Mentawai | |
---|---|
Nganga Simatawe | |
Native to | West Sumatra, Indonesia |
Region | Mentawai Islands |
Native speakers | (58,000 cited 2000 census) |
Language family | Austronesian |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mwv |
Glottolog | ment1249 |
The Mentawai language is an Austronesian language, spoken by the Mentawai people of the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Dialects
According to Ethnologue, Mentawai dialects include: Silabu, Sipura – Simalegi, Sakalagan, Saumanganja – North Siberut, South Siberut – Taikaku – Pagai.
Syamsir Arifin, et al. (1992) list twelve dialects of Mentawai:
- Mentawai
- South Siberut
- Madobat
- Salappa
- Ulubaga
- Sipora
- Bariulou
- Bosua
- Sioban
- North Pagai
- Pasapuat
- Silabu
- Saumanganya
- South Pagai
- Boriai
- Bulasat
- Sikakap
- South Siberut
Dialects in Siberut Island are:
- Sikapone
- Togiiite
- Pokai
- Simajegi
- Simatalu
- Paipajet
- Sakuddei
- Sagulubbe
- Sirileleu
- Sikabaluan
- Sempungan
- Saibi & Sarabua
- Silaoinan
- Sarareiket
- Sabirut
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | (t͡ɕ) | k |
voiced | b | d | d͡ʑ | ɡ | |
Fricative | s | ||||
Lateral | l | ||||
Rhotic | r | ||||
Semivowel | w | j |
- Allophones of /b ɡ k/ can be heard as . is a distinct sound in Mentawai, but not given phoneme status by Syamsir et al. because of the lack of minimal contrasts.
- The semivowels /w j/ only appear in final position.
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |
References
- ^ Mentawai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- "Findresults.site".
- Arifin, Malano & Kasim (1992)
Bibliography
- Arifin, Syamsir; Malano, Nasroel; Kasim, Yuslina (1992). Fonologi Bahasa Mentawai [Mentawai Language Phonology] (PDF) (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaa.
- Adriani, N. (1928). "Spraakkunstige Schets van de Taal der Mĕntawai-Eilanden" [Grammar Sketch of the Language of the Mĕntawai Islands]. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië (in Dutch). 84 (1): 1–117. doi:10.1163/22134379-90001493. JSTOR 20770239.
Western branches of Malayo-Polynesian languages | |||||||||
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Greater Barito * |
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Sumatran * |
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Lampungic | |||||||||
Madurese | |||||||||
Bali–Sasak –Sumbawa | |||||||||
Isolates | |||||||||
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