataluku, South Fataluku, Central Fataluku, North Fataluku and Northwest Fataluku.{{cite book |last=Van Engelenhoven |first=Aone |year=2009 |chapter=On derivational processes in Fataluku, a non-Austronesian language in East Timor |editor-first=W. L. |editor-last=Wetzels |title=The linguistics of endangered languages: Contributions to morphology and morphosyntax |volume=13 |pages=331–362 |location=Utrecht |publisher=LOT |hdl=1874/297133}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Van Engelenhoven |first1=Aone |first2=Juliette |last2=Huber |editor-first1=Antoinette |editor-last1=Schapper |year=2020 |chapter=East Fataluku |title=The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar |volume=3 |pages=347–425 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |doi=10.1515/9781501511158|isbn=978-1-5015-1115-8 }}

Phonology

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" \|+Fataluku vowels ! !! Front !! Central !! Back
align=center ! Close \| i {{IPAslink\|i}}		u {{IPAslink\|u}}
align=center ! Mid \| e {{IPAslink\|e}}		o {{IPAslink\|o}}
align=center ! Open \|	a {{IPAslink\|a}}

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+Fataluku consonants
colspan="2"\| ! Bilabial ! Labiodental ! Coronal ! Palatal ! Velar ! Glottal
colspan="2"\| Nasals \| m {{IPAslink\|m}} \|\| \| n {{IPAslink\|n}} \|\| \|\| \|\|
colspan="2"\| Plosive \| p {{IPAslink\|p}} \|\| \| t {{IPAslink\|t}} \|\| \| k {{IPAslink\|k}} \| ' {{IPAslink\|ʔ}}
rowspan="2"\| Affricates ! voiceless \| \|\| \|\| c {{IPAslink\|t͡s}}{{efn\|name=c1\|Pronunciation of {{angbr\|c}} varies in dialects.}} \| c{{efn\|name=c2\|Spelled {{grapheme\|tj}} in Nácher orthography.}} {{IPAslink\|t͡ʃ}}{{efn\|name=c1}} \|\| \|\|
voiced \| \|\| \|\| \| j {{IPAslink\|d͡ʒ}} \|\| \|\|
rowspan="2"\| Fricatives ! voiceless \| \| f {{IPAslink\|f}} \| s {{IPAslink\|s}} \|\| \|\| \| h {{IPAslink\|h}}
voiced \| v {{IPAslink\|β}}{{efn\|name=v\|Pronunciation of {{angbr\|v}} varies in dialects.}} \| v {{IPAslink\|v}}{{efn\|name=v}} \| z {{IPAslink\|z}} \|\| \|\| \|\|
colspan="2"\| Flap \| \| v {{IPAslink\|ⱱ}}{{efn\|name=v}} \| r {{IPAslink\|ɾ}} \|\| \|\| \|\|
colspan="2"\| Lateral \| \|\| \| l {{IPAslink\|l}} \|\| \|\| \|\|
colspan="2"\| Semivowel \| v {{IPAslink\|w}}{{efn\|name=v}} \|\| \|\| \|\| y {{IPAslink\|j}} \|\| \|\|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|+Fataluku consonants

colspan="2"|

! Bilabial

! Labiodental

! Coronal

! Palatal

! Velar

! Glottal

colspan="2"| Nasals

| m {{IPAslink|m}} ||

| n {{IPAslink|n}} || || ||

colspan="2"| Plosive

| p {{IPAslink|p}} ||

| t {{IPAslink|t}} ||

| k {{IPAslink|k}}

| ' {{IPAslink|ʔ}}

rowspan="2"| Affricates

! voiceless

| || || c {{IPAslink|t͡s}}{{efn|name=c1|Pronunciation of {{angbr|c}} varies in dialects.}}

| c{{efn|name=c2|Spelled {{grapheme|tj}} in Nácher orthography.}} {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}}{{efn|name=c1}} || ||

voiced

| || ||

| j {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}} || ||

rowspan="2"| Fricatives

! voiceless

| f {{IPAslink|f}}

| s {{IPAslink|s}} || ||

| h {{IPAslink|h}}

voiced

| v {{IPAslink|β}}{{efn|name=v|Pronunciation of {{angbr|v}} varies in dialects.}}

