TETUM

'Tetum' (also 'Tetun') is an Austronesian language, a national language and one of the two official languages of East Timor. Some of its dialects have been greatly influenced by Portuguese, the other official language of the country, especially in their vocabulary, but also in aspects of their grammar.

Contents

History and dialects

Vocabulary

Indigenous

From Portuguese

From Malay

Numerals

Basic phrases

Grammar

Orthography and phonology

Name

Notes

References

See also

External links

History and dialects

Tetum has four dialects:

★ ''Tetun-Dili'', or ''Tetun-Prasa'' (literally "city Tetum"), is spoken in the capital, Dili, and its surroundings, in the north of the country.

★ ''Tetun-Terik'' is spoken in the south and southwestern coastal regions.

★ ''Tetun-Belu'', or the Belunese dialect, is spoken in a central strip of the island of Timor from the Ombai Strait to the Timor Sea, and is split between East Timor and West Timor (where it is considered a ''bahasa daerah'' or "regional language", with no official status in Indonesia).

★ The ''Nana'ek'' dialect is spoken in the village of Metinaro, on the coastal road between Dili and Manatuto.
''Tetun-Belu'' and ''Tetun-Terik'' are not spoken or well understood outside their home territories. ''Tetun-Prasa'' is the form of Tetum that is spoken throughout East Timor. Although Portuguese was the official language of Portuguese Timor until 1975, ''Tetun-Prasa'' has always been the predominant lingua franca in the eastern part of the island.
In the fifteenth century, before the arrival of the Portuguese, Tetum had spread through central and eastern Timor as a contact language under the aegis of the Belunese-speaking Kingdom of Wehali, at that time the most powerful kingdom in the island. The Portuguese (present in Timor from c. 1556) made most of their settlements in the west, where Dawan was spoken, and it was not until 1769, when the capital was moved from Lifau (Oecussi) to Dili that they began to promote Tetum as an inter-regional language in their colony. Timor was one of the few Portuguese colonies where a local language, and not a form of Portuguese, became the lingua franca: this is because Portuguese rule was indirect rather than direct, the Europeans governing through local kings who embraced Catholicism and became vassals of the King of Portugal.^[1]
When Indonesia occupied East Timor in 1975, declaring it "the Republic's 27th Province", the use of Portuguese was banned, and Indonesian was declared the sole official language, but the Roman Catholic Church adopted Tetum as its liturgical language, making it a focus for cultural and national identity.^[2] When East Timor gained its independence in 2002, Tetum and Portuguese were declared as official languages.
In addition to regional varieties of Tetum in East Timor, there are variations in vocabulary and pronunciation, partly due to Portuguese and Indonesian influence. The Tetum spoken by East Timorese migrants in Portugal and Australia is more Portuguese-influenced, as many of those speakers were not educated in Indonesian.

Vocabulary

Indigenous

The Tetum name for East Timor is ''Timor Lorosa'e'', which means "Timor of the rising sun", or, less poetically, "East Timor"; ''lorosa'e'' comes from ''loro'' "sun" and ''sa'e'' "to rise, to go up". The noun for "word" is ''liafuan'', from ''lia'' "voice" and ''fuan'' "fruit". Some more words in Tetum:


★ ''aas'' - "high"

★ ''aat'' - "bad"

★ ''been'' - "water"

★ ''belun'' - "friend"

★ ''boot'' - "big"

★ ''di'ak'' - "good"

★ ''domin'' - "love"

★ ''ema'' - "person, people"

★ ''fatin'' - "place"

★ ''feto'' - "woman"

★ ''foho'' - "mountain"

★ ''fuan'' - "fruit"

★ ''funu'' - "war"

★ ''han'' - "food"

★ ''hemu'' - "drink"

★ ''hotu'' - "all"

★ ''ida'' - "one"

★ ''ki'ik'' - "little"

★ ''kraik'' - "low"

★ ''labarik'' - "child"

★ ''lafaek'' - "crocodile"

★ ''lais'' - "fast"

★ ''lalenok'' - "mirror"

