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Tetum language

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Template:Short description Template:Infobox language Template:Infobox language

Tetum (Template:Lang Template:IPA; Template:Langx; Template:Langx Template:IPA)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Timor. It is one of the official languages of Timor-Leste and it is also spoken in Belu Regency and Malaka Regency, which form the eastern part of Indonesian West Timor adjoining Timor-Leste.

There are two main forms of Tetum as a language:

  • Template:Anchor Tetum Terik, which is a more indigenous form of Tetum marked by different word choice, less foreign influence and other characteristics such as verb conjugation
  • Tetum/n Prasa ('market Tetum', from the Portuguese word Template:Lang meaning 'town square') or Tetum/n Dili (given its widespread usage in the capital Dili). This is the form of Tetum (heavily influenced by Portuguese) that developed in Dili during colonial rule as local Tetum speakers came into contact with Portuguese missionaries, traders and colonial rulers. In East Timor, Tetun Dili is widely spoken fluently as a second language.

Ethnologue classifies Tetun Terik as a dialect of Tetun.<ref name=e25/> However, without previous contact, Tetun Dili is not immediately mutually intelligible,<ref name=e25tdt>Template:E25</ref> mainly because of the large number of Portuguese origin words used in Tetun Dili.Template:Citation needed Besides some grammatical simplification, Tetun Dili has been greatly influenced by the vocabulary and to a small extent by the grammar of Portuguese, the other official language of East Timor.

Nomenclature

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The English form Tetum is derived from Portuguese, rather than from modern Tetum. Consequently, some people regard Tetun as more appropriate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Although this coincides with the favoured Indonesian form, and the variant with m has a longer history in English, Tetun has also been used by some Portuguese-educated Timorese, such as José Ramos-Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.

History and dialects

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File:Timor Sprache en.png
Languages of Timor Island. Tetum is in yellow.

According to linguist Geoffrey Hull, Tetum has four dialects:<ref name="Manhitu">Template:Cite book</ref>

  • Tetun-Dili, or Tetun-Prasa (literally 'city Tetum'), is spoken in the capital, Dili, and its surroundings, in the north of the country. Because of its simpler grammar than other varieties of Tetun, extensive Portuguese loanwords, and supposed creole-like features, Ethnologue and some researchers classify it as a Tetun-based creole.<ref name=e25tdt/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Hull 2004</ref> This position, however, is also disputed in that while Tetun-Dili may exhibit simpler grammar, this does not mean that Tetun-Dili is a creole.Template:Refn<ref>Template:Citation</ref> According to Ethnologue, there were 50,000 native Tetun-Dili speakers in East Timor in 2004 and Template:Sigfig L2 users.<ref name=e25tdt/>
  • Tetun-Terik is spoken in the south and southwestern coastal regions. According to Ethnologue, there were 50,000 Tetun-Terik speakers in East Timor in 1995.<ref name="Manhitu"/>
  • Tetun-Belu, or the Belunese dialect, is spoken in a central strip of the island of Timor from the Ombai Strait to the Timor Sea, and is split between East Timor and West Timor, where it is considered a Template:Lang or 'regional language', with no official status in Indonesia, although it is used by the Diocese of Atambua in Roman Catholic rites.
  • The Nana'ek dialect is spoken in the village of Metinaro, on the coastal road between Dili and Manatuto.

Tetun-Belu and Tetun-Terik are not spoken outside their home territories. Tetun-Prasa is the form of Tetum that is spoken throughout East Timor. Although Portuguese was the official language of Portuguese Timor until 1975, Tetun-Prasa has always been the predominant lingua franca in the eastern part of the island.

