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Ethnologue: Languages of the World
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Ethnologue > Web version > Country index > Asia > East Timor > Baikeno

Baikeno

A language of East Timor

ISO 639-3: bkx

Population  20,000 (2003 UKAW). Many monolinguals. Several thousand refugees in west Timor. Ethnic population: 20,000.
Region  Oekusi enclave separated from the rest of East Timor. Kais Metan in Pantai Makasar, Oesilu districts; Tai Boko in Nitib District. The 2 dialects comprise northern two-thirds of Ambeno; Uis Tasae in Pasab District, the southern third.
Language map  East Timor
Alternate names   Ambeno, Ambenu, Baikenu, Biqueno, Oe Cusi, Oecussi, Oekusi, Uab Meto, Uab Pah Meto, Vaikenu, Vaikino
Dialects  Kais Metan (East Baikeno, Bob Meto), Tai Boko (West Baikeno), Uis Tasae (South Baikeno). Baikeno is linguistically a dialect of Uab Meto [aoz], but for political reasons is treated as a separate language for vernacular literature. It is intelligible with the Uab Meto dialects of Amfo’an, northern Mollo, and Insana. Significant differences with Amarasi [aaz] block intelligibility. They see themselves as part of the wider Atoni cultural, linguistic, political, and historical network, in contrast to being Tetun, Helong, or Rote. They refer to themselves as ‘atoni’ (person), speaking ‘uab meto’ (the language of the dry). The Kais Metan dialect is most populous and most influential, being around the town of Oekusi.
Classification  Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Central Malayo-Polynesian, Timor, Extra-Ramelaic, West
Language use  Vigorous. All domains. All ages. Less than 1% can perform job-related functions in Portuguese. Many have difficulty with low levels of Indonesian. Only those who have studied or worked in Dili can function in Tetun Dili [tdt].
Language development  Bible portions: 2004.
Comments  ‘Baikeno’ and ‘Uab Meto’ refer to the language. ‘Ambeno’ refers to traditional kingship. Oekusi is the main town in Ambeno, but people in other parts of East Timor tend to use it in a part-whole relationship to refer to the whole enclave. Locals object to this usage. Agriculturalists: wet rice on flats, swidden agriculturalists; animal husbandry: cattle. Traditional religion.