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 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-we ...

: :

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, surrounded by speakers of Makasae and Makalero. 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'' 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 The Papuan languages are the non-Austronesian and non- Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...

. 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 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 typically long distance, me ...

and aspirated and

glottalized consonant In phonetics, a glottalic consonant is a consonant produced with some important contribution (movement or closure) of the glottis. Glottalic sounds may involve motion of the larynx upward or downward, as the initiator of an egressive or ingre ...

s 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