In the fifteenth century, before the arrival of the Portuguese, Tetum had spread through central and eastern Timor as a contact language under the aegis of the Belunese-speaking Kingdom of Wehali, at that time the most powerful kingdom in the island. The Portuguese (present in Timor from c. 1556) made most of their settlements in the west, where Dawan was spoken, and it was not until 1769, when the capital was moved from Lifau (Oecussi) to Dili that they began to promote Tetum as an inter-regional language in their colony. Timor was one of the few Portuguese colonies where a local language, and not a form of Portuguese, became the lingua franca: this is because Portuguese rule was indirect rather than direct, the Europeans governing through local kings who embraced Catholicism and became vassals of the King of Portugal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, Indonesia invaded East Timor, declaring it "the Republic's 27th Province". The use of Portuguese was banned, and Indonesian was declared the sole official language, but the Roman Catholic Church adopted Tetum as its liturgical language, making it a focus for cultural and national identity.<ref>"Tetum and Other Languages of East Timor", from Dr. Geoffrey Hull's Preface to Mai Kolia Tetun: A Course in Tetum-Praca (The Lingua Franca of East Timor)</ref> After the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) took over governance in 1999, Tetun (Dili) was proclaimed the country's official language, even though according to Encarta Winkler Prins it was only spoken by about 8% of the native population at the time, while the elite (consisting of 20 to 30 families) spoke Portuguese and most adolescents had been educated in Indonesian.<ref>Encarta-encyclopedie Winkler Prins (1993–2002) s.v. "Oost-Timor. §1.5 Onafhankelijkheid". Microsoft Corporation/Het Spectrum.</ref> When East Timor gained its independence in 2002, Tetum and Portuguese were declared as official languages. The 2010 census found that Tetum Prasa had 385,269 native speakers on a total population of 1,053,971, meaning that the share of native Tetum Prasa/Dili speakers had increased to 36.6% during the 2000s.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In addition to regional varieties of Tetum in East Timor, there are variations in vocabulary and pronunciation, partly due to Portuguese and Indonesian influence. The Tetum spoken by East Timorese migrants living in Portugal and Australia are more Portuguese-influenced, as many of those speakers were not educated in Indonesian.

Vocabulary

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Indigenous

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The Tetum name for East Timor is Template:Lang, which means 'Timor of the rising sun', or, less poetically, 'East Timor'; Template:Lang comes from Template:Lang 'sun' and Template:Lang 'to rise, to go up'. The noun for 'word' is Template:Lang, from Template:Lang 'voice' and Template:Lang 'fruit'. Some more words in Tetum:

File:Kursu portuges 4.jpg
Portuguese (left) and Tetum (right). From a Portuguese course for Tetum speakers. The text says: "Our generation sometimes has difficulty distinguishing between 'j' and 'z'"

From Portuguese

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Words derived from Portuguese:

From Malay

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File:Kursu portuges 5.jpg
Tetum (left) and Portuguese (right). From a Portuguese course for Tetum speakers. The text says: "Some people pronounce wrongly '*meja', '*uja' and '*abuja' instead of 'mesa', 'usa' and 'abusa'."

As a result of Bazaar Malay being a regional lingua franca and of Indonesian being a working language, many words are derived from Malay, including:

In addition, as a legacy of Indonesian rule, other words of Malay origin have entered Tetum, through Indonesian.

Numerals

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However, Tetum speakers often use Malay/Indonesian or Portuguese numbers instead, such as Template:Lang or Template:Lang 'eight' instead of Template:Lang, especially for numbers over one thousand.Template:Citation needed

Combinations

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Tetum has many hybrid words, which are combinations of indigenous and Portuguese words. These often include an indigenous Tetum verb, with a Portuguese suffix -dór (similar to '-er'). For example:

Basic phrases

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Grammar

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Morphology

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Personal pronouns

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Singular Plural
1st person exclusive Template:Lang Template:Lang
inclusive Template:Lang
2nd person familiar Template:Lang Template:Lang
polite Template:Lang Template:Lang
3rd person Template:Lang Template:Lang

<ref name="Williams-van Klinken 2002">Template:Cite book</ref>

Template:Interlinear

Template:Interlinear

Template:Interlinear

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A common occurrence is to use titles such as Template:Lang for a woman or names rather than pronouns when addressing people.

Template:Interlinear

The second person singular pronoun Template:Lang is used generally with children, friends or family, while with strangers or people of higher social status, Template:Lang or Template:Lang is used.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Template:Interlinear

Nouns and pronouns

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Plural
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The plural is not normally marked on nouns, but the word Template:Lang 'they' can express it when necessary.

Template:Lang 'woman/women' → Template:Lang 'women'

However, the plural ending -s of nouns of Portuguese origin is sometimes retained.

Template:Lang – United States (from Template:Lang)
Template:Lang – United Nations (from Template:Lang)
Definiteness
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Tetum has an optional indefinite article Template:Lang ('one'), used after nouns:

Template:Lang – a child

There is no definite article, but the demonstratives Template:Lang ('this one') and Template:Lang ('that one') may be used to express definiteness:

Template:Lang – this child, the child
Template:Lang – that child, the child

In the plural, Template:Lang ('these') or Template:Lang ('those') are used:

Template:Lang – these children, the children
Template:Lang – those children, the children
Possessive/genitive
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The particle Template:Lang forms the inalienable possessive, and can be used in a similar way to 's in English, e.g.:

Template:Lang – 'João's house'
Template:Lang – 'Cristina's book'

When the possessor is postposed, representing alienable possession, Template:Lang becomes Template:Lang:

Template:Lang – the people of East Timor
Inclusive and exclusive we
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Like other Austronesian languages, Tetum has two forms of we, Template:Lang (equivalent to Malay Template:Lang) which is exclusive, e.g. "I and they", and Template:Lang (equivalent to Malay Template:Lang), which is inclusive, e.g. "you, I, and they".

