Wetarese
Encyclopedia
Wetar
The tropical island of Wetar belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Barat Daya Islands . It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which include nearby Alor and Timor, but it is politically part of the Maluku Islands...
, an island in the south Maluku, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, as well as the nearby islands Liran
Liran
Liran Island is a small island off the southwest coast of Wetar Island, Indonesia. 12 km to the southwest is the East Timorese island Atauro. Liran is the westernmost of the Barat Daya Islands in the province of Maluku.Liran is surrounded by coral reefs....
and Atauro, the latter belonging to East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
.
On Atauro, there are three dialects of Wetarese spoken, Rahesuk in the north, Resuk in the southeast, and Raklungu in the southwest. A fourth dialect, Dadu'a, is spoken by the descendants of a group of Ataurans who moved to Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, in the villages of Manatuto
Manatuto (district)
Manatuto is one of the districts of East Timor, located in the central part of the country. It reaches both the south and north coasts of the island, and is only one of two districts to do so . To the north is the Strait of Wetar, to the south is the Timor Sea...
.
The language is closely related to Galoli
Galoli
Galoli is an ethnic group in East Timor with a population of about 50,000, primarily along the northern coast of the district of Manatuto. To the west lies the Mambai ethnic group...
, spoken on Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
on the north coast near Atauro. However, Wetarese has been more influenced by Malay.