INL vs DIT — the two Tetun spelling standards
Tetun has two standardised orthographies. They agree on almost everything — the differences sit in a handful of loanword and accent rules. Here's what diverges, why, and how to pick.
Adopted by Decree 1/2004. The legal standard for government documents, laws, courts, and formal publishing. Writes the palatal nasal and lateral as ñ and ll, and keeps Portuguese-style accents.
Widely used in education, journalism, NGOs, and digital contexts. Uses Portuguese digraphs (nh, lh) and tolerates dropping most accents.
Divergences
- Palatal nasalINLñDITnh
INL writes the palatal nasal with ñ; DIT uses the digraph nh (as in Portuguese).
kompañia / kompanhia - Palatal lateralINLllDITlh
INL uses ll as a digraph. DIT uses lh (from Portuguese).
konsellu / konselhu - Accented endingsINL-ál (nasionál, tradisionál)DIT-al OR -ál
INL always writes the acute accent on final -ál. DIT tolerates either.
nasionál - Kept Portuguese accentsINLfó, ne'ebéDITfoo / fó, neebe / ne'ebé
INL keeps Portuguese-style accents. DIT accepts either the accented or un-accented form.
ne'ebé - Apostrophe (glottal stop)INLha'u, ne'eDITha'u, ne'e
Both use the standard ASCII apostrophe U+0027 for the glottal stop.
ha'u - Loanwords: -ção/-sãoINL-saun (investigasaun)DIT-saun (investigasaun)
Both drop the cedilla and tilde: investigação → investigasaun.
investigasaun - Loanwords: final -oINL-u (governu, servisu)DIT-u (governu, servisu)
Both shift Portuguese -o to Tetun -u.
governu
Which should I use?
- Government / legal / formal:
- Use INL. Ministries, courts, official decrees, state publishing, contracts, diplomatic correspondence.
- Academic / educational:
- Use DIT. Universities, textbooks, teaching materials, most dictionaries and language courses (including Peace Corps Tetun).
- Journalism / NGO / digital:
- DIT is common in practice. INL is correct for anything co-produced with government.
- Unsure?
- Set the translator's Ortho toggle to Auto — it writes DIT by default and switches to INL automatically when you pick the Government domain.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between INL and DIT orthography in Tetun?
INL (Instituto Nacional de Linguística) is the official government spelling standard under Decree 1/2004. It writes the palatal nasal as ñ and the palatal lateral as ll, and preserves Portuguese-style accents on words like fó and ne'ebé. DIT (Dili Institute of Technology) is an academic standard widely used in education. It uses the digraphs nh and lh (as in Portuguese), and tolerates dropping most accents.
Which Tetun orthography should I use?
Use INL for anything official — government documents, court filings, official correspondence, laws, decrees, and formal published writing. Use DIT for academic work, educational materials, informal or digital contexts where Portuguese letters may not render correctly. Tetun Translator supports both and can convert between them.
Is there a way to convert Tetun text between INL and DIT?
Yes. The Tetun Translator's ortho converter transforms text from INL to DIT or back, applying the rules from the INL Matadalan Ortográfiku (2003) and the DIT orthographic conventions used by Catharina Williams-van Klinken.
Is INL or DIT more widely used?
INL is the legal standard, but DIT has wider practical use in academic publishing, journalism, NGOs, and day-to-day writing because many authors were trained with DIT conventions. Most Timorese read both fluently.
Sources: INL "Matadalan Ortográfiku ba Tetun-Prasa" (2003, under Government Decree 1/2004) · Williams-van Klinken & Ximenes, "Ortografia Tetun Dili" (TLSA 2025) · tetun.org dictionary conventions (CWvK).