Fordata (''Vai Fordata, Vai Tnebar'') is an
Austronesian language spoken in the
Tanimbar Islands
The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to the southwest of Yamdena, Larat and Ford ...
of the
Moluccas
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located ...
. It is closely related to
Kei
Kei may refer to:
People
* Kei (given name)
* Kei, Cantonese for Ji (surname), Ji(姫)
* Kei, Cantonese for Qi (surname), Qi(奇, 祁, 亓)
* Shō Kei (1700–1752), king of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
* Kei (singer) (born 1995), stage name of South Kor ...
, and more distantly to
Yamdena
Yamdena (spelt Jamdena during the Dutch colonial period) is the largest of the Tanimbar Islands in the Maluku Province of Indonesia. Saumlaki is the chief town, located on the south end of the island.
The island has a range of forested hills al ...
, both also spoken in the Tanimbar Islands.
Phonology
Consonants
* Glottal sounds /h ʔ/ only occur intervocalically.
* /v/ can often be heard as among younger speakers.
* /r/ can also be heard in free variation with a flap sound .
Vowels
* Sounds /i e/ have lax sounds of
* /a/ can have an allophone of when before a consonant, or in word-final position.
References
External links
www.bahasafordata.net
Central Malayo-Polynesian languages
Languages of the Maluku Islands
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