★ ''laran'' - "inside"

★ ''lia'' - "language"

★ ''liafuan'' - "word" (from ''lian'' - voice and ''fuan'' - fruit)

★ ''lian'' - "voice", "language"

★ ''loos'' - "true"

★ ''lulik'' - "sacred"

★ ''mane'' - "man"

★ ''maromak'' - "god"

★ ''moris'' - "life"

★ ''rain'' - "country"

★ ''tasi'' - "sea"

★ ''tebes'' - "very"

★ ''teen'' - "dirt"

★ ''toos'' - "hard"

★ ''uluk'' - "first"

★ ''ulun'' - "head"

From Portuguese

Words derived from Portuguese:

★ ''adeus'' - "goodbye"

★ ''ajuda'' - "help"

★ ''aprende'' - "learn", from ''aprender''

★ ''demais'' - "too much"

★ ''desizaun'' "decision", from ''decisão''

★ ''edukasaun'' "education", from ''educação''

★ ''entaun'' - "so", "well", from ''então''

★ ''eskola'' - "school", from ''escola''

★ ''governu'' - "government", from ''governo''

★ ''igreja'' - "church"

★ ''istória'' - "history", from ''história''

★ ''keiju'' - "cheese", from ''queijo''

★ ''komprende'' - "understand", from ''compreender''

★ ''menus'' - "less", from ''menos''

★ ''obrigadu/a'' "thanks", from ''obrigado/a''

★ ''paun'' - "bread", from ''pão''

★ ''povu'' - "people", from ''povo''

★ ''profesór'' - "teacher", from ''professor''

★ ''relijiaun'' - "religion", from ''religião''

★ ''semana'' - "week"

★ ''serbisu'' - "work", from ''serviço''

★ ''serveja'' - "beer", from ''cerveja''

★ ''tenke'' - "must", from ''tem que''

★ ''xefe'' - "chief", from ''chefe''

From Malay

Words derived from Malay include:

★ ''atus'' - "hundred", from ''ratus''

★ ''barak'' - "much", from ''banyak''

★ ''bele'' - "can", from ''boleh''

★ ''besi'' - "iron", from ''besih''

★ ''malae'' - "foreigner", from ''melayu'' "Malay"

★ ''manas'' - "hot", from ''panas''

★ ''rihun'' - "thousand", from ''ribu''

★ ''sala'' - "wrong", from ''salah''

★ ''tulun'' - "help", from ''tolong''

★ ''uma'' - "house", from ''rumah''

Numerals

★ ''ida'' - "one"

★ ''rua'' - "two"

★ ''tolu'' - "three"

★ ''haat'' - "four"

★ ''lima'' - "five"

★ ''neen'' - "six"

★ ''hitu'' - "seven"

★ ''ualu'' - "eight"

★ ''sia'' - "nine"

★ ''sanulu'' - "ten"

★ ''ruanulu'' - "twenty"
However, Tetum speakers often use Malay/Indonesian or Portuguese numbers instead, such as
''delapan'' or ''oito'' "eight" instead of ''ualu''; especially for numbers over one thousand.

Basic phrases

★ ''Bondia'' - "Good morning" (from Portuguese ''Bom dia'').

★ ''Di'ak ka lae?'' - "How are you?" (literally "Are you well or not?")

★ ''Ha'u di'ak ''- "I'm fine."

★ ''Obrigadu/Obrigada'' - "Thank you", said by a male/female (from Portuguese ''Obrigado/Obrigada'').

★ ''Ita bele ko'alia Tetun?'' - "Do you speak Tetum?"

★ ''Loos'' - "Yes."

★ ''Lae'' - "No."

★ ''Ha'u' [''la''] ''komprende'' - "I [do not] understand" (from Portuguese ''compreender'').

