KBRN, Kupang: The East Nusa Tenggara Language Center (BBP NTT) has launched a documentation and inventory initiative for the Lamaholot dialect spoken in Lamalera, Lembata Regency.

This effort aims to enhance the vocabulary of the Indonesian language by incorporating regional linguistic elements into the Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI), the country's official dictionary.

The Lamaholot language, also known as the Solor language, is spoken by the Lamaholot or Solor tribe. Its speakers are spread from the eastern tip of Flores to the west of Solor, the north coast of Pantar, northwest Alor, and the surrounding islands.

This language belongs to the Austronesian language family. "One of the roles of regional languages is to enrich and support the development of Indonesian," said Haniva Yunita Leo, a junior linguist at BBP NTT, on Wednesday, June 11, in Kupang, as quoted by Antaranews.com.

The language center has conducted field research and vocabulary collection to identify unique linguistic concepts within the Lamalera dialect.

This initiative is part of an extensive inventory program designed to fill semantic gaps in Indonesian, ensuring that cultural terms and concepts from Lamalera are integrated and standardized.

Haniva highlighted that regional languages from Java and its surrounding areas have historically contributed significantly to the evolution of Indonesian. However, linguistic input from eastern Indonesia remains relatively limited.

"We hope that regional languages from the eastern part of Indonesia can contribute equally to enriching Indonesian as a unifying language," she said.

Researchers successfully gathered over 200 Lamalera vocabulary entries during the data collection process.

However, these entries must undergo two additional verification stages, including a workshop and a regional language commission review, before they can be proposed for inclusion in the KBBI.

For words that do not make it into the KBBI, BBP NTT plans to compile them into a dictionary application dedicated to preserving regional linguistic heritage.

Alongside the Lamalera language, BBP NTT has also facilitated the compilation of a Kodi language dictionary.

The Kodi language is spoken by the Kodi tribe in Southwest Sumba Regency, primarily in the Kodi, North Kodi, Kodi Bangedo, and Kodi Balaghar subdistricts. It belongs to the Central-East Malayo-Polynesian language family.

The center welcomes collaborations with government institutions and organizations to support dictionary development as part of broader efforts to preserve Indonesia's linguistic diversity.

Meanwhile, BBP NTT has recorded 1,277 entries from Nusa Tenggara Timur's regional languages in the KBBI, contributing to Indonesia's total of 72 regional languages spoken across the province.

Among these languages are Manggarai, spoken by the Manggarai tribe in Flores, and Sumba, which includes West Sumba, East Sumba, and Central Sumba.

The Tetun language is commonly used in border areas between East Nusa Tenggara and Timor Leste, while the Rote language is spoken by the Rote tribe on Rote Island.

The Lamaholot language is spoken in East Flores, alongside the Alor language used by the Alor tribe on Alor Island. Additionally, the Abui and Kambera languages are spoken in East Flores.

The diversity of regional languages is one of Indonesia's unique characteristics, requiring preservation to prevent extinction due to the declining number of native speakers. ***