Lamaholot language
| Lamaholot | |
|---|---|
| Solorese | |
| Native to | Indonesia |
| Region | Flores and Solor |
| Ethnicity | Lamaholot people |
Native speakers | 180,000 (2010) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:aol – Aloradr – Adonaralmr – Lamaleraslp – Lamaholotila – Ile Apelwt – Lewotobilvu – Levukalmj – West Lembatalmf – South Lembatalmq – Lamatukalwe – Lewo Eleng |
| Glottolog | lama1277 Lamaholotpuka1244 Pukaunu |
Lamaholot, also known as Solor or Solorese, is a Central Malayo-Polynesian dialect cluster of Flores, Indonesia. The varieties may not be all mutually intelligible; Keraf (1978) reports that there are 18 languages under the name.
The Lamaholot language shows evidence of a Papuan (non-Austronesian) substratum, with about 50 percent of the lexicon being non-Austronesian.
Various Lamaholot dialects are presented as independent languages by Ethnologue. For example, Lewotobi is presented as a separate language by Ethnologue and Grimes (1997). Nagaya (2011) disputes this, classifying it instead as a dialect of Lamaholot.
An additional dialect of Lamaholot not found in Ethnologue, Muhang, is spoken by the Ata Tana 'Ai people living in Sikka Regency. The first children's book in Muhang, Walde Nenang Uran Wair, was published in 2022.
Lamaholot is similar to Sikka to the west and Kedang to the east. Lamaholot dialects are often divided into three groupings: western (on Flores), central (in East Flores, Adonara, and Solor) and eastern (on Lembata). Alorese (spoken on parts of the coast of northern Pantar and northwestern Alor) is partially intelligible with Lamaholot and is often considered to be a dialect of it.