Siapakah Penduduk Asli Pulau Komodo? Sebuah Kajian Linguistik Historis Komparatif dan Kaitannya dengan Persebaran Islam di Flores

Komodo is the only local language in Flores where all speakers are Muslim. In addition, the level of difference between this language and the surrounding languages is quite high. This study aims to identify the kinship of the language spoken by the people on Komodo Island and its relation to the spread of Islam in Flores. The approach used is comparative historical linguistics. Data were collected using interview and elicitation techniques using 1090 vocabularies in 12 observation points. The collected data were analyzed using Zikic's dialectometric method that compares the number of cognate vocabulary similarities. The results show that the language spoken by the people in Komodo Island tends to be related to the Mbojo language spoken on Sumbawa Island because it has an average cognate percentage of 43% which means that the two languages are two different dialects of the same language. Other elements that make up the Komodo language are Bajo (26%) and Manggarai (21%). The spread of the Komodo language is linked to the migration of people from the Sultanate of Bima to the western part of Flores Island. The distribution of Komodo speakers has significantly increased the concentration of the Muslim community in West Manggarai Regency.