Template:Lang – 'our [family's] car'
Template:Lang – 'our country'
Nominalization
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Nouns derived from verbs or adjectives are usually formed with affixes, for example the suffix -na'in, similar to "-er" in English.

Template:Lang 'write' → Template:Lang 'writer'

The suffix -na'in can also be used with nouns, in the sense of 'owner'.

Template:Lang 'house' → Template:Lang 'householder'

In more traditional forms of Tetum, the circumfix ma(k)- -k is used instead of -na'in. For example, the nouns 'sinner' or 'wrongdoer' can be derived from the word Template:Lang as either Template:Lang, or Template:Lang. Only the prefix ma(k)- is used when the root word ends with a consonant; for example, the noun 'cook' or 'chef' can be derived from the word Template:Lang as Template:Lang as well as Template:Lang.

The suffix -teen (from the word for 'dirt' or 'excrement') can be used with adjectives to form derogatory terms:

Template:Lang 'false' → Template:Lang 'liar'

Adjectives

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Derivation from nouns
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To turn a noun into a nominalised adjective, the word Template:Lang ('person, child, associated object') is added to it.

Template:Lang 'foreigner' → Template:Lang 'foreign'

Thus, 'Timorese person' is Template:Lang, as opposed to the country of Timor, Template:Lang.

To form adjectives and actor nouns from verbs, the suffix -dór (derived from Portuguese) can be added:

Template:Lang 'tell' → Template:Lang 'talkative'
Gender
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Tetum does not have separate masculine and feminine gender, hence Template:Lang (similar to Template:Lang/Template:Lang/Template:Lang in Malay) can mean either 'he', 'she' or 'it'.

Different forms for the genders only occur in Portuguese-derived adjectives, hence Template:Lang ('thank you') is used by men, and Template:Lang by women. The masculine and feminine forms of other adjectives derived from Portuguese are sometimes used with Portuguese loanwords, particularly by Portuguese-educated speakers of Tetum.

Template:Lang – 'democratic government' (from Template:Lang, masculine)
Template:Lang – 'democratic nation' (from Template:Lang, feminine)

In some instances, the different gender forms have distinct translations into English:

Template:Lang – 'handsome'
Template:Lang – 'pretty'

In indigenous Tetum words, the suffixes Template:Lang ('male') and Template:Lang ('female') are sometimes used to differentiate between the genders:

Template:Lang 'son' → Template:Lang 'daughter'
Comparatives and superlatives
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Superlatives can be formed from adjectives by reduplication:

Template:Lang 'much, many' → Template:Lang 'very much, many'
Template:Lang 'big, great' → Template:Lang 'huge, enormous'
Template:Lang 'good' → Template:Lang 'very good'
Template:Lang 'last' → Template:Lang 'the very last, final'
Template:Lang 'clean, clear' → Template:Lang 'spotless, immaculate'

When making comparisons, the word Template:Lang ('more') is used after the adjective, optionally followed by Template:Lang ('than' from Portuguese Template:Lang):

Template:Lang — Maria is older than Ana.

To describe something as the most or least, the word Template:Lang ('all') is added:

Template:Lang — Maria is the oldest.

Adverbs

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Adverbs can be formed from adjectives or nouns by reduplication:

Template:Lang 'good' → Template:Lang 'well'
Template:Lang 'new, recent' → Template:Lang 'newly, recently'
Template:Lang 'night' → Template:Lang 'nightly'
Template:Lang 'quick' → Template:Lang 'quickly'
Template:Lang 'day' → Template:Lang 'daily'

Prepositions and circumpositions

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The most commonly used prepositions in Tetum are the verbs Template:Lang ('have', 'possess', 'specific locative') and Template:Lang ('go', 'to', 'for'). Most prepostional concepts of English are expressed by nominal phrases formed by using Template:Lang, the object and the position (expressed by a noun),optionally with the possessive Template:Lang.

Template:Lang — ' inside the house'
Template:Lang — ' on top of the mountain'
Template:Lang — ' on the table'
Template:Lang — ' under the chair'
Template:Lang — ' outside the country'
Template:Lang — ' between the people'

Verbs

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Copula and negation
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There is no verb to be as such, but the word Template:Lang, which translates as 'not to be', is used for negation:

Template:Lang — 'The Timorese are not Indonesians.'