| v {{IPAslink|v}}{{efn|name=v}}

| z {{IPAslink|z}} || || ||

colspan="2"| Flap

| v {{IPAslink|ⱱ}}{{efn|name=v}}

| r {{IPAslink|ɾ}} || || ||

colspan="2"| Lateral

| ||

| l {{IPAslink|l}} || || ||

colspan="2"| Semivowel

| v {{IPAslink|w}}{{efn|name=v}} || || || y {{IPAslink|j}} || ||

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

Vaihoho Sung-Poems

Vaihoho is a sacred form of storytelling for the Fataluku people of Timor-Leste. Vaihoho or sung-stories has been the major form for continuing the Fataluku oral tradition. From 1999 to 2014, cultural leader Justino Valentim recorded a significant amount of Vaihoho material. Funded by the Modern Endangered Archives Program at the UCLA Library, a team from Many Hands International, led by in partnership with the University of Melbourne, digitized 17 field notebooks of sung-songs and five Fataluku language dictionaries collected by Valentim as well as notes, poems and photos involving the practice of Vaihoho.{{Cite web |title=Digitizing the Justino Valentim Collection of Vaihoho Sung-Poems, Lautem, Timor-Leste {{!}} Modern Endangered Archives Program |url=https://meap.library.ucla.edu/projects/justino-valentim-collection/ |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=meap.library.ucla.edu}} This collection is available digitally through the UCLA library.{{Cite web |title=MEAP Collection |url=https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1f20r89 |access-date=2025-06-05 |website=digital.library.ucla.edu}}

Notes

References

{{Cite book |last1=Nácher Lluesa |first1=Alfonso María |url=https://ruc.udc.es/dspace/bitstream/handle/2183/9927/Nacher_Dictioluku.pdf |title=Léxico Fataluco-Português |last2=Fidalgo Castro |first2=Alberto |last3=Legaspi Bouza |first3=Efrén |last4=Delgado Rosa |first4=Frederico |last5=Hull |first5=Geoffrey Stephen |publisher=Salesianos de Dom Bosco Timor-Leste |year=2012 |isbn=978-84-695-4633-8 |location=Dili |language=pt |hdl=2183/9927 |hdl-access=free }}
{{Cite thesis |last=Heston |first=Tyler M. |title=The Segmental and Suprasegmental Phonology of Fataluku |date=2015 |degree=PhD |publisher=University of Hawai'i at Mānoa |url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/TylerHestonFinal.pdf |hdl=10125/51090 |hdl-access=free |access-date=2019-11-25 |archive-date=2020-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305234723/http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/TylerHestonFinal.pdf |url-status=dead }}
{{Cite thesis |last=Conceição Savio |first=Edegar da |title=Studi Sosioliguistik Bahasa Fataluku di Lautém |date=2016 |degree=Doctoral |publisher=Leiden University |language=Indonesian |hdl-access=free |hdl=1887/37552 |trans-title=Sociolinguistic study of the Fataluku language in Lautém}}

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20060821135158/http://www.fataluku.com/ Fataluku Language Project]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20171016172054/http://ldtc.ydns.eu:8888/languages/fataluku/ Fataluku language website]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170504173555/http://www.fataluku.org/ Fataluku community and language with Fataluku/English and English/Fataluku wordlists]}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20071212075853/http://language.psy.auckland.ac.nz/austronesian/language.php?id=461 Fataluku wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database]
Materials on Fataluku are included in the open access Arthur Capell collection. ([http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/AC2 AC2]) held by Paradisec.
[http://catalog.paradisec.org.au/collections/RD1 Songs in Fataluku] are included in the Ros Dunlop collection held by Paradisec.
The Modern Endangered Archives Program [https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1f20r89 Fataluku Language and Culture] collection is available through the UCLA Library.

Category:Languages of Timor-Leste

Category:Oirata–Makasai languages

class="wikitable" \|+Fataluku vowels ! !! Front !! Central !! Back
align=center ! Close \| i {{IPAslink\|i}}		u {{IPAslink\|u}}
align=center ! Mid \| e {{IPAslink\|e}}		o {{IPAslink\|o}}
align=center ! Open \|	a {{IPAslink\|a}}