Dhao language
| Dhao | |
|---|---|
| Ndao | |
| Pronunciation | ˈɖ͡ʐao |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Lesser Sunda Islands |
|
Native speakers
|
5,000 (1997) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | dhao1237 |
The Dhao language, better known to outsiders by its Rotinese name Ndao (Ndaonese, Ndaundau), is the language of Ndao Island in Indonesia. Traditionally classified as a Sumba language in the Austronesian family, it may actually be a non-Austronesian (Papuan) language. (See Savu languages for details.) It was once considered a dialect of Hawu, but is not mutually intelligible.
Dhao phonology is similar to that of Hawu, but somewhat more complex in its consonants.
Consonants of the /n/ column are apical, those of the /ɲ/ column laminal. /f w j/ are found in Malay loan words. In the practical orthography, implosives are written ⟨b' d' j' g'⟩, the affricates ⟨bh dh⟩ (the dh is slightly retroflex), and the voiced glottal onset as a double vowel. The /ʕ/ is sometimes silent, but contrasts with a glottal stop onset in vowel-initial words within a phrase. Its phonemic status is not clear. It has an "extremely limited distribution", linking noun phrases (/ʔiki/ 'small', /ʔana ʕiki/ 'small child') and clauses (/ʕaa/ 'and', /ʕoo/ 'also').
Vowels are /i u e ə o a/, with /ə/ written ⟨è⟩. Phonetic long vowels and diphthongs are vowel sequences. The penultimate syllable/vowel is stressed. (Every vowel constitutes a syllable.)
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