Mambae, also called Mambai or Manbae, is a language spoken by the Mambai people, the second largest ethnic group in the island country of East Timor.
Geographic distribution Mambae is one of 15 constitutionally recognized national languages. The main centers of Mambai are Ermera, Aileu, Remexio, Turiscai, Maubisse Administrative Post, Ainaro Administrative Post and Same Administrative Post. The majority of the Timorese community in Australia is native in Mambai.
Mambae used to be spoken in the area around Dili, when the Portuguese declared the city to be the capital of their colony Portuguese Timor. Therefore, the Tetum Prasa spoken in Dili is still exhibiting strong influences from its Mambai substrate.
Phonology Consonants LabialAlveolarVelarGlottalNasalPlosivevoicelessvoicedFricativeTrillApproximant
can also be heard as . can also be heard as aspirated . is also heard as a voiced post-alveolar stop . is slightly aspirated before mid and low vowels. can also have an allophone when preceding high vowels. The plosives are unreleased in word-final position.
Vowels FrontCentral Back CloseClose-midOpen-midOpen
can also have shortened allophones .
+DiphthongsFrontCentralCloseaiauMideiaeao
Dialects Mambae can be divided into three dialects according to Fogaça (2017): Northwest Liquiça: Bazartete Ermera: Hatulia Ermera: Railaco
Northeast-Central Aileu: Laulara Aileu: Vila Grupo Aileu: Liquidoe Ainaro: Hatu-Builico
South Ainaro: Hato-Udo Manufahi-Same: Letefoho Manufahi-Same: Betano
Examples of dialectal variation in Mambae:
+Numerals Numeral Northeast-Central Northwest South 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 40 50
+Pronouns Pronoun Northeast-Central Northwest South 1.SG 2.SG 3.SG 1.PL, inclusive 1.PL, exclusive 2.PL 3.PL
+Lexicon Gloss Northeast-Central Northwest South 'house' 'short' 'wet' 'dirty' 'many' 'lie (fib)' 'eat' 'banana'
Comparison of selected body part words in Mambae dialects:
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Liquiça (Bazartete) !! Ermera (Hatulia) !! Ermera (Railaco) !! Aileu (Laulara) !! Aileu (Vila Grupo) !! Aileu (Liquidoe) !! Ainaro (Hatu-Builico) !! Ainaro (Hato-Udo) !! Manufahi-Same (Letefoho) !! Manufahi-Same (Betano) |- | mouth || || || || || || || || || || |- | arm || || || || || || || || || || |- | elbow || || || || || || || || || || |- | shoulder || || || || || || || || || || |- | head || || || || || || || || || || |- | headache || || || || || || || || || || |- | hair || || || || || || || || || || |- | black hair || || || || || || || || || || |- | flesh (human) || || || || || || || || || || |- | heart || || || || || || || || || || |- | back || || || || || || || || || || |- | tooth || || || || || || || || || || |- | finger || || || || || || || || || || |- | liver || || || || || || || || || || |- | tongue || || || || || || || || || || |- | hand || || || || || || || || || || |- | nose || || || || || || || || || || |- | eye || || || || || || || || || || |- | ear || || || || || || || || || || |- | bone || || || || || || || || || || |- | foot || || || || || || || || || || |- | skin || || || || || || || || || || |- | leg || || || || || || || || || || |- | neck || || || || || || || || || || |- | blood || || || || || || || || || ||
References
Further reading Geoffrey Hull, Celestino de Araújo, and Benjamim de Araújo e Corte-Real, Mambai Language Manual: Ainaro dialect, Sebastião Aparício da Silva Project, 2001. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald and Robert M. W. Dixon (eds), Grammars in contact: a cross-linguistic typology, Oxford University Press, 2006, Chapter 6.
External links John 8,1-11 in Mambai Kaipuleohone's materials include Robert Blust's written notes on Mambai