The Jakarta Post
Your Letter
June 15, 2007
I'm commenting on an article Timor Leste needs Indonesian language more than others by Janet Steele and Jerry Macdonald (The Jakarta Post, June 11).
The fact that Timor Leste's new president, Jose Ramos Horta, has begun learning Indonesian is not only welcome, it is long overdue -- he should have done this years ago. However, not even he would agree with Janet Steele and Jerry Macdonald's assertion that Indonesian, not Tetum, is the country's lingua franca.
One of the most positive developments since 1999 has been the increased use of Tetum as a written language, and the absence of a standardized spelling and grammar has proved no barrier at all. Despite its name, most of the locally written articles in Suara Timor Lorosae are now in Tetum, not Indonesian.
Unfortunately, some Indonesian-educated people are as just as guilty of having an inferiority complex about Tetum as Portuguese-educated ones. Under Soeharto's Indonesia, Tetum in East Timor was just another bahasa daerah (local dialect), spoken, but not written, having no more status than it did under Salazar's Portugal.
Tetum is neither a dialect nor a creole, it is a language in its own right, but just as English and Indonesian have derived much of their vocabulary from other languages, so too has Tetum.
Many Portuguese-derived words in Tetum are similar to those used in English or Indonesian, because they share the same Latin roots. For example, konstituisaun (from constituigco) is similar to "constitution". Some purists use the term ukun fuan inan, but this is no different from Indonesians using undang-undang dasar instead of konstitusi. However, few languages are pure, while a pure lingua franca is an oxymoron, be it Swahili in East Africa or Indonesian in Southeast Asia.
Yet despite the European influences, Tetum remains a Malayo-Polynesian language, with many words, such as bua, besi, tahan, sala and matan shared with Indonesian, although words like mane (man), feto (woman), foho (mountain), lia (voice) and fuan (fruit) are not. The Tetum for "word" is liafuan, literally "voice fruit".
Given that Tetum shares so many words with these other languages, and is not grammatically complex, would it really be a challenge for outsiders living in Timor Leste, be they Indonesians, Australians or Portuguese, to make the effort to learn it?
The argument that Tetum is "undeveloped" or "not yet developed" should be dispelled once and for all. If it is adequate for newspaper articles and discussion forums, it is perfectly adequate for public signs and official documents. NGOs like the women's network Rede Feto have called for legal documents to be written in Tetum since it (not Indonesian or Portuguese) "is the preferred language of the people".
Mai ita hotu aprende Tetun (let's all learn Tetum).
KEN WESTMORELAND
Jakarta
sexta-feira, junho 15, 2007
Let's learn Tetum
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O texto original da minha carta, que submeti como artigo. Infelizmente, o Jakarta Post não imprimiu o último parágrafo, mas pelo menos publicou a minha resposta à Dra. Steele!
Mai ita hotu aprende Tetun
The fact that Timor Leste's new President, José Ramos Horta, has begun learning Indonesian is not only welcome, it is long overdue - he should have done this years ago. However, not even he would agree with Janet Steele and Jerry Macdonald's assertion that Indonesian, not Tetum, is the country's lingua franca.
One of the most positive developments since 1999 has been the increased use of Tetum as a written language, and the absence of a standardized spelling and grammar has proved no barrier at all. Despite its name, most of the locally written articles in Suara Timor Lorosae are now in Tetum, not Indonesian.
Unfortunately, some Indonesian-educated people are as just as guilty of having an inferiority complex about Tetum as Portuguese-educated ones. Under Suharto's Indonesia, Tetum in East Timor was just another bahasa daerah, spoken, but not written, having no more status than it did under Salazar's Portugal.
Tetum is neither a dialect nor a creole, it is a language in its own right, but just as English and Indonesian have derived much of their vocabulary from other languages, so too has Tetum.
Many Dutch-derived words in Indonesian are similar to Portuguese-derived ones in Tetum, because they came from French, for example: redaksi (from redactie) and adpokat (from advocaat) are similar to redasaun (from redacção) and advogadu (from advogado), while there are many Portuguese-derived words shared with Indonesian, such as sapatu, garfu, janela, keiju, and boneka.
Similarly, many Portuguese-derived words in Tetum are similar to those used in English or Indonesian, because they share the same Latin roots. For example, ‘konstituisaun’ (from ‘constituição’) is similar to 'constitution'. Some purists use the term ‘ukun fuan inan’, but this is no different from Indonesians using ‘undang-undang dasar’ instead of 'konstitusi'. However, few languages are pure, while a pure lingua franca is an oxymoron, be it Swahili in East Africa or Indonesian in Southeast Asia.
Yet despite the European influences, Tetum remains a Malayo-Polynesian language, with many words, such as bua, besi, tahan, sala and matan shared with Indonesian, although words like mane (man), feto (woman), foho (mountain), lia (voice) and fuan (fruit) are not. The Tetum for ‘word’ is liafuan, literally ‘voice fruit’.
Given that Tetum shares so many words with these other languages, and is not grammatically complex, would it really be a challenge for outsiders living in Timor Leste, be they Indonesians, Australians or Portuguese, to make the effort to learn it?
