Kawaimina is a

syllabic abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

used to refer to four languages or dialects of East Timor: :

Kairui Kawaimina is a syllabic abbreviation used to refer to four languages or dialects of East Timor: : Kairui, Midiki, Waimaha, and Naueti, spoken by one or two thousand speakers each. It is a name used by linguists discussing the languages, not ...

Midiki Kawaimina is a syllabic abbreviation used to refer to four languages or dialects of East Timor: : Kairui language, Kairui, Midiki language, Midiki, Waimoa language, Waimaha, and Nauete language, Naueti, spoken by one or two thousand speakers e ...

, Waimaha, and

Naueti Naueti (also written as Nauoti, Nauete and Nauweti but ultimately from Naueti nau eti 'now') is an Austronesian language spoken by 15,045 (census 2010) in the subdistricts of Uato-Lari, Uatucarbau and Baguia in southeastern East Timor. 1,062 Nau ...

, spoken by one or two thousand speakers each. It is a name used by linguists discussing the languages, not the speakers themselves. The first three, which may be co-dialects, are spoken in adjacent areas in the western part of

Baucau District Baucau (, ) is a municipality, and was formerly a district, of East Timor, on the northern coast in the eastern part of the country. The capital is also called Baucau (formerly Vila Salazar). The population of the municipality is 111,694 (c ...

, along the north coast. Naueti is used on the south coast of eastern

Viqueque District Viqueque (, ) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor. It has a population of 77,402 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,877 km². The capital of the municipality is also named Viqueque. Etymology The word '' ...

, surrounded by speakers of Makasae and

Makalero Makalero or Maklere is a Papuan language spoken in the Lautém district of East Timor. It was previously considered to be a dialect of Makasae Makasae (also known as Makassai, Macassai, Ma'asae, Makasai) is a Papuan language spoken by about 100 ...

. Some Midiki speakers near Ossu refer to their language as Osomoko. Geoffrey Hull classifies these as dialects and groups them into a single Kawaimina language, while ''

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'' groups the varieties into three distinct languages. Except perhaps for Naueti, the Kawaimina languages are members of the Timor–Babar family of Austronesian languages. While structurally the languages are Malayo-Polynesian, their vocabulary, particularly that of Naueti, derives mostly from Papuan languages. In this they are similar to Makasae and

Habun Habu (Habun) is a language spoken in central East Timor. The classification of Habu is unclear. Structurally, it is Malayo-Polynesian. However, its vocabulary is largely Papuan, similar to that of Makasae. References Languages of East ...

; none of these languages are easy to classify as either Austronesian or Papuan. The languages are noted for both archaisms and unusual innovations, including

vowel harmony In phonology, vowel harmony is an Assimilation (linguistics), assimilatory process in which the vowels of a given domain – typically a phonological word – have to be members of the same natural class (thus "in harmony"). Vowel harmony is t ...

and aspirated and glottalized consonants in their sound-systems. File:Kairui.png,

File:Mideki.png,

File:Naueti.png,

File:Waimaha.png, Waimaha

References

External links

The Waimaha language of East TimorEthnologue page for Kairui-MidikiEthnologue page for NaueteEthnologue page for Waimaha
Languages of East Timor {{austronesian-lang-stub