The orthography of implosive consonants in languages of East Nusa Tenggara: Pedagogical implications
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Orthography development for the languages of East Nusa Tenggara has been undertaken by various institutions and researchers, resulting in multiple conventions for representing the same phonological features. However, systematic evaluation of these variations remains limited. This study examines how implosive consonants—bilabial /ɓ/, alveolar /ɗ/, palatal /ʄ/, and velar /ɠ/—are represented in existing orthographies and discusses the pedagogical implications of these representations. A comparative qualitative design was employed through documentary analysis and orthography testing. Documentary data were collected from grammars, linguistic publications, and community literacy materials representing eight languages. Orthography testing involved 20 elementary school students and 10 teachers from Hawu and Dela communities. Participants completed oral reading tasks followed by group discussions. The findings reveal considerable variation in the representation of implosive consonants across languages and institutions, including both underrepresentation and overrepresentation of phonemes. These inconsistencies may reduce orthographic transparency and create additional challenges for beginning readers, particularly in multilingual educational contexts. The study highlights the importance of consistent phoneme–grapheme correspondences and encourages collaboration among researchers, institutions, and language communities in developing more transparent orthographic systems for the languages of East Nusa Tenggara.
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