The Distribution of Vowel and Consonant Phonemes in the Dengka Dialect of the Rote Language: A Phonological Analysis by Syllabic Position

This study investigates the distribution of vowel and consonant phonemes in the Dengka dialect of the Rote language, an underdocumented Austronesian language spoken in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. It aims to identify the phonemic inventory, examine the positional distribution of phonemes in initial, medial, and final word positions, and describe the phonological patterns underlying the dialect’s syllabic structure. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach. Primary data were collected from native speakers born and raised in the Dengka-speaking community through participant observation, guided interviews using a Swadesh word list, and audio recordings. Secondary data were obtained from the Rote–Indonesian Dictionary (Ingguoe, 2021). The data were analyzed through phonetic transcription using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), distributional analysis, and contrastive analysis. The findings identified five vowel phonemes (/a, e, i, o, u/) and nineteen consonant phonemes (/b, d, f, h, k, l, m, mb, n, nd, ng, ngg, p, r, s, t, w, y, ʔ/). All five vowels occur in initial, medial, and final positions, whereas most consonants are restricted to initial and medial positions. The glottal stop /ʔ/ occurs exclusively in medial position, functioning as a hiatus breaker, while no consonants were identified in final position. These distributional patterns indicate a strong preference for open syllable structures (CV) in the Dengka dialect. This study contributes to the systematic phonological documentation of the Dengka dialect and provides empirical evidence for comparative studies of Austronesian phonology and regional language preservation.