Galoli language

The Galoli, or Galolen, is an language of the East Timorese with a population of around 50,000, mainly along the northern coast of the Manatuto district. To the west lies the Mambai language. There is an old colony on the southern coast of Wetar island, the Talo people, who speak the Talur dialect.

NativetoEast Timor, Indonesia

RegionManatuto District, Wetar

EthnicityGaloli people

Native speakers

11,000^[1] (2010 census)^[2]

Quick facts Native to, Region ...

Galoli
Galolen
Native to	East Timor, Indonesia
Region	Manatuto District, Wetar
Ethnicity	Galoli people
Native speakers	11,000[1] (2010 census)[2]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Central–Eastern Timoric Wetar–Galoli Galoli
Dialects	Baba Edi Hahak Na Nahek (Nanaek) Nuclear Galoli Talur Hiay Ilputih Ilwaki
Official status
Recognised minority language in	East Timor
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gal
Glottolog	galo1243
ELP	Galoli
Distribution of Galoli mother tongue-speakers in East Timor. Galoli is also spoken on the south coast of Wetar Island in Indonesia, just off the top of the map.

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The Galoli language is one of the Timor–Babar group of Austronesian languages. It is one of the national languages designated by the constitution of East Timor. Because the area was used as a trading center for different cultures, there are many foreign loan words in the vocabulary, principally from Moluccan and Malay languages. Although it is not spoken by as many people as other national languages, it was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church in the district of Manatuto and thus has become fixed in grammars and dictionaries.

Dadu'a is erroneously listed in some sources as a dialect of Galoli (e.g. Glottolog), but actually represents a transplanted population of the Atauro dialect of Wetarese.