THE MAKUVA ENIGMA: LOCATING A HIDDEN LANGUAGE IN EAST TIMOR

The Makuva language is spoken in the tip of the Lautem District in the Republic of East Timor and is known in the literature under several names. Whereas initially classified as a Papuan language, the Austronesian character of its lexicon and grammar was convincingly proven later on. Ever since Ferreira's (1951) contribution, Makuva has been considered to be moribund and to have been replaced by Fataluku, the majority language in the region. This paper intends to 'reconstruct' a grammar sketch and proposes an alternative to Hajek's et al. (2003) finding to reconsider Makuva to be a 'language in coma' rather than being moribund. Instead of being 'pushed aside' by Fataluku, Makuva has rather been 'pushed up' in to the ritual register of Fataluku speakers in the Tutuala subdistrict.