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Kedang language
Language in Indonesia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Kédang (Kdang, Dang, Kedangese) is a language spoken in the Kedang region on the north coast of Lembata Island, east of Flores, in Indonesia. The language belongs to the Austronesian family and its sub-family, Malayo-Polynesian.[2] More specifically, the language is within the Flores-Lembata sub-group.[2] There are approximately 30,000 speakers of the language.
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Background
The name of the language is also the name of the region where the language is spoken, Kedang.[3] The region extends to about 266 square kilometres including two administrative districts – Omesuri and Buyasuri.[3] As of today, there are approximately about 30,000 speakers of the language.[2] The majority of the speakers is engaged in agricultural productions which are mainly farming and fishing.[3] Most speakers are Catholic or Muslim but a few may still retain their traditional spiritual beliefs.[4]
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Phonology
Vowels
Kédang has a total of twelve vowels in its language, separated into two sets evenly with six vowels per set.[5] One set is composed of modal vowels or also known as normal vowels while the other set is breathy vowels.[5] The vowels can be distinct by two different methods: by the word initial position and by the pitch. Modal vowels (normal vowels) occur in the middle and the final position while breathy vowels do not.[5] While the breathy vowels are pronounced at a lower pitch.[5][6]
Consonants
There are twenty consonants in the Kédang alphabet.[7] The consonants display different manners of articulation including plosives, nasals, lateral, flap, trill, fricatives and continuant.[7][6]
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Word classes
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Kédang developed its word classes to include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, numerals, prepositions, interjections, conjunctions and classifiers.[8]
Nouns
Nouns are formed when affixes are added to the verbs. Kédang's affixes are the nominalizing prefix N-, the nominalizing infix -an-, the suffix -n and the free form wala.[9]
- The nominalizing prefix N- replaces the initial consonant.[9] For example:
- The nominalizing infix -an- is added after the initial consonant.[10] For example:
- The suffix -n is added to verbs and adjectives at the end of the words.[11] For example:
- The free form wala follows after a verb to indicate the person who is acting out the verb.[11] For examples:
Pronouns
Kédang's pronouns follow the three-way system of singular-dual-plural. They are divided into seven categories: personal, emphatic, possessive, emphatic-possessive, adessive, agent focus and action focus.[12]
Adjectives
Kédang adjectives are divided into two functions: predicative and attributive.[13] In order to distinguish these two functions, a suffix -n is added after the end vowel of a predicative adjective for it to become attributive.[13] If the adjective ends with a consonant, there will be no change.[13]
Verbs
There is only one verb tense in Kédang that is fully developed – future tense.[14] The other tenses usually require an adverb that indicates time (past, present or future) to support the content along with the verb used.[14]
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Notes
References
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