The Lamaholot language shows evidence of a Papuan (non-Austronesian) substratum, with about 50 percent of the lexicon being non-Austronesian.[3]
Various Lamaholot dialects are presented as independent languages by Ethnologue. For example, Lewotobi is presented as a separate language by Ethnologue and Grimes (1997).[4]Nagaya (2011) disputes this, classifying it instead as a dialect of Lamaholot.
An additional dialect of Lamaholot not found in Ethnologue, Muhang, is spoken by the Ata Tana 'Ai people living in Sikka Regency.[5] The first children's book in Muhang, Walde Nenang Uran Wair, was published in 2022.[6]
Lamaholot is similar to Sika to the west and Kedang to the east. Lamaholot dialects are often divided into three groupings: western (Flores), central (east Flores, Adonara, and Solor) and eastern (Lembata). Alorese (parts of the coast of northern Pantar and western Alor) is partially intelligible with Lamaholot and is often considered to be a dialect of it.
^Alor at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Adonara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Lamalera at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Lamaholot at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Ile Ape at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) Lewotobi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) (Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box)
^Hanna Fricke. 2019. The mixed lexicon of Lamaholot. 11th International Austronesian and Papuan Languages and Linguistics Conference (APLL11), 13–15 June 2019, Leiden University.
^E. Douglas Lewis, People of the Source: The Social and Ceremonial Order of Tana Wai Brama on Flores. Foris Publications, 1988. "A small enclave of speakers of the Lamaholot (Solorese) language of Larantuka and East Flores, who are called Muhang by the Sikkanese, is found along the northern coast of the Tana 'Ai region of Sikka."
^Kroon, Yosep B. (2016). A Grammar of Solor - Lamaholot: A Language of Flores, Eastern Indonesia. The University of Adelaide, Australia.
Bibliography
Kroon, Yosep Bisara (2016). A grammar of Solor – Lamaholot: a language of Flores, Eastern Indonesia (Ph.D. thesis). University of Adelaide. doi:10.4225/55/5823cd4c017f4. hdl:2440/102380.
Nagaya, Naonori (2011). The Lamaholot Language of Eastern Indonesia (Ph.D. thesis). Rice University. hdl:1911/70366.
Michels, Marc (2017). Western Lamaholot: a cross-dialectal grammar sketch (Master's thesis). Leiden University. hdl:1887/52580.
Fricke, Hanna L. (2019). Traces of language contact: The Flores-Lembata languages in eastern Indonesia (Ph.D. thesis). Leiden University. hdl:1887/80399.
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