The word Template:Lang, which roughly translates as 'who is' or 'what is', can be used with fronted phrases for focusing/ emphasis:

Template:Lang — 'It's John who likes beer.'
Interrogation
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The interrogative is formed by using the words Template:Lang ('or') or Template:Lang ('or not').

Template:Lang — 'Are you crazy?'
Template:Lang — 'Do you like me?'
Derivation from nouns and adjectives
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Transitive verbs are formed by adding the prefix ha- or hak- to a noun or adjective:

Template:Lang 'liquid' → Template:Lang 'to liquify, to melt'
Template:Lang 'mad' → Template:Lang 'to drive mad'
Template:Lang 'union' → Template:Lang 'to unite'
Template:Lang 'shade' → Template:Lang 'to shade, to cover'
Template:Lang 'hot' → Template:Lang 'to heat up'

Intransitive verbs are formed by adding the prefix na- or nak- to a noun or adjective:

Template:Lang — '(to be) liquified, melted'
Template:Lang — '(to be) driven mad'
Template:Lang — '(to be) united'
Template:Lang — '(to be) shaded, covered'
Template:Lang — '(to become) heated up'
Conjugations and inflections (in Tetun-Terik)
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In Template:Lang, verbs inflect when they begin with a vowel or consonant h. In this case mutation of the first consonant occurs. For example, the verb Template:Lang ('see') in Template:Lang would be conjugated as follows:

Template:Lang — 'I see'
Template:Lang — 'you (sing.) see'
Template:Lang — 'he/she/it sees'
Template:Lang — 'we see'
Template:Lang — 'you (pl.) see'
Template:Lang — 'they see'

Tenses

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Past

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Whenever possible, the past tense is simply inferred from the context, for example:

Template:Lang – 'Yesterday I ate rice.'

However, it can be expressed by placing the adverb Template:Lang ('already') at the end of a sentence.

Template:Lang – 'I've (already) eaten rice.'

When Template:Lang is used with Template:Lang ('not') this means 'no more' or 'no longer', rather than 'have not':

Template:Lang – 'I don't eat rice anymore.'

In order to convey that an action has not occurred, the word Template:Lang ('not yet') is used:

Template:Lang – 'I haven't eaten rice (yet).'

When relating an action that occurred in the past, the word Template:Lang ('finally' or 'well and truly') is used with the verb.

Template:Lang – 'I ate rice.'

Future

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The future tense is formed by placing the word Template:Lang ('will') before a verb:

Template:Lang – 'I will give them food.'

The negative is formed by adding Template:Lang ('not') between Template:Lang and the verb:

Template:Lang – 'I will not give them food.'

Aspects

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Perfect

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The perfect aspect can be formed by using Template:Lang.

Template:Lang – 'I have eaten rice / I ate rice.'

When negated, Template:Lang indicates that an action ceased to occur:

Template:Lang – 'I didn't eat rice anymore.'

In order to convey that a past action had not or never occurred, the word Template:Lang ('not yet' or 'never') is used:

Template:Lang – 'I didn't eat rice / I hadn't eaten rice.'

Progressive

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The progressive aspect can be obtained by placing the word Template:Lang ('stay') after a verb:

Template:Lang – 'They're (still) working.'

Imperative

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The imperative mood is formed using the word Template:Lang ('go') at the end of a sentence, hence:

Template:Lang – 'Read the letter!'

The word Template:Lang ('just' or 'a bit') may also be used when making a request rather than a command:

Template:Lang – 'Just read the letter.'

When forbidding an action Template:Lang ('cannot') or Template:Lang ('do not') are used:

Template:Lang – 'Don't smoke here!'
Template:Lang – 'Don't kill them!'

Orthography and phonology

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Template:See also The influence of Portuguese and to a lesser extent Malay/Indonesian on the phonology of Tetun has been extensive.

Tetum Vowels
Front Central Back
Close Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Mid Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Open Template:IPA link

In the Tetum language, Template:IPA, Template:IPA and Template:IPA tend to have relatively fixed sounds. However Template:IPA and Template:IPA vary according to the environment they are placed in, for instance the sound is slightly higher if the proceeding syllable is Template:IPA or Template:IPA.<ref>Hull, Geoffrey. (1999). Tetum, Language Manual for East Timor. Academy of East Timor Studies, Faculty of Education & Languages, University of Western Sydney Macathur.</ref>

Tetum consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal Template:IPA link Template:IPA link (Template:IPA linkTemplate:IPA) (Template:IPA link)
Stop (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link
Fricative Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link) (Template:IPA link) (Template:IPA link) Template:IPA link
Approximant Template:IPA link Template:IPA link
Lateral Template:IPA link (Template:IPA linkTemplate:IPA)
Flap Template:IPA link
Trill (Template:IPA link)

All consonants appearing in parentheses are used only in loanwords.

