Lian

Timor-Leste iha lian indíjenu/orijinál entre 16 no 20, depende ba oinsá ita halo klasifikasaun ba lian sira-ne’e. Lian balu hanesan Waima’a iha relasaun metin ho dialetu sira hanesan Kairui, Midiki no Naueti. Timor-Leste nia lian sira ita bele fahe tuir família rua: lian Austronézia no lian Pápua (hanesan Bunak, Fataluku, Makasae no Makalero). Lian Pápua sira iha relasaun ho lian sira ne’ebé ema ko’alia iha illa Alor, Pantar to’o Pápua Nova Guinea. ___________________________ In Timor-Leste, current estimates suggest sixteen to nineteen languages are indigenous to East Timor (Hull 2004a, Gordon 2005 respectively). The small difference is due to the different treatment of closely related linguistic varieties as full languages or members of a dialect chain. This pertains mostly to Waima'a and closely related variants, Kairui, Midiki, and Naueti. East Timorese languages fall into two distinct language phyla: most are of Austronesian origin (including Waima'a and the Dili variety of Tetum, the main lingua franca), while a small number (Bunak, Fataluku, Makasae and Makalero) are non‐Austronesian or Papuan and are related to languages spoken to the north on the islands of Alor and Pantar as well as New Guinea further to the east.

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