Austronesian language spoken on the island of Timor
Tetum
Portuguese: Tétum
Tetun
Native to
Indonesia East Timor
Native speakers
500,000, mostly in Indonesia (2010–2011)[1]
Language family
Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Central–Eastern
Timor–Babar
Tetumic
Tetum
Dialects
Belunese (Tetun Belu)
Terik (Tetun Terik)
Official status
Official language in
East Timor
Recognised minority language in
Indonesia (East Nusa Tenggara)
Language codes
ISO 639-2
tet
ISO 639-3
tet
Glottolog
tetu1245
Distribution in East Timor of Tetum Belu (west) and Tetum Terik (southeast). The majority of Tetun speakers, who live in West Timor, are not shown.
Tetun Dili
Tetun Prasa Portuguese: Tétum Praça
Tetun Dili, Tetun Prasa
Native to
East Timor
Native speakers
390,000 (2009)[1] L2: 570,000 in East Timor[2]
Language family
Austronesian
Malayo-Polynesian
Central–Eastern
Timor–Babar
Tetumic
Tetun Dili
Dialects
Belunese (Tetun Belu)
Terik (Tetun Terik)
Writing system
Latin (Tetum alphabet)
Official status
Official language in
East Timor
Regulated by
National Institute of Linguistics
Language codes
ISO 639-3
tdt
Glottolog
tetu1246
Distribution of Tetum Prasa mother-tongue speakers in East Timor
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Tetum (Tetun[ˈt̪et̪un̪]; Indonesian: Bahasa Tetun; Portuguese: Tétum[ˈtɛtũ])[3] is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Timor. It is one of the official languages of Timor-Leste and it is also spoken in Belu Regency and in Indonesian West Timor.
There are two main forms of Tetum as a language:
Tetum Terik, which is a more indigenous form of Tetum marked by different word choice, less foreign influence and other characteristics such as verb conjugation
Tetum/n Prasa ('market Tetum', from the Portuguese word praça meaning 'town square') or Tetum/n Dili (given its widespread usage in the capital Dili). This is the form of Tetum (heavily influenced by Portuguese) that developed in Dili during colonial rule as local Tetum speakers came into contact with Portuguese missionaries, traders and colonial rulers. In East Timor, Tetun Dili is widely spoken fluently as a second language.
Ethnologue classifies Tetun Terik as a dialect of Tetun.[1] However, without previous contact, Tetun Dili is not immediately mutually intelligible,[4] mainly because of the large number of Portuguese origin words used in Tetun Dili.[citation needed] Besides some grammatical simplification, Tetun Dili has been greatly influenced by the vocabulary and to a small extent by the grammar of Portuguese, the other official language of East Timor.
^ abcTetum at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^"Table 14: Second language/dialect by sex for the population over four years of age". Timor-Leste Population and Housing Census 2015. Timor-Leste Ministry of Finance.
^Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Tetum (Tetun [ˈt̪et̪un̪]; Indonesian: Bahasa Tetun; Portuguese: Tétum [ˈtɛtũ]) is an Austronesian language spoken on the island of Timor. It is one of...
constitution as one of the two working languages (the other being English), alongside the official languages of Tetum and Portuguese. It is understood by...
The Tetum alphabet is used to write Tetum. It is based on the Latin alphabet and contains 24 letters: The letters are named: á, bé, dé, é, efe, ge, agá...
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...
and the Tetum of central and eastern Timor. Most indigenous Timorese languages belong to the Timor–Babar branch of the Austronesian languages spoken throughout...
half a million speakers, though in addition Tetum is an official language and a lingua franca among non-Tetum East Timorese. Geoffrey Hull (1998) proposes...
Portuguese is an official language. Angola Brazil (see Brazilian Portuguese) Cape Verde Timor-Leste (co-official with Tetum; 51,800 L1 speakers as of...
(Portuguese: Primeiro-Ministro da República Democrática de Timor-Leste; Tetum: Primeiru-Ministru Republika Demokratika Timor-Leste), is the head of government...
Timor (Portuguese: Presidente da República Democrática de Timor-Leste; Tetum: Prezidente Republika Demokratika Timor-Leste) is the head of state of the...
the two official languages of Portuguese and Tetum. High ethnic and linguistic diversity is reflected by the 30 indigenous languages spoken in the country...
East Timor is divided into 14 municipalities (Portuguese: municípios, Tetum: munisípiu), which are former districts. One municipality is also a Special...
of Indonesia. They are close to the Tetum people.[clarification needed] The Kemak people speak the Kemak language. They are one of the smallest of the...
Dusun Tangara, is a dialect of the Central Dusun as well as a minority language primarily spoken in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the primary dialect spoken by...
along the western Pacific Ocean and eastern Indian Ocean. Many European languages have analogous terms, such as the French (Extrême-Orient), Spanish (Extremo...
Viqueque (Portuguese: Município Viqueque, Tetum: Munisípiu Vikeke) is the largest of the municipalities (formerly districts) of East Timor. It has a population...
Oecusse, also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (Portuguese: Oé-Cusse Ambeno; Tetum: Oecussi Ambeno) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative...
lost in competition with the local language after becoming a Dutch colony in 18th century. The local Tetumlanguage has been heavily influenced by Portuguese...
local Tetum and Galoli language word Manatutu, which means 'pecking birds'. According to another source, the word is a portmanteau of the Tetum words...
Baucau (Portuguese: Município Baucau, Tetum: Munisípiu Baukau) is a municipality, and was formerly a district, of East Timor, on the northern coast in...
Papuan language, of which Bunak is an example, was spoken in the Dili area before the spread of the Austronesian-based Mambai and Tetumlanguages. Another...
name of the municipality, Manufahi, is derived from Maun Fahe, the Tetumlanguage expression for 'divided brothers'. The name originated in a legend that...
centavo coins Centavo de Timor-Leste (Portuguese) Doit Timór-Leste nian (Tetum) Several East Timorese coins. Denominations Superunit 100 United States...
Pali, ಸೀರೆ or sīre in Kannada and which evolved to sāṛī in modern Indian languages. The word śāṭika is mentioned as describing women's dharmic attire in...
Sea (or the Sawu Sea) (Indonesian: Laut Sawu, Portuguese: Mar de Savu, Tetum: Tasi Savu) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu...
IX Constitutional Government (Portuguese: VIII Governo Constitucional, Tetum: VIII Governu Konstitusionál) is the ninth and incumbent Constitutional...
four different translations into Tetum, the other official language, published by State institutions. Some of the Tetum translations have gross mistakes...
Global Information
East Timor
Indonesia (East Nusa Tenggara)
