The (also known as '''Bunaq''', '''Buna'''', '''Bunake''') is the language of the
Bunak people of the mountainous region of central
Timor , split between the political boundary between
West Timor ,
Indonesia , particularly in Lamaknen District and
East Timor . It is one of the few on Timor which is not an
Austronesian Language , but rather a
Papuan Language like groups on
New Guinea . It is usually put in the proposed language group
Trans-New Guinea . The language is surrounded by
Malayo-Polynesian Languages , like the
Atoni and the
Tetum .
According to ''Languages of the World'' (Voegelin and Voegelin 1977), there were about 100,000 speakers of the language, split evenly between the two nations.
