WRITING AND SPEAKING TETUM: LEVELS OF USAGE

Writing and Speaking Tetum: Levels of Usage

(This is the first of a series of three articles. The second is about orthography, and the third explores intriguing aspects of spelling, pronunciation, and Portuguese influence on the language.)

Note: This article is intended for writers, speakers, and anyone interested in languages, the Tetum language, and the country of East Timor. While I hope some readers will be academics, I will avoid jargon to ensure accessibility for all readers, including those unfamiliar with technical linguistic terms.

When I sit down to write an article or a speech, one of the first things I ask myself is, “Who is my audience?” This question is always important, but it is especially vital for anyone addressing an audience in the Tetum language[1] .

Why is understanding the audience so crucial in the context of Tetum?

Like many languages, Tetum has different levels of usage. However, these levels are more pronounced in Tetum than in most other languages. The vocabulary a writer or speaker chooses will determine who can understand them and how easily the listener or reader can grasp the content. Let’s illustrate this with an English example from the “About this Dictionary” section in the “Concise English-Tetum Dictionary” by Dr. Geoffrey Hull (p. viii). If we said, “A crocodile is a carnivorous reptile,” almost every adult native speaker in the English-speaking world would understand this technical statement. However, we could also say, “A crocodile is like a giant lizard that eats meat.” This conveys the same idea but is more appropriate for children.

How about Tetum?

Below are translations of this sentence with an English transliteration underneath.

1. Lafaek ne’e reptil ida ne’ebé karnívoru.

   Crocodile this reptile one that (is a) carnivore.

2. Lafaek ne’e makdolar ida ne’ebé mahán-na’an.

   Crocodile this crawler one that (is a) meat-eater.

3. Lafaek ne’e animál ida ne’ebé han na’an.

   Crocodile this animal one that eats meat.

The first translation would only be easily understood by Tetum-speaking people who have been educated in Portuguese, and possibly those with secondary education in Indonesian. Since reptil is also reptil and karnívoru is karnivor in Indonesian, it would be easy for such a person to quickly work out the meaning. This sentence would also eventually be understandable to a Tetum speaker with access to a Tetum dictionary and so may be appropriate in a text for secondary or tertiary students.

The second translation would only be easily understood by Tetum-speaking people who also speak the dialect Tetum-Terik (or another indigenous language that uses the words makdolar and mahán). It may also be understood by Tetum speakers if they understood the prefix mak/ma. Since dolar (crawl), han (eat), and na’an (meat) are common words, they would likely be able to work out that makdolar means crawler and mahán-na’an means meat-eater. Hence, this sentence may be appropriate in a text if the objective includes expanding the reader's vocabulary, such as for the students mentioned above.

The third translation would be easily understood by almost all Tetum speakers in both speech and text; and unlike the alternate wording in the English example, the tone is not condescending.

The importance of the level of usage can also be illustrated by the Introduction in a Tetum-English Word Finder written by members of the Peace Corps in July 2004 for a local medical clinic (available athttp://www.tetundit.tl/). The authors created nine “main classifications” for the level of usage. These are terms:

• Understood by Portuguese speakers;

• Understood by people with high levels of formal education;

• Used in official documents, but very few people know them even if they work in the medical field;

• Indonesian loans widely accepted in Tetum;

• Known by medical workers;

• Used during Portuguese rule (pre-1975);

• Started to be used during the UN rule (post-1999);

• From Tetun-Terik;

• Disputed, meaning some people insist an expression or interpretation is correct, while others dispute it.

The authors of this glossary clearly understood the need for Tetum speakers in the medical field to know their audience and use the correct level of usage for the individuals they address.

A final example from this same glossary is the Tetum term for the medical condition measles. The glossary suggests two terms from Tetum-Terik (au-funan or au-melan) or an Indonesian loan word (sarampu). If a patient did not understand any of these words, the medical professional would need to describe the illness to the patient and choose one term (or possibly two or all three terms) to use as the consultation continued. It would be more complicated if the professional had to write a referral to another medical professional they did not know!

Clear, natural, and enjoyable communication in any language involves choosing the appropriate level of usage so the other party understands our tone, intent, and meaning. That’s why before putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), like me, you likely begin by asking yourself, “Who is my audience?