East Timor Languages

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Geographylogo.png In other languages: Português | Lia-Tetun

Description[edit | edit source]

East Timor's two official languages are Portuguese and Tetum. In addition, English and Indonesian are designated by the constitution as "working languages". The 2015 census found that the most commonly spoken mother tongues were Tetum Prasa (mother tongue for 30.6% of the population), Mambai (16.6%), Makasai (10.5%), Tetum Terik (6.05%), Baikenu (5.87%), Kemak (5.85%), Bunak (5.48%), Tokodede (3.97%), and Fataluku (3.52%). Other indigenous languages accounted for 10.47%, while 1.09% of the population spoke foreign languages natively.

Word List(s)[edit | edit source]

Alphabet and Pronunciation[edit | edit source]

Alphabet

Pronunciation

Language Aids and Dictionaries[edit | edit source]

Dictionaries

  • Morris, Cliff. Tetun-English dictionary. Canberra: Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University, 1985. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Hull, Geoffrey. Concise English-Tetum dictionary. Winston Hills, NSW: Sebastião Aparício da Silva Publications, 2006. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Fuentes, Sinda López, Ana Frankenberg-Garcia, and Helen Newstead. Oxford Portuguese dictionary : Portuguese-English, English-Portuguese. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.

Online Dictionaries

Language Aids

  • Hull, Geoffrey, Dionisio Babo-Soares, Jorge da Conceição Teme, and Benjamim de Araújo e Corte-Real. Tetum language manual for East Timor. Winston Hills, N.S.W., Australia: Sebastião Aparício da Silva Project, 2001. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Williams-van Klinken, Catharina, John Hajek, and Rachel Nordlinger. Tetun Dili : a grammar of an East Timorese language. Canberra, ACT: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, 2002. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Huber, Juliette. A grammar of Makalero : a Papuan language of East Timor. Utrecht, The Netherlands: LOT, 2011. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Hills, E C, J D M Ford, and Joaquin de Siqueira Coutinho. A Portuguese Grammar. Boston: D.C. Heath and Co., 1944. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Tetum Grammar - Wikipedia

Additional Resources[edit | edit source]

  • Soares, Octavio A J O. East Timor, land of the rising sun : a traveler's guide plus English-Indonesian-Tetum dictionary. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kanisius, 1999. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Hull, Geoffrey, Dionisio Babo-Soares, and Jorge da Conceição Teme. Tetum, language manual for East Timor. Winston Hills, NSW, Australia: Sebastião Aparício da Silva Project, 2005. Available at: WorldCat.

References[edit | edit source]