Kemak is a language spoken in East Timor and in the border region of Indonesian West Timor. An alternate name is Ema. It is most closely related to Tocodede and Mambai. It has the status of one of the national languages in the East Timor constitution, besides the official languages of Portuguese and Tetum. The number of speakers has fallen in recent years.
| Kemak | |
|---|---|
| Region | East Timor |
| Ethnicity | Kemak |
Native speakers | 72,000 (2010 census)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kem |
| Glottolog | kema1243 |
| ELP | Kemak |
 Distribution of Kemak mother-tongue speakers in East Timor | |
Phonology
edit| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n̪ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | h | ||
| voiced | (z) | ||||
| Rhotic | ɾ | ||||
| Lateral | l | ||||
- Sounds /b, ɡ/ can be heard as [β, ɣ] when in intervocalic position.
- /t/ can have an allophone of [tsʰ] freely in initial position, and [tʃʰ] when before /i/.
- /s/ can be heard as [z] when in voicing assimilation, and as [tʃʰ] when preceded by /n̪/.
- /t, k/ have aspirated allophones of [kʰ, tʰ].
- /ɡ, h/ are heard as [ɡʷ, ɸ] when before /u/.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
- /e, a/ can be heard as [ɪ, ɤ] when preceding or following /u/ within a syllable.
- /o, u/ can be heard as [ɔ, ɯ] when after labial consonants.[2]
References
edit- ^ Kemak at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Kupchik, John (2005). The phonetics and phonology of Kemak, an Austronesian language of East Timor. University of Hawai’i at Mānoa.
External links
edit- Kaipuleohone's collection of Robert Blust's materials include notes on Kemak
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