Linguistic Description and Oral History of the Punan Batu People in North Kalimantan (UMS RKD Grant: 2025)

The aim of this research is to document and analyze the linguistic features and oral history of the Punan Batu people in North Kalimantan, with the goal of preserving their endangered language and understanding the cultural knowledge embedded in their oral traditions.

Publication:

On progres

Perception of Ancestral History by the Alorese People (Risetmu Grant: 2024)

This project aims to explore and analyze how the Alorese people perceive, interpret, and transmit their ancestral history, with a focus on the cultural, social, and oral traditions that shape their historical consciousness and identity.

Publication:

The Perception of Ancestral History, Legends, and Myths of the Alorese Muslim Minority Group in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Y Sulistyono, LE Rahmawati, IT Biat, R Febrianti, M Zafar, N Aprilyana

IBDA: Jurnal Kajian Islam dan Budaya 22 (2), 235–256-235–256

A History of Alorese (LPDP Grant: 2017-2022)

This project aims to reconstruct the history of Alorese, an Austronesian language spoken in eastern Indonesia by combining perspectives of comparative historical linguistics and oral history

The first picture on the left was taken in the village Buaya, on Buaya Island, Alor Barat Laut, Alor, NTT. The second picture was taken in the village Dulolong, Alor with the local Ketua Adat there. The third picture on the right was taken in the village Kabir in Pantar.

This project is funded by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) starting from 2017 until 2022.

Alorese is the only Austronesian language spoken in the Alor Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Alor). The history of Alorese is exceptionally interesting because it is spoken in the region where most of the local languages are non-Austronesian (Papuan/Alor-Pantar). Moreover, the coastal-Muslim majority speakers of Alorese are surrounded by the inland-Christian majority speakers of the Papuan/Alor-Pantar languages, which makes the situation even more compelling.