Editing Tetum language (section)

==History and dialects==
[[File:Timor Sprache en.png|thumb|Languages of [[Timor Island]]. Tetum is in yellow.]]

According to linguist Geoffrey Hull, Tetum has four dialects:<ref name="Manhitu">{{Cite book |last=Manhitu |first=Yohanes |date=2016 |title=Tetum, A Language For Everyone: Tetun, Lian Ida Ba Ema Hotu-Hotu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uS3GDQAAQBAJ&pg=PR7 |location=New York |publisher=Mondial |page=vii-viii |isbn=9781595693211 |access-date=1 July 2019}}</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 language|creole]].<ref name=e25tdt/><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://ausil.org.au/sites/ausil/files/1997%20Grimes%20etal%20Nusa%20Teng%20Guide.pdf |title=A Guide to the People and Languages of Nusa Tenggara |last1=Grimes |first1=Charles E. |last2=Tom Therik |last3=Grimes |first3=Barbara Dix |last4=Max Jacob |publisher=Artha Wacana Press |year=1997 |location=Kupang |pages=52 |access-date=2019-11-12 |archive-date=2021-03-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302230957/http://ausil.org.au/sites/ausil/files/1997%20Grimes%20etal%20Nusa%20Teng%20Guide.pdf |url-status=dead }}</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.{{refn|Catharina Williams-van Klinken states otherwise,<ref>Catharina Williams-van Klinken, 2011 (2nd ed.), ''Tetun Language Course'', Peace Corps East Timor, 2nd ed. 2011, footnote, p.58</ref>}}<ref>{{Citation |last=Chen |first=Yen-Ling |title=Tetun Dili And Creoles: Another Look |date=2015 |url=http://ling.hawaii.edu/wp-content/uploads/wp-Yen-ling.pdf |work=Working Papers in Linguistics |volume=46 |issue=7 |publisher=University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa}}</ref> According to ''Ethnologue'', there were 50,000 native Tetun-Dili speakers in East Timor in 2004 and {{sigfig|374,000|2}} 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 {{Lang|id|bahasa daerah}} or 'regional language', with no official status in [[Indonesia]], although it is used by the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Atambua|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 [[Wehali|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 [[Atoni|Dawan]] was spoken, and it was not until 1769, when the capital was moved from Lifau ([[Oecusse District|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>{{Cite web |url=http://www.asianlang.mq.edu.au/INL/langs.html |title=The Languages of East Timor: Some Basic Facts |last=Hull |first=Geoffrey |date=24 August 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119191225/http://www.asianlang.mq.edu.au/INL/langs.html |archive-date=2008-01-19}}</ref>

Following the [[Carnation Revolution]] in Portugal in 1974, [[Indonesian invasion of East Timor|Indonesia invaded East Timor]], declaring it "the Republic's 27th Province". The use of Portuguese was banned, and [[Indonesian language|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>[http://geo.ya.com/travelimages/timor/languages.html "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>{{cite book|chapter=Table 13: Population distribution by mother tongue, Urban Rural and District|title=Volume 2: Population Distribution by Administrative Areas, Population and Housing Census of Timor-Leste|url=http://www.mof.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Publication-2-English-Web.pdf|publisher=Timor-Leste Ministry of Finance|page=205}}</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.