Makalero

Makalero
Native to	East Timor
Region	Timor Island, eastern end around Baucau and inland, west of Fataluku, from northern to southern coast in a dialect chain.
Native speakers	8,000 (2017)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea ? West Bomberai ? Timor–Alor–Pantar Eastern Timor Makalero
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mjb
Glottolog	makl1245
Distribution of Makalero mother-tongue speakers in East Timor
Coordinates: 8°39′S 126°30′E

Makalero or Maklere is a Papuan language spoken in the Lautém district of East Timor. It was previously considered to be a dialect of Makasae, but is nowadays seen as a separate language, both by its speakers and linguists.

Phonology

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

Consonants

Makalero has 11 native consonant phonemes.

Consonant phonemes

	Labial		Alveolar		Post-alveolar		Velar		Glottal
Plosive	p		t		d		k		ʔ
Fricative	f		s
Nasal		m		n
Trill				r
Lateral approximant				l

Vowels

Monophthongs

Makalero has five vowel phonemes. Most long vowels occur in predictable contexts; thus Huber argues long vowels are marginal phonemes at best.

Monophthong phonemes

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

Syllables are commonly CV; some are CVC. Epenthetic vowels are often inserted between series of two consonants, and echo vowels are often added to the end of phonological phrases.

Numerals

• unu - One
• loloi - Two
• lolitu - Three
• faata - Four
• lima - Five
• douhu - Six
• fitu - Seven
• afo - Eight
• siwa - Nine
• ruru-u - Ten
• ruu resi nu - Eleven
• ruu resi loloi - Twelve
• ruu resi lolitu - Thirteen
• ruu resi faata - Fourteen
• ruu resi lima - Fifteen

External links

• Makasai at The Language Archive

Further reading

• Huber, Juliette (2011). A grammar of Makalero - A Papuan language of East Timor. LOT Utrecht