Helong

Background

Helong (ISO: heg) is a Timoric language spoken in the Kupang Regency of Nusa Tenggara Timur, Indonesia with around 14,000 speakers. Helong is unique in that it appears to constitute an independent branch within Timor-Babar, separate from Rote-Meto and Eastern Timoric (incl. Tetun). Together with the University of Nusa Cendana, we've just begun a documentation project on three varieties of Helong (Pulau/Semau, Bolok, and Funai), the latter of which is being increasingly threatened by Kupang Malay and Meto.

Resources

Here is a non-exhaustive list of published resources on Helong. Let me know if you have suggestions to add!

Archives/Collections

Look out for our upcoming open access PARADISEC collection UND1, Recordings from the NTU-Undana Language Documentation, Description, and Analysis Workshop Series.
Jennifer Sou. 2018 - 2019. Sou Collection - Indonesia. Kaipuleohone University of Hawai'i Digital Language Archive. [Open Access]. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/64694.
Owen Edwards. 2017. Funai Helong Recordings. Collection OE7 at catalog.paradisec.org.au [Open Access]. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/5ae9e08a5f036.
Gary Holton. 2018. Documenting Minority Languages of Nusa Tenggara Timur. Collection NTT at catalog.paradisec.org.au [Other Access]. https://dx.doi.org/10.4225/72/5b33b489a8f66.

Dictionaries, Sketch Grammars, and Translated Texts

Unit Bahasa & Budaya. 2023. God's Word: in the Helong language [Buk Niu]. Kupang: Unit Bahasa & Budaya.

Theses and Articles

Owen Edwards. 2018. Preliminary Report on Funai Helong. NUSA 65. 1-27.
Misriani Balle, 2017. Types of reduplication in Helong, an Austronesian language in Eastern Indonesia. Chiang Mai: Payap University MA Thesis.
Misriani Balle. 2017. Phonological Sketch of Helong: An Austronesian Language of Timor. Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society. 10(1). 91-103.
Misriani Balle & Stuart Cameron. 2014. The interplay of quantifiers and number in Helong grammar. In Marian Klamer & František Kratochvil (eds.) Number and quantity in East Nusantara, proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference of Australasian Languages, Canberra: Asia-Pacific Linguistics. 43-59.