Hawu language
| Hawu | |
|---|---|
| Sabu | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈhavu] |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Lesser Sunda Islands |
|
Native speakers
|
110,000 (1997) |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | sabu1255 |
The Hawu a.k.a. Havu language, historically Sawu and known to outsiders as Savu or Sabu (thus Havunese, Savunese, Sawunese), is the language of Savu Island in Indonesia and of Raijua Island off the western tip of Savu. Traditionally classified as a Sumba language in the Austronesian family, it may be a non-Austronesian (Papuan) language. (See Savu languages for details.) Dhao, once considered a dialect, is not mutually intelligible with Hawu.
Seba dialect is dominant, covering most of Savu Island and the main city of Seba. Timu is spoken on the eastern, Mesara on the western, and Liae on the southern tip of the island. Raijua is spoken on the island of the same name (Rai Jua 'Jua Island') just off-shore to the west.
Hawu shares implosive (or perhaps pre-glottalized) consonants with the Bima–Sumba languages and languages of Flores and Sulawesi, such Wolio.
Hawu *s, attested during the Portuguese colonial era, has shifted to /h/, a change that has not happened in Dhao. The Hawu consonant inventory is smaller than Dhao:
Consonants of the /n/ column are apical, those of the /ɲ/ column laminal. The implosives are written ⟨b', d', j', g'⟩. ⟨w⟩ is pronounced [v] or [β]. A wye sound /j/ (written ⟨y⟩) is found at the beginning of some words in Seba dialect where Dimu and Raijua dialects have /ʄ/.
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