Aone van Engelenhoven (born 1962) is a Dutch linguist and anthropologist who teaches at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

. He conducts research in the field of linguistics and anthropology, with a focus on smaller languages from Indonesia. He has carried out extensive research about languages and traditions of Maluku and

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

. He was educated at the University of Leiden, where he graduated with a master's degree in

comparative linguistics Comparative linguistics, or comparative-historical linguistics (formerly comparative philology) is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness ...

in 1987. He wrote a

PhD dissertation A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

on the description of the

Leti language Leti (or Letti) is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Leti in Maluku. Although it shares much vocabulary with the neighboring Luang language, it is marginally mutually intelligible. Fewer than 1% of Leti speakers are literate in ...

in 1995. He started as a lecturer of Austronesian languages in 1993 at Leiden University. Van Engelenhoven was born to an Indonesian mother from the

Leti Islands The Letti Islands () of Indonesia are part of the Maluku Islands, in southwest Maluku Province. (The spelling Leti Islands is also used sometimes.) They are also called the "Lemola" Archipelago, from the initial two letters of each of the three main ...

. He was admitted to a local clan in 1989, giving him a special insight into the culture and allowing him to learn the clan's songs and stories. In 2007, he accidentally discovered a virtually extinct language called Rusenu while studying another endangered language from East Timor called Makuva.

Publications

* ''Concealment, Maintenance and Renaissance: language and ethnicity in the Moluccan community in the Netherlands'' (2002) * ''Leti, a language of Southwest Maluku'' (2004) * ''The position of Makuva among the Austronesian languages of East Timor and Southwest Maluku'' (2009) * ''Searching the Invariant: Semiotactic Explorations into Meaning'' (2011) * ''The Spoor of the Mythical Sailfish'' (2013)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelenhoven, Aone van Academic staff of Leiden University 1962 births Leiden University alumni Living people Linguists from the Netherlands