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| Kawaimina | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | East Timor |
| Linguistic classification | Austronesian
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | kawa1289 |
Kawaimina (asyllabic abbreviation of the names) is a cluster of four languages and dialects ofEast Timor:
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 ofBaucau District, along the north coast. Naueti is used on the south coast of easternViqueque District, surrounded by speakers ofMakasae andMakalero. Some Midiki speakers nearOssu refer to their language as Osomoko.
Geoffrey Hull classifies these as dialects and groups them into a single Kawaimina language,[1] whileEthnologue groups the varieties into three distinct languages.[2][3][4]
The Kawaimina languages are members of the eastern Extra-Ramelaic subgroup ofTimoric Austronesian languages. While structurally the languages are Malayo-Polynesian, much their vocabulary, particularly that of Naueti, derives fromPapuan languages. The languages are noted for both archaisms and unusual innovations, includingvowel harmony andaspirated andglottalized consonants in their sound-systems.
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