Batuley language


Batuley is a language spoken on the Aru Islands of eastern Indonesia. It is close to Mariri; Hughes estimates that around 80% of lexical items are shared. The language's name comes from the Gwata-le island, which the Batuley consider their homeland

Geographical distribution

Batuley is spoken in Eastern Indonesia across several villages that Daigle lists in his thesis. Some of them are Kabalsiang in Aduar Island, Kumul in the identically-named island, and Gwaria in the Island of Gwari.

Phonology

Vowels

Batuley has a simple five-vowel system with no vowel length distinction.
is an allophone of /i/ and /e/. is an allophone of /a/ when it does not receive the primary stress. Furhtermore, /e/ and /i/ may both be reduced to a schwa in fast speech in certain conditions.

Consonants

Daigle
Daigle