Makasae language

Makasae (also known as Makassai, Macassai, Ma'asae, Makasai) is a Papuan language spoken by about 100,000 people in the eastern part of East Timor, in the districts of Baucau and Viqueque, just to the west of Fataluku. It is the most widely spoken Papuan language west of New Guinea.

Makasae
Native toEast Timor
RegionTimor Island, eastern end around Baucau and inland, west of Fataluku, from northern to southern coast in a dialect chain.
Native speakers
102,000 (2010 census)[1]
Dialects
  • Sa'ane
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3mkz
Glottologmaka1316
Distribution of Makasae mother-tongue speakers in East Timor
Distribution of Makalero

Distribution of Sa'ane
Coordinates: 8°39′S 126°30′E

Phonology

The data in this section are from Huber (2017).[2]

Consonants

Native consonant phonemes are shown in the chart below for the Ossu dialect. Borrowed consonants are enclosed in parentheses.

Consonant phonemes
  Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Plosive  b td kg ʔ 
Fricative f  s     h 
Nasal  m  n      
Lateral     l      
Trill     r      

Monophthongs

Makasae has five vowel phonemes.

Monophthong phonemes
  Front Central Back
Close i (i:)   u (u:)
Mid e (e:)   o (o:)
Open   a (a:)  

References
  1. Makasae at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Huber, Juliette (2017). "Makalero and Makasae". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 2. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 267–351.

Further reading
  • Huber, Juliette (2008). First steps towards a grammar of Makasae: a language of East Timor. LINCOM
  • Correia, Aderito (2011). Describing Makasae: a trans-New Guinea language of East Timor (Ph.D. thesis). University of Western Sydney.
  • Fogaça, Jessé Silveira (2011). Fonética e fonologia da língua Makasae [Phonetics and phonology of the Makasae language] (Master's thesis) (in Portuguese). University of Brasília.
  • Fogaça, Jessé Silveira (2015). Aspectos gramaticais da língua makasae de timor-leste : fonologia, morfologia e sintaxe [Grammar aspects of the East Timorese Makasae language: phonology, morphology and syntax] (Doctor's thesis) (in Portuguese). University of Brasília. doi:10.26512/2015.11.T.20168.
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