Languages of East Timor

The languages of East Timor include both Austronesian and Papuan languages. (See Timor–Flores languages and West Trans–New Guinea languages.) The lingua franca and national language of East Timor is Tetum, an Austronesian language influenced by Portuguese, with which it has equal status as an official language. The language of the Ocussi exclave is Uab Meto. Fataluku, a Papuan language widely used in the eastern part of the country (often more so than Tetum) has official recognition under the constitution, as do other indigenous languages, including: Bekais, Bunak, Dawan, Fataluku, Galoli, Habun, Idalaka, Kawaimina, Kemak, Lovaia, Makalero, Mambai, Tokodede and Wetarese.

The rise of lingua francas in the linguistically diverse East Timor, and the domination of several clans over others, have led to the extinction of many smaller languages. However, some of these are still in use as ritual languages or cants. Research done in the mid-2000s by the Dutch/Timorese linguist Aone van Engelenhoven, for example, revealed that the Makuva language, formerly spoken by the Makuva tribe but believed to have been extinct since the 1950s, was still used occasionally. In 2007, Van Engelenhoven discovered the existence of another language that was essentially extinct, called Rusenu.