Makasae language

Makasae (also known as Makassai, Macassai, Ma'asae, Makasai) is a Papuan language spoken by about 100,000 people in the eastern part of East Timor, in the districts of Baucau and Viqueque, just to the west of Fataluku. It is the most widely spoken Papuan language west of New Guinea.

Phonology

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

Consonants

Native consonant phonemes are shown in the chart below for the Ossu dialect. Borrowed consonants are enclosed in parentheses.

Consonant phonemes

	Labial		Alveolar		Velar		Glottal
Plosive		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Fricative	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link				Template:IPA link
Nasal		Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Lateral				Template:IPA link
Trill				Template:IPA link

Vowels

Monophthongs

Makasae has five vowel phonemes.

Monophthong phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)		Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)
Mid	Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)		Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)
Open		Template:IPA link (Template:IPA link)

Further reading

• Huber, Juliette (2008). First steps towards a grammar of Makasae: a language of East Timor. LINCOM
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External links

• Makasai at The Language Archive