UH Documentation Project

Kemak

I am Matias Gomes, a student of Second Language Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. I am a native speaker of Kemak Atsabe, spoken in Ermera district, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor. In addition, I also speak Mambae, Tetum, Indonesian, and English. Tetum is one of official languages of East Timor and has the largest number of speakers (80%) among the languages spoken in East Timor. Mambae is spoken in in Ermera, Aileu, Same, and Ainaro districts. Indonesian is a former controlling language. My project is to document Kemak 300 basic vocabulary. In East Timor, Kemak is spoken along the central part of East Timor from Atsabe further to northwest in Bobonaro, Kailaku, Atabae and Maliana district at borders with Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia (see Figure 1). It is also spoken in eastern part of Atambua district of Indonesian West Timor. According to some records they migrated from Atsabe to Atambua during WW2 in 1942-1945 when Japanese troops landed in East Timor. The language belongs to the Austronesian family and is closely related to Tetum, Mambae and Tokodede. There is a huge dialectal variation mainly in pronunciation, and some lexical difference. There is little documentation of this language and nothing is written in Kemak. It has about over 80,000 speakers. Table 1 provides 300 basic vocabulary following Robert Blust’s basic vocabulary list for Austronesian languages and sound files for the first 10 words. Table 2 and 3 are consonant and vowel phoneme chart of Kemak Atadame based on our analysis.

For questions and comments please write to matiasg@hawaii.edu and rhattori@hawaii.edu.

Figure 1. Map of East Timor.

Table1. Kemak Atadame 300 basic vocabulary accompanied by soundfiles for the first 10 words.

(following Robert Blust’s 300 basic vocabulary)

