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The TetumPrasaLanguage is a TetunBasedCreoleLanguage of TimorLorosae. SIL code: TDT. ISO 639-2: crp. Population: 50,000 (?) (1995). Region: First language speakers concentrated in and around Dili on the north coast of Timor Lorosae. Fluent second language speakers scattered widely throughout the western 2/3 of Timor Lorosae. Alternate names: TETUM PRACA, DILI TETUM, TETUM DILI. Comments: Speakers of North and South Tetun [TTM] have significant difficulty understanding it in many speech domains, and vice versa. Some first language speakers of Tetum Prasa consider themselves to be bilingual in Tetun because of contact, but when pressed, admit there are domains in which communication is completely blocked. There are important differences with Tetun in parts of the grammar, morphology, functors, and much of the lexicon. There is heavy influence of Portuguese and some Indonesian or Malay loans in Tetum Prasa. Growing in its role as a language of wider communication, functioning as a symbol of inter-ethnic solidarity in the region, predominantly in urban areas. There are 3 second-language varieties spoken by different people: (1) fluent Tetum Prasa spoken throughout the western 2/3 of Timor Lorosae, primarily by those who have lived in Dili for one or more years, (2) occasional Dili residents with significant influence from their own local mother tongues, and (3) people originally from Timor Lorosae who are overseas residents in Portugal or Australia, with higher portion of inflected Portuguese vocabulary and almost complete lack of Indonesian or Malay loans. There is also 'Tetum Ibadat' or 'liturgical Tetum' which is not spoken by anyone for everyday communication, nor as mother tongue, with a lot of vocabulary and some grammar that is not understood widely. Cultural rituals and themes in Tetun are not as deeply rooted in Tetum Prasa. Heavy Portuguese and Mambae influence. Language of wider communication. Compared to Tetun: many more Portuguese loan words, does not inflect V-initial verb roots for person or number, uses more periphrastic constructions than morphological constructions (e.g., causatives), differences in possessive constructions and negatives. Christian. Bible portions 1996.(extract from http://www.ethnologue.com/)
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