This does not mean that the people of Timor Leste should not recognize the value of learning other languages. On the contrary, they are polyglots. One friend of mine speaks Fataluku, Tetum, Indonesian, Portuguese, English and Cantonese. Why should he, and others like him, be given patronizing lectures from outsiders about multilingualism?
The argument that Tetum is 'undeveloped' or 'not yet developed' is one that should be dispelled once and for all. If it is adequate for newspaper articles and discussion forums, it is perfectly adequate for public signs and official documents. NGOs like the women’s network Rede Feto, have called for legal documents to be written in Tetum since it (not Indonesian or Portuguese) ‘is the preferred language of the people’.
There would be no better sign from Jakarta, Canberra, and Lisbon of a respect for Timor Leste's heritage and cultural identity, than to help that country promote its own language, as well as promoting theirs in Timor Leste.
Mai ita hotu aprende Tetun - let's all learn Tetum.
Vamos aprender Tétum
The Jakarta Post
A tua carta
Junho 15, 2007
Estou a comentar um artigo onde se dizia que Timor-Leste precisa mais da língua Indonésia do que de outras por Janet Steele e Jerry Macdonald (The Jakarta Post, Junho 11).
O facto de o novo presidente de Timor-Leste, José Ramos Horta, ter começado a aprender Indonésio não é apenas bem vindo, como já devia ter acontecido há muito tempo – devia ter feito isso há anos atrás. Contudo, nem ele mesmo concordaria com a afirmação de Janet Steele e Jerry Macdonald que o Indonésio e não o Tétum é a língua franca do país.
Um dos desenvolvimentos mais positivos desde 1999 tem sido o aumento do uso do Tétum como língua escrita, e a ausência de uma ortografia e gramática normalizadas mostraram que não são impedimentos nenhuns. Apesar do seu nome, a maioria dos artigos escritos localmente no Suara Timor Lorosae são agora em Tétum e não em Indonésio.
Infelizmente, algumas pessoas educadas no Indonésio são tão culpadas de terem o complexo de inferioridade acerca do Tétum como as educadas no Português. Sob a Indonésia de Soeharto, o Tétum em Timor-Leste era apenas um outro dialecto local do bahasa, falado mas não escrito, que não tinha mais estatuto do que teve no tempo do Portugal de Salazar.
O Tétum nem é uma dialeto nem um crioulo, é uma língua com direito próprio, e tal como o Inglês e o Indonésio derivaram muito do seu vocabulário de outras línguas, assim também fez o Tétum.
Muitas das palavras derivadas do Português no Tétum são similares às usadas no Inglês ou no Indonésio, porque partilham as mesmas raízes latinas. Por exemplo, konstituisaun (de constituição) é similar a "constitution". Alguns puristas usam o termo ukun fuan inan, mas isto não é diferente do Indonésio que usa undang-undang dasar em vez de konstitusi. Contudo, poucas línguas são puras, conquanto uma pura língua franca é um paradoxo, seja o Swahili na África do Sul ou o Indonésio no Sudeste Asiático.
Contudo apesar das influências Europeias, o Tétum permanece uma língua Malaia-Poliponésia, com muitas palavras, tais como bua, besi, tahan, sala e matan partilhadas com o Indonésio, apesar de palavras como mane (homem), feto (mulher, foho (montanha), lia (voz) e fuan (fruta) que não são. O Tétum para "palavra" é liafuan, literalmente "voz da fruta ".
Dado o facto de o Tétum partilhar tantas palavras com estas outras línguas, e não ser complexa sob o ponto de vista gramatical, será de facto um desafio para estrangeiros que vivem em Timor-Leste, sejam eles Indonésios, Australianos ou Portugueses fazerem um esforço para o aprenderem?
O argumento de o Tétum ser "subdesenvolvido" ou "ainda não desenvolvido " deve ser dissipado de uma vez por todas. Se é adequado para artigos de jornais e discussão em fóruns, é perfeitamente adequado para sinais públicos e documentos oficiais. ONG’s como a rede de mulheres Rede Feto apelaram para que os documentos legais sejam escritos em Tétum dado que (nem o Indonésio ou o Português) "é a língua preferida pelo povoe".
Mai ita hotu aprende Tetun (Vamos todos aprender Tétum).
KEN WESTMORELAND
Jacarta
Resposta da Dra. Steele:
Dear Mr. Westmoreland,
Thank you for your comments. It was unfortunate that in addition to making a number of typographical errors (including the name of the president) the Jakarta Post changed the title of our op-ed from "A Modest Proposal Regarding East Timor." Our goal was truly modest: to challenge US diplomats here and in Dili to reconsider the reasons for their reluctance to send Indonesian-langage translations of American books to Dili.
It makes no sense to have a cellar full of books that are gathering dust in Jakarta when they could be put to good use in East Timor. That was our one and only point. I agree with you that Tetum needs to be developed as the national language of East Timor -- in fact I've tried to convince at least one international NGO that a high priority should be given to funding the development of a Tetum style book for journalists. But in the meantime, bahasa Indonesia is still a widely recognized language of trade (as JRH reaffirmed during his visit), and for that reason alone it seems silly to withhold from the Timorese books that have already been published and paid for with US taxpayer dollars.
all the best,
Janet
Janet Steele
Associate Professor
School of Media and Public Affairs
George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052
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