Kedang language

Kédang (Kdang, Dang, Kedangese) is a language spoken in the Kedang region on the north coast of Lembata Island, east of Flores, in Indonesia. The language belongs to the Austronesian family and its sub-family, Malayo-Polynesian. More specifically, the language is within the Flores-Lembata sub-group. There are approximately 30,000 speakers of the language.

Background

The name of the language is also the name of the region where the language is spoken, Kedang. The region extends to about 266 square kilometres including two administrative districts – Omesuri and Buyasuri. As of today, there are approximately about 30,000 speakers of the language. The majority of the speakers is engaged in agricultural productions which are mainly farming and fishing. Most speakers are Catholic or Muslim but a few may still retain their traditional spiritual beliefs.

Phonology

Vowels

Kédang has a total of twelve vowels in its language, separated into two sets evenly with six vowels per set. One set is composed of modal vowels or also known as normal vowels while the other set is breathy vowels. The vowels can be distinct by two different methods: by the word initial position and by the pitch. Modal vowels (normal vowels) occur in the middle and the final position while breathy vowels do not. While the breathy vowels are pronounced at a lower pitch.

Consonants

There are twenty consonants in the Kédang alphabet. The consonants display different manners of articulation including plosives, nasals, lateral, flap, trill, fricatives and continuant.

Word classes

Kédang developed its word classes to include nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, numerals, prepositions, interjections, conjunctions and classifiers.

Nouns

Nouns are formed when affixes are added to the verbs. Kédang's affixes are the nominalizing prefix N-, the nominalizing infix -an-, the suffix -n and the free form wala.

• The nominalizing prefix N- replaces the initial consonant. For example: t → n tadaq 'to advise' → nadaq 'advice' k → n kariq 'to speak' → nariq 'language'
• The nominalizing infix -an- is added after the initial consonant. For example: kawang 'to flow' → kanawang 'current' tangul 'to cover a pot with a lid' → tanangul 'lid'
• The suffix -n is added to verbs and adjectives at the end of the words. For example: dei 'to follow' → dein 'offspring' mate 'dead' → maten 'corpse'
• The free form wala follows after a verb to indicate the person who is acting out the verb. For examples: durung 'to sell' → durung wala 'seller' huang 'to play' → huang wala 'player'

Pronouns

Kédang's pronouns follow the three-way system of singular-dual-plural. They are divided into seven categories: personal, emphatic, possessive, emphatic-possessive, adessive, agent focus and action focus.

Adjectives

Kédang adjectives are divided into two functions: predicative and attributive. In order to distinguish these two functions, a suffix -n is added after the end vowel of a predicative adjective for it to become attributive. If the adjective ends with a consonant, there will be no change.

Verbs

There is only one verb tense in Kédang that is fully developed – future tense. The other tenses usually require an adverb that indicates time (past, present or future) to support the content along with the verb used.

Notes

• Samely, Ursula (1991). Kedang (Eastern Indonesia): some aspects of its grammar. Hamburg: Buske. ISBN 3875480163.
• Samely, Ursula; Barnes, Robert H. (2013). . Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004256361.