Sikka language

The Sikka language or Sikkanese, also known as Sika, is spoken by around 180,000 people of the Sikka ethnic group on Flores island in East [Nusa Tenggara] province, Indonesia. It is a member of the Central Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.
Sikka is notable for being one of the few languages which contain a non-allophonic labiodental flap. Like many other languages in eastern Indonesia, it shows evidence of having a Papuan substratum, but in the case of Sika, this includes extreme morphological simplification and about 20% lexical replacement in basic vocabulary. It has been hypothesized that the Austronesian languages in that area could be descendants of a creole language, resulting from the intrusion of Austronesian languages into eastern Indonesia.
Sika has at least three recognized dialects:Sikka Natar, which is generally perceived in the region to be the most refined and most prestigious of the Sika speech varieties.Sara Krowe, spoken in the central hills of Sika-speaking people.Ata Tana 'Ai or Sara Tana 'Ai, used by both outsiders and insiders to refer to the people and language of the region; it is also used as a ritual language.

Phonology

Sika has the following consonant phonemes:

Sika has the following vowel phonemes: