East Timorese Portuguese
| East Timorese Portuguese | |
|---|---|
| português timorense, português de Timor Leste |
|
|
Native speakers
|
600 (2010 census) |
|
Indo-European
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| IETF | pt-TL |
East Timorese Portuguese (Português timorense in Portuguese) is a Portuguese dialect spoken in the country of Timor-Leste or East Timor. It is one of the official languages of Timor-Leste alongside Tetum.
Portuguese is a legacy of Portuguese rule of Timor-Leste (called Portuguese Timor) from the 16th century. It had its first contact during the Portuguese discoveries of the East, but it was largely exposed to Portuguese Timor in the 18th century after its division from the rest of the island by the Netherlands.
However, Tetum remained the main lingua franca of Timor-Leste during Portuguese rule, although the most commonly used form, known as Tetun-Prasa used in Dili, was heavily influenced by Portuguese. Following the Carnation Revolution in Portugal in 1974, political parties emerged in Portuguese Timor for the first time, all of which supported the continued use of Portuguese, including APODETI, the only party to advocate integration with Indonesia, had stated that it would support the right to "enjoy the Portuguese language" alongside Indonesian.
In 1975, Timor-Leste gained freedom from Portugal, after 9 days, Indonesia invaded Timor-Leste unexpectedly, and declared the territory as its 27th province in 1976, and Indonesian became the sole official language. The use of Portuguese in education, administration and the media was banned by the Indonesian authorities, and saw the language as a threat. This was despite the fact that the 'People's Assembly', which petitioned President Suharto for integration with Indonesia, conducted its proceedings in Portuguese, under a banner reading "Integração de Timor Timur na República da Indonésia" (Integration of East Timor into the Republic of Indonesia).
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