Alorese
Encyclopedia
Alorese is an Austronesian language spoken on Alor and the neighboring islands of the Alor archipelago
Alor Archipelago
The Alor Archipelago is located at the easternmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands.Alor is the largest island in the archipelago which is located at its eastern end. Other islands in the archipelago include Pantar, Kepa, Buaya, Ternate , Pura and Tereweng...

 in eastern Indonesia. It is not to be confused with non-Austronesian (Papuan
Papuan languages
The Papuan languages are those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The term does not presuppose a genetic relationship. The concept of Papuan peoples as distinct from Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892.-The...

) languages of the Alor–Pantar family which are also spoken in this region. It is also distinct from Alor Malay, a Malay variety which is currently supplanting Alorese as the language of wider communication in the region. Alorese is the native language of several immigrant communities located along the coast of the Alor archipelago, especially at Alor Kecil on Alor and at Baranusa and Marica on Pantar. It has also been used extensively as a trade language in the region.

Primary linguistic research is severely lacking:


"The scope of this language and its internal variation are unknown. The speakers of Alor are oriented towards Lembata
Lembata
Lembata is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, formerly known as Lomblen island, is the largest island of the Solor Archipelago, in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. It forms part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur. The length of the island is about 80 km from the Southwest to the...

 and Adonara
Adonara
Adonara is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, located east of the larger island of Flores in the Solor Archipelago. To the east lies Lembata, formerly known as Lomblen. It is the highest of the islands of the archipelago, reaching an altitude of 1,659 metres, and it has an area of...

, and are bilingual in Lamaholot
Lamaholot
The Lamahalot are a traditional tribe located on Flores Island, Indonesia, and some smaller islands around it . Lamaholot people speak the Lamaholot language with different dialects, the number of speakers counts between 150,000 and 200,000...

as a language of wider communication. Alor is not mutually intelligible with Adonara or languages of Lembata. Because of their bilingualism, 'Alor' was formerly listed in much literature as a 'dialect' of Lamaholot." (Grimes et al 1997:57)
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