Stops: All stops in Tetum are un-aspirated, meaning an expulsion of breath is absent. In contrast, English stops, namely 'p' 't' and 'k' are generally aspirated.

Fricatives: Template:IPA is an unstable voiced labio-dental fricative and tends to alternate with or is replaced by Template:IPA; e.g. Template:IPA – Template:IPA meaning 'grandparent.'<ref name="Williams-van Klinken 2002" />

As Tetum did not have any official recognition or support under either Portuguese or Indonesian rule, it is only recently that a standardised orthography has been established by the Template:Ill (INL). The standard orthography devised by the institute was declared official by Government Decree 1/2004 of 14 April 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, there are still widespread variations in spelling, one example being the word Template:Lang or 'when', which has also been written as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang, Template:Lang. The use of Template:Grapheme or Template:Grapheme is a reflection of the pronunciation in some rural dialects of Tetun-Terik.

The current orthography originates from the spelling reforms undertaken by Fretilin in 1974, when it launched literacy campaigns across East Timor, and also from the system used by the Catholic Church when it adopted Tetum as its liturgical language during the Indonesian occupation. These involved the transcription of many Portuguese words that were formerly written in their original spelling, for example, Template:Lang → Template:Lang 'education', and Template:Lang → Template:Lang 'colonialism'.

Reforms suggested by the International Committee for the Development of East Timorese Languages (IACDETL) in 1996 included the replacement of the digraphs [[nh (digraph)|Template:Grapheme]] and [[lh (digraph)|Template:Grapheme]] (borrowed from Portuguese, where they stand for the phonemes Template:IPA and Template:IPA) with Template:Grapheme and Template:Grapheme , respectively (as in certain Basque orthographies), to avoid confusion with the consonant clusters Template:IPA and Template:IPA, which also occur in Tetum. Thus, Template:Lang 'sir' became Template:Lang, and Template:Lang 'worker' became Template:Lang. Later, as adopted by IACDETL and approved by the INL in 2002, Template:Grapheme and Template:Grapheme were replaced by [[Template:Grapheme]] and [[Template:Grapheme]] (as in Spanish). Thus, Template:Lang 'sir' became Template:Lang, and Template:Lang 'worker' became Template:Lang. Some linguists favoured using [[ny (digraph)|Template:Grapheme]] (as in Catalan and Filipino) and [[ly (digraph)|Template:Grapheme]] for these sounds, but the latter spellings were rejected for being similar to the Indonesian system, and most speakers actually pronounce ñ and ll as Template:IPA and Template:IPA, respectively, with a semivowel Template:IPA which forms a diphthong with the preceding vowel (but reduced to Template:IPA, Template:IPA after Template:IPA), not as the palatal consonants of Portuguese and Spanish. Thus, Template:Lang, Template:Lang are pronounced Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and Template:Lang, Template:Lang are pronounced Template:IPA, Template:IPA. As a result, some writers use Template:Grapheme and Template:Grapheme instead, for example Template:Lang and Template:Lang for June and July (Template:Lang and Template:Lang in Portuguese).

As well as variations in the transliteration of Portuguese loanwords, there are also variations in the spelling of indigenous words. These include the use of double vowels and the apostrophe for the glottal stop, for example Template:Lang → Template:Lang 'large' and Template:Lang → Template:Lang 'small'.

The sound Template:IPA, which is not indigenous to Tetum but appears in many loanwords from Portuguese and Malay, often changed to Template:IPA in old Tetum and to Template:IPA (written Template:Grapheme) in the speech of young speakers: for example, Template:Lang 'table' from Portuguese Template:Lang, and Template:Lang 'shirt' from Portuguese Template:Lang. In the sociolect of Tetum that is still used by the generation educated during the Indonesian occupation, Template:IPA and Template:IPA may occur in free variation. For instance, the Portuguese-derived word Template:Lang 'example' is pronounced Template:IPA by some speakers, and conversely Template:Lang 'January' is pronounced Template:IPA. The sound Template:IPA, also not native to the language, often shifted to Template:IPA, as in Template:Lang 'work' from Portuguese Template:Lang (also note that a modern INL convention promotes the use of Template:Lang for 'work' and Template:Lang for 'service').

See also

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Template:Portal Template:InterWiki

References

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Template:Reflist

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Template:Central Malayo-Polynesian languages Template:Languages of East Timor Template:Languages of Indonesia Template:Authority control

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