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The isolating languages of Central Flores (Austronesian) are typologically distinct from their nearby relatives. They have no bound morphology, as well elaborate numeral clas-sifier systems, and quinary-decimal numeral system. McWhorter (2019) proposes that their isolating typology is due to imperfect adult language acquisition of a language of Sulawesi, brought to Flores by settlers from Sulawesi in the relatively recent past. I propose an alternative interpretation, which better accounts for the other typological features found in Central Flores: the Central Flores languages are isolating because they have a strong substrate influence from a now-extinct isolating language belonging to the Mekong-Mamberamo linguistic area (Gil 2015). This explanation better accounts for the typological profile of Central Flores and is a more plausible contact scenario.

Alors qu’islam et christianisme tendent à être perçus dans le discours national comme fortement antagonistes, les Riung de Florès (Indonésie orientale), musulmans ou catholiques, ne les traitent pas en catégories mutuellement exclusives. Le système local d’organisation sociale et de parenté et la relation asymétrique entre donneurs et preneurs de femmes demeurant solides, les liens d’alliances matrimoniales et ancestrales cimentent les relations entre acteurs sociaux, qu’ils soient ou non de même religion. Comme l’adoption historique locale des grandes religions, la conversion moderne par mariage est surtout pragmatique et le « flux de vie » lié au transfert des femmes s’accompagne d’un incessant « flux religieux ». La société riung, issue d’une longue tradition de flexibilité et de tolérance, continue de fonctionner au-delà des distinctions identitaires religieuses et les fêtes chrétiennes ou musulmanes, comme les cérémonies traditionnelles, sont autant d’occasions pour les groupes d’échange locaux de réaffirmer la nature de leur relation et d’entretenir l’orientation du flux de vie.While Islam and Christianity tend in the national discourse to be perceived as highly contradictory, the Riung of Flores (Eastern Indonesia), Moslems and Catholics alike, view them as non mutually exclusive categories. As the local system of social organization and kinship and the asymmetrical relationship between wife givers and wife takers remain momentous, ancestral and matrimonial alliances still sustain social relations, irrespective of differing faiths. Just like the historical local conversion to Christianity and Islam, current conversion through intermarriage is mainly an ad hoc decision, and the “flow of life” connected to the transfer of women is paralleled by a steady “religious flux”. Riung society, with its long tradition of flexibility and tolerance, still functions despite differing religious identities, and Moslem or Christian holy days, like traditional ceremonies, represent as many opportunities for local exchange groups to validate the nature of their bonds and sustain the direction of the flow of life.

Alors qu’islam et christianisme tendent à être perçus dans le discours national comme fortement antagonistes, les Riung de Florès (Indonésie orientale), musulmans ou catholiques, ne les traitent pas en catégories mutuellement exclusives. Le système local d’organisation sociale et de parenté et la relation asymétrique entre donneurs et preneurs de femmes demeurant solides, les liens d’alliances matrimoniales et ancestrales cimentent les relations entre acteurs sociaux, qu’ils soient ou non de même religion. Comme l’adoption historique locale des grandes religions, la conversion moderne par mariage est surtout pragmatique et le « flux de vie » lié au transfert des femmes s’accompagne d’un incessant « flux religieux ». La société riung, issue d’une longue tradition de flexibilité et de tolérance, continue de fonctionner au-delà des distinctions identitaires religieuses et les fêtes chrétiennes ou musulmanes, comme les cérémonies traditionnelles, sont autant d’occasions pour les groupes d’échange locaux de réaffirmer la nature de leur relation et d’entretenir l’orientation du flux de vie. While Islam and Christianity tend in the national discourse to be perceived as highly contradictory, the Riung of Flores (Eastern Indonesia), Moslems and Catholics alike, view them as non mutually exclusive categories. As the local system of social organization and kinship and the asymmetrical relationship between wife givers and wife takers remain momentous, ancestral and matrimonial alliances still sustain social relations, irrespective of differing faiths. Just like the historical local conversion to Christianity and Islam, current conversion through intermarriage is mainly an ad hoc decision, and the “flow of life” connected to the transfer of women is paralleled by a steady “religious flux”. Riung society, with its long tradition of flexibility and tolerance, still functions despite differing religious identities, and Moslem or Christian holy days, like traditional ceremonies, represent as many opportunities for local exchange groups to validate the nature of their bonds and sustain the direction of the flow of life.