Rusenu was discovered accidentally by the Dutch-Timorese linguist Aone van Engelenhoven, who was studying a language called Makuva, thought since the 1950s to be extinct.
[1] Just as he was about to leave for the Netherlands, he was informed about the existence of a language called Rusenu.
"[2] He gave his tape recorder to his informant, who subsequently interviewed the woman and her son.
She remembered a nursery rhyme, which she was unable to interpret (as was her entire tribe).
After Van Engelenhoven analysed and transcribed the recording, he concluded that Rusenu, "albeit remotely related to Fataluku, is a separate language.