| Oirata–Makasae | |
|---|---|
| Eastern Timor | |
| Geographic distribution | East Timor,Kisar |
| Linguistic classification | Trans–New Guinea ?
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | east2520 |
TheOirata–Makasae, orEastern Timor, languages are a small family ofPapuan languages spoken in easternTimor and the neighboring island ofKisar.[2]
Mandalaet al. (2011)[3] found that Fataluku and Oirata are closer to each other than they are to Makasai:
Fataluku has high dialect diversity, and may be more than a single language, for example withRusenu. An additionalMakuv'a (Lovaea) branch was once assumed for East Timor, but that appears to be a heavily Papuan-influenced Austronesian language.
The fourth Papuan language spoken in East Timor,Bunak, is more distantly related. It is currently unknown if they are closer to each other or to theAlor–Pantar languages; all are clearly related. Together they form a branch of theWest Bomberai languages of mainland New Guinea.[4]
Ross (2005) reconstructed first- and second-person pronouns for proto–East Timor:[5]
| proto-ET | Oirata (object) | Fataluku | Makasai | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1SG | *ani | an-te (ani) | ani | ani |
| 2SG | *ai | aa-te/ee-te[6] (ee) | e | ai |
| 1EXCL | *ini | in-te (in) | ini | ini |
| 1INCL | *api | ap-te (ap) | afi | fi |
| 2PL | *i | ii-te (ii) | i | i |
Mandalaet al. (2011) reconstruct five vowels, *a, *e, *i, *o, *u, and the following consonants, based on 200 cognate sets:
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | *m | *n | ||
| Occlusive | *p | *t | *k | *ʔ |
| Fricative | *s | |||
| Sonorant | *w | *l,*r |
*h and *j appear at the level of proto-Oirata–Fataluku.