Bunak
Encyclopedia
The Bunak are an ethnic group that live in the mountainous region of central Timor
, split between the political boundary between West Timor
, Indonesia
, particularly in Lamaknen District and East Timor
. Their language, Bunak language
, is one of the few on Timor which is not an Austronesian language, but rather a Papuan language like groups on New Guinea
. It is usually put in the proposed language group Trans–New Guinea. They are surrounded by groups which speak Malayo-Polynesian languages
, like the Atoni
and the Tetum.
According to Languages of the World (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977), there were about 100,000 speakers of the language, split evenly between the two nations.
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...
, split between the political boundary between West Timor
West Timor
West Timor is the western and Indonesian portion of the island of Timor and part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara, .During the colonial period it was known as "Dutch Timor" and was a centre of Dutch loyalists during the Indonesian National Revolution...
, 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...
, particularly in Lamaknen District and 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...
. Their language, Bunak language
Bunak language
The Bunak language is the language of the Bunak people of the mountainous region of central Timor, split between the political boundary between West Timor, Indonesia, particularly in Lamaknen District and East Timor...
, is one of the few on Timor which is not an Austronesian language, but rather a Papuan language like groups on New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
. It is usually put in the proposed language group Trans–New Guinea. They are surrounded by groups which speak Malayo-Polynesian languages
Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
, like the Atoni
Atoni
The Atoni are an ethnic group on Timor, in Indonesian West Timor and the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno. They number around 600,000. Their language is Uab Meto....
and the Tetum.
According to Languages of the World (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977), there were about 100,000 speakers of the language, split evenly between the two nations.