Grammar

In Tetum, there are no genders or verb conjugations, and no articles, so ''feto'' can be translated as "woman", "a woman", or "the woman", depending on the context. There is no verb "to be" as such, although the word ''la'ós'', which translates as "not to be", is used for negation:
:''Timor-oan la'ós Indonézia-oan.''
:"The Timorese are not Indonesians."
:''Lia-indonézia la'ós sira-nia lian.''
:"Indonesian is not their language."
The word ''maka'', which roughly translates as "who is" or "what is", can be used with an adjective for emphasis:
:''Xanana Gusmão maka ita-nia Prezidente.''
:"It is Xanana Gusmão who is our President."
:''João maka gosta serveja.''
:"John is the one who likes beer."
The interrogative is formed by using the word ''ka'' "or" or ''ka lae'' "or not".
:''O bulak ka?'' - "Are you crazy?"
:''O gosta ha'u ka lae?'' - "Don't you like me?"
The plural is not normally used for nouns, although the word ''sira'' "they" can express it, if necessary.
:''fetu'' - "woman/women"
:''fetu sira'' - "women"
However, the plural ending ''-(e)s'' of nouns of Portuguese origin is retained.
:''Estadus Unidus'' - "United States" (from ''Estados Unidos'')
:''Nasoens Unidas'' - "United Nations" (from ''Nações Unidas'')
To turn a noun into an adjective, the particle ''oan'' is added to it.
:''malae'' - "foreigner"
:''malae-oan'' - "foreign"
Thus, "Timorese" is ''Timor-oan'', as opposed to the country of Timor, ''rai-Timor''.
Although inferred from context whenever possible, the past tense can be expressed by placing the adverb ''ona'' "already" at the end of a sentence.
:''Ha'u han'' - "I eat / I ate".
:''Ha'u han etu'' - "I eat rice / I ate rice".
:''Ha'u han etu ona'' - "I ate rice / I've (already) eaten rice".
Like Malay, Tetum has two forms of "we", ''ami'' (equivalent to Malay ''kami'') which is exclusive, e.g. "I and they", and ''ita'' (equivalent to Malay ''kita''), which is inclusive, e.g. "you, I, and they".
:''ami-nia karreta'' "our [family's] car"
:''ita-nia rain'' "our country"
The particle ''nia'' forms the possessive, and can be used in a similar way to 's'' in English, e.g:
::''João 'nia' uma'' - "João''s' house"
::''Cristina 'nia' livru'' - "Cristina''s' book"
The genitive is formed with ''nian'', so that:
:''povu Timór Lorosa'e nian'' - "the people of East Timor"
Verbs are formed by adding the prefix ''ha-'' or ''hak-'' to a noun or adjective:
:''been'' "liquid" → ''habeen'' "to liquify", "to melt"
:''bulak'' "mad" → ''habulak'' "to drive mad"
:''klibur'' "union" → ''haklibur'' "to unite"
:''mahon'' "shade" → ''hamahon'' "to shade", "to cover"
:''manas'' "hot" → ''hamanas'' "to shade", "to heat up"
The prefix ''na(k)-'' turns transitive verbs into passive verbs or adjectives:
:''nabeen'' - "(to be) liquified, melted"
:''nabulak'' - "(to be) driven mad"
:''naklibur'' - "(to be) united"
:''namahon'' - "(to be) shaded, covered"
:''namanas'' - "(to become) heated up"

