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Oirata
Native to Indonesia
Region Maluku Islands ( Kisar, Ambon)
Native speakers
(1,200 cited 1987) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 oia
Glottolog oira1263
ELP Oirata

Oirata or Woirata (also known as Maaro) is a Timor–Alor–Pantar language spoken on the island of Kisar in Indonesia, and by some people in Ambon. Ethnologue reports an SIL figure of 1,200 speakers from 1987. [1] It is closely related to Fataluku, of which it is sometimes considered to be a dialect.

Phonology

Vowels

Oirata has five vowels: [2]

Oirata vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Close-mid e o
Open a

Consonants

Oirata has 13 consonants: [2]

Oirata consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t ʔ
voiced d
Fricative voiceless f h
voiced v
Nasal m n
Approximant w l j
Trill r

References

  1. ^ a b Oirata at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b Mandala, Halus; Meko Mbete, Aaron; Dhanawaty, Ni Made; Fernandez, Inyo Yos (2011). "Phonological Evolution of Oirata and its Genetic Relationship with Other Non-Austronesian Languages in Timor-Leste". e-Journal of Linguistics. 5 (2).

External links