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The Oirata language
The Oirata language spoken on the small Indonesian island of Kisar (to the north of Timor)
is closely related to Fataluku. Many words are very similar, for example:
| Oirata | Fataluku | English | sound correspondence |
| koune | koune | dark | |
| ima | ima | make love | |
| hala | pala | garden | h ~ p |
| ahi | api | fish | |
| panu | fanu | face | p ~ f |
| lapai | lafai | big | |
| dele | cele | maize | d ~ c |
| ederemu | eceremu | think | |
You can listen to a recording of a text transcribed by de Josselin de Jong (1937: 70-73),
as read by a speaker from Kisar in 1996.
Reference:
J.P.B. de Josselin de Jong (1937),
Studies in Indonesian culture I: Oirata, a Timorese settlement on Kisar,
Amsterdam: Noord-Hollandsche Uitgeversmij.
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