Dawan (Uab Meto): The tongue of the Atoni Pah Metô

By Yohanes Manhitu

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Dawan (Uab Meto) is an Austronesian language spoken by about 600,000 people mainly in the western part of Timor Island, including the enclave of Oecusse (Oekusi) that belongs to East Timor. The language is sometimes called Meto, Uab Atoni Pah Meto, Uab Pah Meto, Timor, Timorese, Timol, Timoreesch, Timoreezen, Dawan, Timor Dawan, or Rawan. And the dialect spoken in the enclave of Oecusse is called Baikenu although the local people simply call it Uab Meto. Dawan has the following dialects: Amfoan-Fatule'u-Amabi (Amfoan, Amfuang, Fatule'u, Amabi), Amanuban-Amanatun (Amanuban, Amanubang, Amanatun), Mollo-Miomafo (Mollo, Miomafo), Biboki-Insana (Biboki, Insana), Ambenu (Ambeno, Vaikenu, Vaikino, Baikenu, Bikenu, Biqueno), Kusa-Manlea (Kusa, Manlea). And it has been classified as Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Central Malayo-Polynesian, Timor, Nuclear Timor, West.

So far, there has not been any accurate and reliable information regarding the origin of this indigenous language. However, it said that Dawan (Uab Meto) is closely related to Tetum, and to some extent, to Rotenese. The language did not take its written form until some zealous Catholic and Protestant missionaries began to make use of it for teaching the Christian belief to the locals. Some of the written materials produced, original or in translation, such as missals, catechisms, prayer books and hymns, are still found today, especially in the villages, but very rare. The rarity is presumably due to damage and discontinued publication. Nowadays, materials of this kind are more available in the official languages, Bahasa Indonesia, in the Indonesian part, and probably Portuguese and Tetum in Oecusse. Serious efforts are really necessary to maintain the language.

Uab Meto has plenty of stresses in many of its words. And to indicate them, people simply use apostrophes, either in front, in the beginning, or at the end of a word. This is acceptable. However, it makes the word longer because of the many apostrophes used. So, to make a word shorter and more efficient to use, using certain accents (those available in the international computer keyboards) put on the top of the accented vowels is simpler, and hopefully clearer. Many of them are applied in French and Portuguese. However, those used in Uab Meto have different functions. I hope that the following modifications would be acceptable. Example:

1. Fun-ahunut i au uhakeb ume mese’. = Fun-ahunut i au uhakeb ume mesê. Last month I built a house.
2. In a-nmui’ oto nua. In lof na’sosa’ es. = In a-nmuî oto nua. In lof nâsosâ es. (S)he has two cars. (S)he will sell one (of them).
3. Au fe’ oum u’ko kota. = Au fê òm ûko kota. I have just been to the city/town.
4. Ho tataf a’naet nato’. = Ho tataf ânaet nató'. Your elder brother/sister is angry.
5. In olif akliko’ nahín. = In olif aklikô nahín. Your youngest brother/sister knows.
6. Kaisa’ maiti kle’o-kle’o! = Kaisâ maiti kleö-kleö! Don’t take it little by little.
7. Li’ana’ i nah neik palu’. = Liänâ i nah nèk palû. This child eats greedily.

Stresses also appear before a word that begins with a consonant. They are indicated with an opening apostrophe (‘). E.g. Au ‘pao ko talantea nokâ. I will wait for you until tomorrow.

Dawan (Uab Meto) alphabet

Notable features:

• The letter g is used in loanwords, such as guru (teacher), often pronounced kulu.
• The letter l is replaced with r in some dialects, e.g. lene (garden) with rene.
• The letters q, v, x, and z are used in loanwords from Europe.

Sources: Ethnologue data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 14th Edition Understanding Uab Meto (Dawan Language): A General Description, by Yohanes Manhitu, Unpublished

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Sample Text

(HANTONAS URBI ET ORBI NÂKO AMÂ SANTU PAPA BENEDIKTUS XVI Paskah 2006) 

Links

Yohanes Manhitu’s Uab Meto website: http://www.uabmeto.cjb.net
Uab Meto dictionary: http://oecusse.com/tourism/docs/BaiquenoDictionary.pdf
Uab Meto poetry online with translations: http://www.geocities.com/johnmanhitu2001/PUISI_NEIK_UAB_METO.html 

Catholic prayers in Uab Meto: http://www.geocities.com/jeanmanhitu/Onen_Meto.html
Uab Meto on the Internet: http://www.geocities.com/jeanmanhitu/UAB_METO_ON_THE_INTERNET.html