Kawaimina languages

Kawaimina (a <a href="/facts/Syllabic_abbreviation/VxBQfhII">syllabic abbreviation</a> of the names) is a cluster of four languages and dialects of <a href="/facts/East_Timor/IBQ69BRj">East Timor</a>:

<a href="/facts/Kairui_language/RFb6G3LS">Kairui</a>, <a href="/facts/Midiki_language/RFb6G3LS">Midiki</a>, <a href="/facts/Waimoa_language/RFb6G3LS">Waimaha</a>, and <a href="/facts/Nauete_language/S19QbbER">Naueti</a>,
spoken by one or two thousand speakers each. It is a name used by linguists discussing the languages, not the speakers themselves. The first three are spoken in adjacent areas in the western part of <a href="/facts/Baucau_District/jXIE4LCf">Baucau District</a>, along the north coast. Naueti is used on the south coast of eastern <a href="/facts/Viqueque_District/ku5Hl2Hj">Viqueque District</a>, surrounded by speakers of <a href="/facts/Makasae/muH2gyYN">Makasae</a> and <a href="/facts/Makalero/68t2EMzm">Makalero</a>. Some Midiki speakers near <a href="/facts/Ossu_(East_Timor)/0WAIFTJs">Ossu</a> refer to their language as Osomoko.
<a href="/facts/Geoffrey_Hull/8P89XrW0">Geoffrey Hull</a> classifies these as dialects and groups them into a single Kawaimina language, while <a href="/facts/Ethnologue/0AanCzKS">Ethnologue</a> groups the varieties into three distinct languages.
The Kawaimina languages are members of the eastern Extra-Ramelaic subgroup of <a href="/facts/Timoric_languages/27tFqpdr">Timoric</a> Austronesian languages. While structurally the languages are Malayo-Polynesian, much their vocabulary, particularly that of Naueti, derives from <a href="/facts/Papuan_languages/HfyH8uaB">Papuan languages</a>. The languages are noted for both archaisms and unusual innovations, including <a href="/facts/Vowel_harmony/oQfPrTWV">vowel harmony</a> and <a href="/facts/Aspiration_(phonetics)/Kat42tA6">aspirated</a> and <a href="/facts/Glottalized_consonant/wnhoTRIb">glottalized consonants</a> in their sound-systems.

Kawaimina languages open-in-new

Kawaimina languages