Atauran language


Atauran is an Austronesian language spoken on Atauro island and in Manatuto Municipality, East Timor. It is closely related to Wetarese and Galoli.

Dialects

Atauran has three main dialects spoken on Atauro:
  • Rasua in the sucos Beloi and Biqueli.
  • Raklungu in the suco Macadade.
  • Hresuk in the suco Maquili.
A fourth variety, Dadu'a, is spoken in Manatuto Municipality on the East Timorese mainland. It is somewhat divergent from the Atauro varieties and has undergone strong influence from Galoli.

"language"

The Raklungu dialect of Atauran, or Kluun Hahan Adabe, was mistaken for a Papuan language by Antonio de Almeida and reported as "Adabe" in Wurm & Hattori. Many subsequent sources propagated this error, showing a Papuan language on Atauro Island. Geoffrey Hull, director of research for the Instituto Nacional de Linguística in East Timor, describes only Wetar varieties being spoken on Ataúro Island, and was unable to find any evidence of a non-Austronesian language there.