Makalero

Makalero
Native to	East Timor
Region	Timor Island, eastern end around Baucau and inland, west of Fataluku, from northern to southern coast in a dialect chain.
Native speakers	6,000 (2004)
Language family	Trans–New Guinea West Bomberai Timor–Alor–Pantar Eastern Timor Makasae Makalero
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mjb
Glottolog	makl1245
Distribution of Makalero mother-tongue speakers in East Timor
Coordinates: 8°39′S 126°30′E

Makalero or Maklere is a dialect of Makasae spoken by 6,000 people in East Timor.

Phonology

All the information in this section is from Huber's grammar.

Consonants

Makalero has 11 native consonant phonemes.

Consonant phonemes

	Labial		Alveo-dental		Post-alveolar		Velar		Glottal
Plosive	p		t			d	k		ʔ
Fricative	f		s
Nasal		m		n
Trill						r
Lateral approximant						l

Vowels

Monophthongs

Makalero has five vowel phonemes. Most long vowels occur in predictable contexts; thus Huber argues long vowels are marginal phonemes at best.

Monophthong phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

Syllables are commonly CV; some are CVC. Epenthetic vowels are often inserted between series of two consonants, and echo vowels are often added to the end of phonological phrases.

Numerals

• unu - One
• loloi - Two
• lolitu - Three
• faata - Four
• lima - Five
• douhu - Six
• fitu - Seven
• afo - Eight
• siwa - Nine
• ruru-u - Ten
• ruu resi nu - Eleven
• ruu resi loloi - Twelve
• ruu resi lolitu - Thirteen
• ruu resi faata - Fourteen
• ruu resi lima - Fifteen