Bekais

Bekais (Welaun)
Spoken in	East Timor , Indonesia
speaker	4,075 in East Timor (as of 2015)
Linguistic classification	Austronesian languages Malayo-Polynesian languages Central Malayo Polynesian Timor-Flores Timor Fabronic languages Bekais
Official status
Other official status in	East Timor (national language)

Bekais (own name: Welaun , Portuguese Becais ) is a Malayo-Polynesian language in central Timor .

distribution

The largest language groups in the sucos of East Timors. and number of speakers of the various languages ​​in the individual communities (as of 2015).

Proportion of Bekais native speakers in the Sucos of East Timors.

Bekais is spoken in the southern part of the East Timorese administration office Balibo , in the sucos Cowa , Balibo , Batugade , Leolima and Leohito , and in the neighboring border area of ​​the Indonesian West Timor . The center of the language's circulation area today is Leohito. In 2015, 4,075 people in East Timor spoke Bekais as their first language.

Status and history

Bekais is one of the 15 national languages ​​of East Timor recognized in the constitution . The latest research results have identified Bekais as a separate language, even if it is now largely assimilated by the Tetum . In the past, Bekais was probably spoken on the coast between the Tokodede and Baikeno language areas. After the 16th century, the language was gradually pushed back by the dialect of Tetum from the kingdom of Wehale , which spread from the south.

vocabulary

Numbers in Bekais
number	Bekais
1	isa
2	rua
3	tolu
4th	hoat
5	lima
6th	inan
7th	hitu
8th	ualu
9	siwi
10	sakulu

supporting documents

• The Languages ​​of East Timor: Some Basic Facts ( July 20, 2008 memento in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Direcção-Geral de Estatística : Results of the 2015 census , accessed on November 23, 2016.
2. ↑ Statistical Office of East Timor, results of the 2010 census of the individual sucos ( Memento of January 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )