The Timoric languages are a group of Austronesian languages (belonging to the Central–Eastern subgroup) spoken on the islands of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

, neighboring Wetar, and (depending on the classification) Southwest Maluku to the east. Within the group, the languages with the most speakers are

Uab Meto Uab Meto or Dawan is an Austronesian language spoken by Atoni people of West Timor. The language has a variant spoken in the East Timorese exclave of Oecussi-Ambeno, called Baikenu. Baikenu uses words derived from Portuguese, for example, ''ob ...

West Timor West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ca ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and Tetum of

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 ...

, each with about half a million speakers, though in addition Tetum is an official language and a lingua franca among non-Tetum East Timorese.

Languages

Hull (1998) & van Engelenhoven (2009)

Geoffrey Hull (1998) proposes a Timoric group as follows: *Timoric A ("Extra-Ramelaic", Fabronic; whatever is not Ramelaic) **West: Dawan (Uab Meto)–

Amarasi Amarasi was a traditional princedom in West Timor, in present-day Indonesia. It had an important role in the political history of Timor during the 17th and 18th century, being a client state of the Portuguese colonialists, and later subjected to th ...

Helong Helong (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 화룡; Hangul: 허룽) is a county-level city in southeastern Jilin province, Northeast China. It is under the administration of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Administrative divisions Helong has three subdis ...

, Roti ( Bilba, Dengka,

Lole Lole may refer to: *Carlos Reutemann (1942–2021), Argentine retired racing driver and politician nicknamed "Lole" *Simon Lole (born 1957), choral director, organist, composer, arranger and broadcaster *Lole language, spoken on Roti Island, Indone ...

, Ringgou, Dela-Oenale, Termanu, Tii) **Central: Tetun, Bekais,

Habu is a Ryukyuan and Japanese name referring to certain venomous snakes: * The following species are found in the Ryukyu Islands of Japan: ** ''Protobothrops elegans'', a.k.a. the Sakishima habu, found in the southern Ryukyu Islands ** ''Protobothr ...

**North: Wetar,

Galoli The Galoli, or Galolen, are a people of East Timor with a population of about 50,000, primarily along the northern coast of the district of Manatuto. To the west lies the Mambai people. There is an old colony on the southern coast of Wetar island ...

**East:

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 ...

, Waimaha,

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 ...

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 ...

*Timoric B ("Ramelaic", near the Ramelau range) **West: Kemak, Tukudede **Central:

Mambai Mambai may refer to: * Mambai people, a people group also known as Mambae, Manbae or Maubere from Timor-Leste * Mambai language (Timor) Mambai, also called Mambae or Manbae, is a language spoken by the Mambai people, the second largest ethn ...

**East (Idalaka):

Idaté Idalaka ( pt, Idalaca) is a Malayo-Polynesian dialect chain spoken in East Timor. The name is a portmanteau of Idaté and Lakalai. Relation to other languages The Idalaka dialects are closely related to Tetum and Habun, while they exhibit man ...

, Isní, Lakalei, Lolein Van Engelenhoven (2009) accepts Hull's classification, but further includes

Makuva Makuva, also known as Maku'a or Lóvaia, is an apparently extinct Austronesian language spoken at the northeast tip of East Timor near the town of Tutuala. Makuva has been heavily influenced by neighboring East Timorese Papuan languages, to ...

and the Luangic–Kisaric languages (

Kisar Kisar, also known as ''Yotowawa'', is a small island in the Southwestern Moluccas in Indonesia, located to the northeast of Timor Island. Most of the island is included within the Southernmost Islands District ('' Kecamatan Pulau Pulau Terselata ...

, Romang, Luang, Wetan,

Leti Leti may refer to: * Leti, Chakwal, a village and Union Council in Pakistan * Leti Islands, Maluku, Indonesia ** Leti (island), one of the Leti islands in Maluku, Indonesia * Leti language, a language in Indonesia * Leti language (Cameroon), a lan ...

) in the Eastern branch of Timoric A.

Taber (1993)

In a

lexicostatistical Lexicostatistics is a method of comparative linguistics that involves comparing the percentage of lexical cognates between languages to determine their relationship. Lexicostatistics is related to the comparative method but does not reconstruct a p ...

classification of the languages of Southwest Maluku, Taber (1993:396) posits a "Southwest Maluku" branch of the Timoric languages, that comprises all languages of the area, except for West Damar and the

Babar languages The Babar languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian language family spoken on the Babar Islands The Babar Islands ''(''Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Babar)'' are located in Maluku Province, Indonesia between latitudes 7 degrees 31 minutes South t ...

. *Timoric **(other branches on Timor) **Southwest Maluku *** East Damar ***Wetar: Talur, Wetar cluster (''Aputai'', ''Perai'', ''Tugun'', ''Iliun'') ***Kisar-Roma:

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

***Luang:

, Luang, Wetan ***TNS (Teun-Nila-Serua): Teun, Nila-Serua (''

Nila Nila may refer to: * Nila, alternate name of Nileh Safid, a village in Iran * Baby Nila, Leela’s little sister on Sesame Street * Nila River or Bharathapuzha, is a river in the Indian state of Kerala * Pulau Nila, a small Indonesian volcanic isl ...

'', '' Serua'') *(other branches of CMP, including

and West Damar)

Edwards (2018, 2019)

Edwards (2018, 2019) divides the languages of Timor and Southwest Maluku into three branches:Edwards, Owen (2019). Reintroducing Welaun. ''Oceanic Linguistics'', Volume 58, Number 1, June 2019, pp. 31-58. https://doi.org/10.1353/ol.2019.0002 *

*Central Timor: Kemak, Tokodede, Mambae, Welaun *"Timor-Wetar-Babar" The latter subgroup includes all other languages grouped by Hull as Timoric, as well all languages of Southwest Maluku (including the Babar languages). Within "Timor-Wetar-Babar", Edwards proposes a Rote-Meto branch, with languages spoken on Rote Island and in

. ;Rote-Meto *West Rote-Meto ** Dela, Oenale **Dengka-Meto *** Dengka, Lelain *** Meto *Nuclear Rote ** Tii,

** Termanu, Ba'a, Korbafo, Bokai, Talae, Keka ** Bilbaa, Diu, Lelenuk ** Rikou, Landu, Oepao

References

* Hull, Geoffrey. 1998. "The basic lexical affinities of Timor's Austronesian languages: a preliminary investigation." ''Studies in Languages and Cultures of East Timor'' 1:97–202. * Taber, Mark (1993).
Toward a Better Understanding of the Indigenous Languages of Southwestern Maluku
" ''Oceanic Linguistics'', Vol. 32, No. 2 (Winter, 1993), pp. 389–441. University of Hawai'i.

External links

LexiRumah
(part of th
Lesser Sunda linguistic databases

Reconstructing the past through languages of the present: the Lesser Sunda Islands
(Revised 24.8.2004) Geoffrey Hull {{DEFAULTSORT:Timor-Babar languages Languages of Indonesia Languages of East Timor