Orthography and phonology

As Tetum did not have any official recognition or support under either Portuguese or Indonesian rule, it is only recently that a standardised orthography has been established by the National Institute of Linguistics (INL). However, there are still widespread variations in spelling, one example being the word ''bainhira'' or "when", which has also been written as ''bain-hira'', ''wainhira'', ''waihira'', ''uaihira''. The use of "w" or "u" is a reflection of the pronunication in some rural dialects of ''Tetun-Terik''.
The current orthography originates from the spelling reforms undertaken by Fretilin in 1974, when it launched literacy campaigns across East Timor, and also from the system used by the Catholic Church when it adopted Tetum as its liturgical language during the Indonesian occupation. These involved the transcription of many Portuguese words that were formerly written in their original spelling, for example, ''educação'' → ''edukasaun'' "education", and ''colonialismo'' → ''kolonializmu'' "colonialism".
More recent reforms by the INL include the replacement of the digraphs "nh" and "lh" (borrowed from Portuguese, where they stand for the phonemes and ) by "ñ" and "ll", respectively (as in Spanish), to avoid confusion with the consonant clusters and , which also occur in Tetum. Thus, ''senhor'' "sir" became ''señór'', and ''trabalhador'' "worker" became ''traballadór''. Some linguists favoured using "ny" (as in Catalan and Filipino) and "ly" for these sounds, but the latter spellings were rejected for being similar to the Indonesian system. However, most speakers actually pronounce ''ñ'' and ''ll'' as and , respectively, with a semivowel which forms a diphthong with the preceding vowel (but reduced to , after ), not as the palatal consonants of Portuguese and Spanish. Thus, ''señór'', ''traballadór'' are prounounced , , and ''liña'', ''kartilla'' are pronounced , . As a result, some writers use ''il'' and ''in'', for example, ''Juinu'' and ''Juilu'' for June and July (''Junho'' and ''Julho'' in Portuguese).
As well as variations in the transliteration of Portuguese loanwords, there are also variations in the spelling of indigenous words. These include the use of double vowels and the apostrophe for the glottal stop, for example ''boot'' → ''bot'' "large" and ''ki'ik'' → ''kiik'' "small".
The sound , which is not indigenous to Tetum but appears in many loanwords from Portuguese and Malay, often changed to in old Tetum (written "j"): for example, ''meja'' "table" from Portuguese ''mesa'', and ''kemeja'' "shirt" from Portuguese ''camisa''. In modern Tetum, and may occur in free variation. For instance, the Portuguese-derived word ''ezemplu'' "example" is pronounced as by some speakers, and conversely ''Janeiru'' "January" is pronounced as . The sound , also not native to the language, often shifted to , as in ''serbisu'' "work" from Portuguese ''serviço''.

Name

The English spelling "Tetum" is derived from Portuguese, rather than from modern Tetum orthography. Consequently, some people regard "Tetun" as more appropriate.^[3] Although this coincides with the favoured Indonesian spelling, and the spelling with "m" has a longer history in English, "Tetun" has also been used by some native speakers of Tetum, such as José Ramos Horta and Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.
Similar disagreements over nomenclature have emerged regarding the names of other languages, such as Swahili/Kiswahili and Punjabi/Panjabi.

Notes

1. "The languages of East Timor", by Dr. Geoffrey Hull, at the Timorese National Institute of Linguistics
2. "Tetum and Other Languages of East Timor", from Dr. Geoffrey Hull's Preface to ''Mai Kolia Tetun: A Course in Tetum-Praca (The Lingua Franca of East Timor)''
3. A Traveller's Dictionary in Tetun-English and English-Tetun, by Cliff Morris

References

★ National Institute of Linguistics, National University of East Timor includes several bilingual Tetum dictionaries, and articles about Tetum

★ Hull, Geoffrey, ''Standard Tetum-English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed, Allen & Unwin Publishers ISBN 978-1-86508-599-9

★ Official Web Gateway to the Government of Timor-Leste - Religion & Language

★ The standard orthography of the Tetum language (PDF)

★ Colonization, Decolonization and Integration: Language Policies in East Timor, Indonesia, by Nancy Melissa Lutz

★ Current Language Issues in East Timor (Dr. Geoffrey Hull)

See also

★ Languages of East Timor

★ at Wikisource

External links

★ , using Tetum, published in the East Timorese newspaper in Díli (from Wikimedia Commons)

★ Tetun website with sound files

★ Teach yourself Tetum... an interview with some information on the history of Tetum

★ A Traveller's Dictionary in Tetun-English and English-Tetun includes some information on grammar, based on the ''Tetun-Terik'' dialect

★ Ethnologue report for Tetum

★ Sebastião Aparício da Silva Project for the Protection and Promotion of East Timorese Languages

★ ''Suara Timor Lorosae'' Daily newspaper in Tetum and Indonesian

★ ''Jornal Nacional Semanário'' Tetum page