Idalaka ( pt, Idalaca) is a

Malayo-Polynesian The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...

dialect chain A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated vari ...

spoken in

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 ...

. The name is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsTetum , nativename=Tetun , states= Indonesia East Timor , speakers=, mostly in Indonesia , date=2010–2011 , ref=e18 , speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor , familycolor=Austronesian , fam2=Malayo-Polynesian , fam3= Central–East ...

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 ...

, while they exhibit many similarities with Galoli. Idalaka also resembles the

Kemak language Kemak is a language spoken in East Timor and in the border region of Indonesian West Timor. An alternate name is Ema. It is most closely related to Tocodede Tokodede (also known as Tukude, Tocodede, Tokodé, and Tocod) is one of the languag ...

in that there are archaic features such as personal prefixes in verbs, which are lost in Mambai and Tokodede.

Geographic distribution

The dialects are spoken in the Ramelau mountains with the exception of endangered Lolein, which is spoken in Dili. The 2015 census recorded 19,913 people in East Timor as native speakers of Idalaka dialects.

Official Status

Idalaka is one of 15 recognized national languages of East Timor.

Dialects

Idaté (Idate) is the vernacular in Laclubar (

Manatuto Municipality Manatuto (, ) is one of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor, located in the central part of the country. It has a population of 45,541 (Census 2010) and an area of 1,783.3 km². The capital of the municipality is also n ...

) and the bordering area in adjacent Manufahi. It has a total of 14,178 native speakers. Lakalei is spoken in the area of Fahinehan (Manufahi). It has a total of 3,669 native speakers. Isní: Is spoken east of

Turiscai Turiscai is a village in the Turiscai administrative post, Manufahi municipality of East Timor. ''Turiskai'' in Mambai language means " Turibaum". References Populated places in East Timor Manufahi Municipality {{EastTimor-geo- ...

( Manufahi), with a total of 1,855 native speakers. Lolein is spoken in Talitu (

Aileu Municipality Aileu (, ) is a municipality, and was formerly a district, of East Timor. It has a population of 48,554 (Census 2015) and an area of 737 km². The municipality's capital is also named Aileu. Its administrative posts are Aileu, Laulara ...

), Becora Leten and

Hera In ancient Greek religion, Hera (; grc-gre, Ἥρα, Hḗrā; grc, Ἥρη, Hḗrē, label=none in Ionic and Homeric Greek) is the goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. In Greek mythology, she ...

(

Dili Municipality Dili Municipality (, ) is one of the 14 municipalities, formerly districts, of Timor-Leste, and includes the national capital Dili. The municipality had a population of 277,279 , most of whom live in the capital city. Etymology Several exp ...

). Lolein developed from the Isní of 19th century immigrants from

. In Dili municipality, 568 people speak Lolein, another 533 speakers live in the adjacent Alieu Municipality. A total of 1,155 people are native in the dialect across East Timor.

Vocabulary

References

Bibliography

* Languages of East Timor Timor–Babar languages {{austronesian-lang-stub