Kafoa language

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Kafoa, or Jafoo, is a Papuan language of Alor Island in the Alor archipelago of Indonesia. Although Kafoa speakers refer to both themselves and their language with the name "Kafoa", this word is not well known in the area.[2][3] Kafoa speakers are frequently multilingual, also speaking Malay, Klon and Abui. Children are typically initially taught Malay by their parents and later acquire Kafoa after having reached school age.[2]

Kafoa
Jafoo
Native toIndonesia
RegionAlor Island, East Nusa Tenggara
Native speakers
1,000 (2013)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kpu
Glottologkafo1240

Phonology

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The data in this section are taken from Baird (2017).[2]

Consonants

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Consonant phonemes
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative f s h
Semivowel w j ⟨y⟩
Liquid lateral l
rhotic r

Vowels

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Vowel phonemes
  Front Central Back
High i     u
      ʊ ʊː  
          o
Mid            
ɛ ɛː       ɔː
Low     a    
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References

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  1. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  2. ^ a b c Baird, Louise (2017). "Kafoa". In Schapper, Antoinette (ed.). The Papuan Languages of Timor, Alor and Pantar: Volume 2. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 55–108.
  3. ^ Kafoa at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)