Describing Makasae : a trans-New Guinea language of East Timor

Abstract

This thesis constitutes a grammatical analysis of the north-eastern variety of Makasae, a largely undocumented language spoken in the district of Laga in East Timor. With some 110,000 speakers, Makasae is one of four languages in East Timor which belong to the Trans-New Guinea phylum. Although the dialect of Laga is taken as normative in this thesis, variant forms in other dialects are considered whenever possible. It is hoped that the creation of a scientific descriptive grammar of this vernacular and practical application of the data it presents will make a contribution to the education of its speakers, raising their awareness of its social and literary potential.

Date of Award	2011
Original language	English