| Dhao | |
|---|---|
| Ndao | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈɖ͡ʐao] |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Lesser Sunda Islands |
| Ethnicity | Dhao |
Native speakers | (5,000 cited 1997)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | nfa |
| Glottolog | dhao1237 |
| ELP | Dhao |
  Ndao island Location of Ndao island, where Dhao is spoken. Show map of Lesser Sunda Islands Ndao island Ndao island (Indonesia) Show map of Indonesia | |
| Coordinates:10°49′S122°40′E / 10.817°S 122.667°E /-10.817; 122.667 | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
TheDhao language, better known to outsiders by itsRotinese nameNdao (Ndaonese, Ndaundau), is the language ofNdao Island in Indonesia. Traditionally classified as aSumba language in the Austronesian family, it may actually be a non-Austronesian (Papuan) language.[2] It was once considered a dialect ofHawu, but is notmutually intelligible.
Dhao phonology is similar to that of Hawu, but somewhat more complex in its consonants.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Pharyngeal | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | |||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ʄ | ɠ | |||
| Fricative | (f) | s | ʕ~∅ | h | |||
| Affricate | bβ | ɖʐ | |||||
| Approximant | (w) | l,r | (j) | ||||
Consonants of the/n/ column areapical, those of the/ɲ/ columnlaminal./fwj/ are found in Malay loan words. In a practical orthography developed for writing the language, implosives are written⟨b' d' j' g'⟩, the affricates⟨bh dh⟩ (thedh is slightlyretroflex), and the voiced glottal onset as a double vowel. The/ʕ/ is sometimes silent, but contrasts with a glottal stop onset in vowel-initial words within a phrase. Its phonemic status is not clear. It has an "extremely limited distribution", linkingnoun phrases (/ʔiki/ 'small',/ʔanaʕiki/ 'small child') and clauses (/ʕaa/ 'and',/ʕoo/ 'also').
Vowels are/iueəoa/, with/ə/ written⟨è⟩. Phonetic long vowels and diphthongs are vowel sequences. The penultimate syllable/vowel is stressed. (Every vowel constitutes a syllable.)
/ŋe/[ŋe] 'this.OBJ',/neʔe/[ˈneʔe] 'this',/ŋaŋee/[ŋaˈŋeː] 'thinking',/ŋali/[ˈŋali] 'senile',/ŋəlu/[ˈŋəlːu] 'wind'.
A stressed schwa lengthens the following consonant:/meda/[ˈmeda] 'yesterday',/məda/[ˈmədːa] 'night'.
Syllables are consonant-vowel or vowel-only.
f, q, v, w, x, y and z are only used in loanwords and foreign names.
Dhao has anominative–accusativesubject–verb–object word order, unlike Hawu. Within noun phrases, modifiers follow the noun. There are a set of independent pronouns, and also a set of pronominalclitics.
| Pronoun | Independent | Clitic |
|---|---|---|
| I | ja’a | ku |
| thou | èu | mu |
| s/he | nèngu | na (ne) |
| we (inclusive) | èdhi | ti |
| we (exclusive) | ji’i | nga |
| y'all | miu | mi |
| they | rèngu | ra (si) |
When the clitics are used for objects, there are proximal forms in the third person,ne 'this one' andsi 'these', the latter also forcollective plurals. When used for subjects and the verb begins with a vowel, they drop their vowel with a few irregularities:[6]keʔa meʔa neʔa teʔa ŋeʔa meʔa reʔa 'to know'. Many words that translate prepositions in English are verbs in Dhao, and inflect as such. Dhao also has a single 'intradirective' verb,laʔ 'to go', in which the clitics follow:laku lamu laʔa orlaʔe lati (NA)lami lasi.
Demonstratives distinguish proximal (here, now, this), distal (there, then, that), and remote (yonder, yon).
| Demonstrative | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Proximal | ne'e,ne | se'e,se |
| Distal | èèna,na | sèra,sa |
| Remote | nèi,ni | sèi,si |
Sample clauses (Grimes (2006)).[8]
Lazarus
(name)
kako
walk
maɖʐutu
follow
nebβe
shore
ɖʐasi.
sea
Lazarus kako maɖʐutu nebβe ɖʐasi.
(name) walk follow shore sea
'Lazarus walked/was walking along the edge of the sea.'
həia
then
ra
they
kako
walk
taruu
cont.
asa
Baʔa.
Ba’a
həia ra kako taruu asa Baʔa.
then they walk cont. PATH Ba’a
'Then they continued walking/traveling towards Ba’a.' Unknown glossing abbreviation(s) (help);
ropa
when
ra
they
poro
cut
r-are
they-PFV
kətu
head
na,
he/his
ropa ra poro r-are kətu na,
when they cut they-PFV head he/his
'When they had cut off his head,'
te ŋaa
but
ra
they
pa-maɖʐe
ne.
this.one
{te ŋaa} ra pa-maɖʐe ne.
but they CAUS-die this.one
'But they killed him.'
laɖʐe
if/when
ama
father
na
he/his
maɖʐe,
die
laɖʐe ama na maɖʐe,
if/when father he/his die
'When his father dies,'
na
he
əra
strong
titu
very
kəna.
much
na əra titu kəna.
he strong very much
'He was incredibly strong.'