Number	English	Spelling	Note
1.	head	garara
2.	hair	uluru
3.	ear	ligara
4.	nose	iluru
5.	tongue	lamara
6.	tooth	nipara
7.	eye	matara
8.	mouth	iboro
9.	beard	iborohulu
10.	chin	pa’uru
11.	shoulder	dapere
12.	upper arm	bosure
13.	hand	limara
14.	thumb	limara ina
15.	neck	kororo
16.	breasts	huaramata, susuru
17.	rib	huaramata rui
18.	belly	ba’iri
19.	guts	ter bote
20.	heart	huara
21.	liver	atere
22.	navel	pulasara
23.	kidney	bulara
24.	body hair	loloro hulu
25.	penis	lasara , loloro ina
26.	testicles	lasara hua
27.	vulva	puiri, abere luli
28.	back	mogoro
29.	right hand	limara biti
30.	left hand	limara to’i
31.	lungs	goporo
32.	excrement	teere
33.	vein	nanaa
34.	thigh	paara
35.	knee	tururu
36.	leg	oere
37.	ankle	oere tuba
38.	heel	oerelau
39.	foot	oere
40.	blood	raara
41.	bone	ruiri
42.	skin	lutiri
43.	sore	sabati
44.	fat	bo’uru
45.	sweat	honuru
46.	tears	luurubia
47.	father	amara
48.	mother	inara
49.	child	anamugu
50.	man	mane
51.	woman	hine
52.	husband	lairi
53.	name	galara
54.	person	atamasa
55.	wife	heere
56.	uncle	na’iri
57.	singsing	tei
58.	house	uma
59.	club house?	uma toe	to be defined
60.	door, pathways	salasole
61.	story	tata
62.	pig	ahi
63.	tusk	nugu
64.	centipede	smaitalii
65.	crayfish	ugara
66.	dog	asu
67.	louse	utu
68.	fly	lala
69.	snake	nipe
70.	egg	manutelo
71.	bird	manuhui
72.	animal	sanuplao
73.	mosquito	namo
74.	fish	ika
75.	squid	gurita (loan)	Tetum
76.	rat	laho
77.	shark	ika hiu	Ety-Indo
78.	whale	kelembeli
79.	stingray	ika pari	Ety-Indo
80.	butterfly	lakabuta
81.	wing	lilapa
82.	ant	ha, merekiti
83.	scorpion	sukari
84.	dolphin	ika lumba-lumba	Ety-Indo
85.	grasshopper	lamata
86.	sea-snake	nipe tasii
87.	tail	hi’o
88.	turtle	lenuk (loan)
89.	spider web	lagaloe
90.	feather	manuhulu
91.	meat	sii
92.	yam	maale
93.	tamarin	male
94.	taro	ute
95.	sugar cane	tehu
96.	sago	buta
97.	tree	ai
98.	leaf	ai tahaa
99.	dry coconut	nua matee
100.	coconut palm	nua tahaa
101.	banana	mu
102.	breadfruit	kulu	loan
103.	jackfruit	naka
104.	black palm	tua meta
105.	sandalwood	aimigii
106.	flower	ai hetuu
107.	fruit	ai huaa
108.	grass	suutu
109.	root	ha’a
110.	woods	ai
111.	sun	lelo
112.	moon	hula
113.	star	hitu
114.	cloud	taho
115.	water	bia
116.	lie	biaa
117.	plate	bi’a
118.	rain	usa
119.	river	holaa
120.	sand	erogo
121.	stone	atu
122.	salt	usu mere, sia
123.	one	sia
124.	mountain	oholau, raelau
125.	fire	api
126.	matches	apirose, apikose
127.	smoke	apimasu
128.	ashes	api rapoo
129.	road	sala, dambata, luro
130.	wind	agi
131.	lightning	bira
132.	rainbow	magarlelo
133.	earth	rae
134.	earthquake	rurai
135.	fog	taho plao
136.	lake	bialihu bote
137.	sea	tasi
138.	seed	hini
139.	sky	lelo lau,
140.	stick	ai te’o
141.	firewood	ai dosoo, aimate
142.	mud	tapo
143.	wave	tasi taa	to be defined
144.	foam	abara hulaa
145.	anchor	ro talii
146.	dust	rapo
147.	rope	tali
148.	bow	rama inaa
149.	arrow	rama isii
150.	knife	ni’iri
151.	axe	ta
152.	digging stick	besi
153.	brave	besi, brani
154.	hook	kail (loan)
155.	spear	blaki
156.	fight?	tau araga
157.	black	metama
158.	white	buti
159.	red	miaka
160.	yellow	mege
161.	green	mosoko
162.	blind	matara klao
163.	deaf	ligara baka
164.	big	bote
165.	small	loba
166.	good	moloi
167.	bad	sokoo, maraga, klao
168.	cooked	mamii
169.	dead	mate
170.	dry	malaa
171.	wet	biaa, gloe
172.	lazy	marai
173.	heavy	mededa
174.	light	lelee
175.	sick	baraga
176.	cold	manasu
177.	dirty	ri’i
178.	foundation	rii
179.	dull	garara atu
180.	long	manaru
181.	narrow	ketuu
182.	new	heu
183.	old	amigii
184.	right	losoo
185.	rotten	dodoko, busu
186.	sharp	hatii
187.	short	betekee
188.	smooth	bologo
189.	straight	losoo
190.	thick	homogo
191.	thin	hidire
192.	wide	mulua
193.	two	rua
194.	three	telu
195.	four	paata
196.	five	lima
197.	six	neeme
198.	seven	itu
199.	eight	balu
200.	nine	sibe
201.	ten	sapulu
202.	few	anakaa
203.	other	beraa, so’i
204.	some	ba, serii
205.	who	basia
206.	what	sapa sia
207.	when	bai pila
208.	how many	Pila
209.	where	po naba, poba
210.	work	sirbisu (loan)	loan
211.	warm	mamutu
212.	yesterday	na’arua
213.	tomorrow	buso, matamai
214.	night	dodaga
215.	year	tonaa
216.	day	halaa
217.	I	au
218.	my, mine	auu
219.	you, thou	o
220.	you, yours	oo
221.	he, she	ua
222.	bamboo	ua
223.	we	ita
224.	our, ours	itaa
225.	you (pl)	imi
226.	yours	imii
227.	they	roma
228.	theirs	roma sira
229.	give	ne
230.	hit	betu
231.	see	eto
232.	bite	aata
233.	itch	ataa
234.	slave, servant	ata
235.	hear