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.
Background
The name of the language is also the name of the region where the language is spoken, Kedang.[3] The region ranges to about 266 square kilometres including two administrative areas – 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]
Phonology
Vowels
Kédang has a total of twelve vowels in its language, separated into two sets evenly with six vowels per set.[4] One set is composed of modal vowels or also known as normal vowels while the other set is breathy vowels.[4] 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.[4] While the breathy vowels are pronounced at a lower pitch.[4]
Consonants
There are twenty consonants in the Kédang alphabet.[5] The consonants display different manners of articulation including plosives, nasals, lateral, flap, trill, fricatives and continuant.[5]
Word classes
Kédang developed its word classes to include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, numerals, prepositions, interjections, conjunctions and classifiers.[6]
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.[7]
- The nominalizing prefix N- replaces the initial consonant.[7] For example:
- The nominalizing infix -an- is added after the initial consonant.[8] For example:
- The suffix -n is added to verbs and adjectives at the end of the words.[9] For example:
- The free form wala follows after a verb to indicate the person who is acting out the verb.[9] 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.[10]
| Personal | Emphatic | Possessive | Emphatic-Possessive | Adessive | Agent Focus | Action Focus | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjective | Objective | Subjective | Objective | ||||||
| Person | |||||||||
| 1st singular | >ei, >eqi | >eqi | ko | koq | koqo | koqi | >eko | eti | èrèg |
| 2nd singular | o | o | mo | moq | moqo | meqi | omo | oti | mèrèq |
| 3rd singular | nuo, ni | nuo | ne | neq | neqe | neqi | nene | neti | nèrèq |
| 1st plural exclusive
(exclude the addressee(s)) |
e, ke | e | ke | keq | keqe | keqi | eke | keti | mèrèq |
| 1st plural inclusive
(include the addressee(s)) |
te | te | te | teq | teqe | teqi | tete | teti | tèrèq |
| 2nd plural | me | me | me | meq | meqe | meqi | meme | meti | mèrèq |
| 3rd plural | suo, se | suo | se | seq | seqe | seqi | sese | seti | sèrèq |
Adjectives
Kédang adjectives are divided into two functions: predicative and attributive.[11] 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.[11] If the adjective ends with a consonant, there will be no change.[11]
| Predicative | Attributive | |
|---|---|---|
| 'wet' | baha | bahan |
| 'alive' | bita | bitan |
| 'sour' | kiru | kirun |
| 'new' | werun | werun |
| 'red' | korong | korong |
| 'shy' | iwiq | iwiq |
Verbs
There is only one verb tense in Kédang that is fully developed – future tense.[12] The other tenses usually require an adverb that indicates time (past, present or future) to support the content along with the verb used.[12]
| Future Tense ('will') | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Plural | ||
| Person | |||
| 1st exclusive
(exclude addressee(s)) |
ena | kena | |
| 1st inclusive
(including addressee(s)) |
tena | ||
| 2nd | ona | mena | |
| 3rd | nena | sena | |
Notes
- ^ Kedang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c "Kedang". Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ a b c Samely 1991, p. 1
- ^ a b c d Samely 1991, p. 11
- ^ a b Samely 1991, p. 36
- ^ Samely 1991, p. 63
- ^ a b c d Samely 1991, p. 65
- ^ a b c Samely 1991, p. 66
- ^ a b c d e f Samely 1991, p. 67
- ^ Samely 1991, p. 68
- ^ a b c Samely 1991, p. 84
- ^ a b Samely 1991, p. 87
References
- Samely, Ursula (1991). Kedang (Eastern Indonesia): some aspects of its grammar. Hamburg: Buske. ISBN 3875480163.
- Samely, Ursula; Barnes, Robert H. (2013). A Dictionary of the Kedang Language: Kedang-Indonesian-English. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004256361.
This page was last edited on 3 August 2023, at 17:29