Serua
bahasa Serua
Serua was an Austronesian language once spoken in Indonesia.
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Serua is an extinct Austronesian language originally spoken on Serua Island in Maluku, Indonesia. Speakers were relocated to Seram due to volcanic activity on Serua. The language continues in communities in Waipia in Seram, where the islanders were resettled, along with those also from Nila and Teun. Here, the older generation retained the island language as a strong form of identity. It was found to be extinct in 2024.
At the end of World War II, many Seruans were relocated to the Netherlands. Having fought on the side of the Dutch during Indonesian independence, they became part of the KNIL resettlement. The TNS (Teun Nila Serua) groups maintain an island community in the Netherlands, but the language is not maintained.
From Wikipedia · Serua language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Serua
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| person | tamota* | |
| name | arna* | |
| eye | mEta* | |
| ear | klina* | |
| nose | nau* | |
| tooth | nina* | |
| tongue | ma* | |
| hand | lima* | |
| blood | rara* | |
| bone | kui* | |
| skin | ulti* | |
| breast | susu* | |
| liver | nEti* | |
| water | eru | |
| fire | ai* | |
| star | norna* | |
| rain | usna | |
| stone | watu* | |
| leaf | tewi* | |
| night | mEla* | |
| dog | asu* | |
| fish | ina* | |
| louse | utu* | |
| one | mesa* | |
| two | rua* | |
| I | ha7u* | |
| we | ita* | |
| drink | yomnu* | |
| see | iklai* | |
| hear | sErin* |
* in the simplified ASJP transcription
Most similar languages
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · seru1245 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · srw