Timoric languages
The Timoric languages are a group of Austronesian languages (belonging to the Central–Eastern subgroup) spoken on the islands of Timor, neighboring Wetar, and (depending on the classification) Southwest Maluku to the east.
Timoric | |
---|---|
Geographic distribution | Indonesia East Timor |
Linguistic classification | Austronesian |
Proto-language | Proto-Timoric |
Subdivisions | (disputed) |
Within the group, the languages with the most speakers are Uab Meto of West Timor, Indonesia and Tetum of East Timor, each with about half a million speakers, though in addition Tetum is an official language and a lingua franca among non-Tetum East Timorese.
Languages
Hull (1998) & van Engelenhoven (2009)
Geoffrey Hull (1998) proposes a Timoric group as follows:
- Timoric A ("Extra-Ramelaic", Fabronic; whatever is not Ramelaic)
- Timoric B ("Ramelaic", near the Ramelau range)
Van Engelenhoven (2009) accepts Hull's classification, but further includes Makuva and the Luangic–Kisaric languages (Kisar, Romang, Luang, Wetan, Leti) in the Eastern branch of Timoric A.[1]
Taber (1993)
![](../I/Timor_Sprache.jpg.webp)
In a lexicostatistical classification of the languages of Southwest Maluku, Taber (1993:396) posits a "Southwest Maluku" branch of the Timoric languages, that comprises all languages of the area, except for West Damar and the Babar languages.
- Timoric
- (other branches of CMP, including Babar languages and West Damar)
Edwards (2018, 2019)
![](../I/page1-220px-Timor_languages_according_to_Edwards_(2020).pdf.jpg.webp)
![](../I/page1-220px-Metos_cluster_according_to_Edwards_(2020).pdf.jpg.webp)
Edwards (2018, 2019) divides the languages of Timor and Southwest Maluku into three branches:[3][4]
The latter subgroup includes all other languages grouped by Hull as Timoric, as well all languages of Southwest Maluku (including the Babar languages). Within "Timor-Wetar-Babar", Edwards proposes a Rote-Meto branch, with languages spoken on Rote Island and in West Timor.
- Rote-Meto
References
- van Engelenhoven, Aone (2009). "The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages in East Timor and Southwest Maluku". In Adelaar, K. Alexander; Pawley, Andrew (eds.). Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift for Robert Blust. Canberra: Australian National University. pp. 425–442.
- Edwards O (2020). Metathesis and unmetathesis in Amarasi (pdf). Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.3700413. ISBN 978-3-96110-223-5.
- Edwards, Owen (2018). Top-down Historical Phonology of Rote-Meto. JSEALS 11.1 (2018).
- Edwards, Owen (2019). Reintroducing Welaun. Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 58, Number 1, June 2019, pp. 31-58. https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2019.0002
- Hull, Geoffrey. 1998. "The basic lexical affinities of Timor's Austronesian languages: a preliminary investigation." Studies in Languages and Cultures of East Timor 1:97–202.
- Taber, Mark (1993). "Toward a Better Understanding of the Indigenous Languages of Southwestern Maluku." Oceanic Linguistics, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Winter, 1993), pp. 389–441. University of Hawai'i.
External links
- LexiRumah (part of the Lesser Sunda linguistic databases)
- Reconstructing the past through languages of the present: the Lesser Sunda Islands
- The Languages of East Timor: Some Basic Facts (Revised 24.8.2004) Geoffrey Hull