Tokodede (also known as Tukude, Tocodede, Tokodé, and Tocod) is one of the languages of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, spoken by about 39,000

Tokodede people Tokodede (also known as Tukude, Tocodede, Tokodé, and Tocod) is one of the languages of East Timor, spoken by about 39,000 Tokodede people in the municipality of Liquiçá, especially the administrative posts of Maubara and Liquiçá along the ...

in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Liquiçá Liquiçá (Tetum: ''Likisá'') is a coastal city in East Timor, 32 km to the west of Dili, the national capital. Liquiçá is the capital of Liquiçá District. The city has a population of 5,005 inhabitants. History A part of the colon ...

, especially the administrative posts of

Maubara Maubara is a village in Maubara Administrative Post ( Liquiçá Municipality, East Timor), just west of the city of Liquiçá. Most of the inhabitants speak Tocodede. It lies near the Maubara Important Bird Area, encompassing the small c ...

and

along the northern reaches of the

Loes River The Loes River ( or , ) is a river in Timor-Leste and one of the few perennial rivers in the country's north. The river combines with its tributaries to make up Timor-Leste's largest river system, and its catchment or drainage basin extends i ...

system. The number of speakers has declined in recent years. It is a

Malayo-Polynesian language 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 ...

in the Timor group. The first significant text published in Tokodede was , translated by

João Paulo T. Esperança João is a given name of Portuguese origin. It is equivalent to the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the s ...

Fernanda Correia Fernanda is a Portuguese, Spanish and Italian feminine equivalent of Fernando, a male given name of Germanic origin, with an original meaning of "adventurous, bold journey". __TOC__ People *Fernanda Abreu (born 1961), Brazilian singer *Fernand ...

, and Cesaltina Campos from an article by João Paulo T. Esperança entitled "A Brief Look at the Literature of Timor". The Tokodede version was published in the literary supplement

Várzea de Letras Várzea may refer to: Places Brazil * Várzea, Paraíba * Várzea, Rio Grande do Norte * Várzea da Roça, a municipality in Bahia * Várzea do Poço, a municipality in Bahia * Várzea Nova a municipality in Bahia * Várzea Alegre a municipality ...

, published by the Department of Portuguese Language of the

National University of Timor-Leste National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, in

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

, in December 2005.

References

External links

Peneer meselo laa Literatura kidia-laa Timór, the first significant text published in Tocodede

Timor–Babar languages Languages of Timor-Leste {{EastTimor-stub