Waimoa language
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| Waimoa | |
|---|---|
| Region | Northeast East Timor |
Native speakers | 33,000 (2010 & 2012 censuses)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Either: wmh – Waimoa krd – Kairui-Midiki |
Languages on Timor island
Waimoa or Waima'a is a spoken by about 3,000 people in northeast East Timor. Waimoa proper is reported to be mutually intelligible with neighboring Kairui and Midiki, with 5,000 speakers total.
The classification of Waimoa is unclear. Structurally, it is Malayo-Polynesian. However, its vocabulary is largely Papuan, similar to that of Makasae.
Phonology
Waimoa is one of only two (possibly) Austronesian languages reported to have a set of ejective stops, the other being Yapese:
| Bilabial | Coronal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voiceless unaspirated | p | t | k | ʔ |
| Voiceless aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |
| Voiceless ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʼ | |
| Voiced plain | b | d | ɡ |
However, these sounds have also been described as post-glottalized.
See also
- Kawaimina
References
- ↑ Waimoa reference at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
Kairui-Midiki reference at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- Hajek, John; Bowden, John (June 2002). "A Phonological Oddity in the Austronesian Area: Ejectives in Waimoa". Oceanic Linguistics 41 (1): 222–224. doi:10.1353/ol.2002.0021.
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