The Mentawai language is an Austronesian language, spoken by the Mentawai people of the Mentawai Islands, West Sumatra, Indonesia.

Mentawai
Nganga Simatawe
Native toWest Sumatra, Indonesia
RegionMentawai Islands
Native speakers
58,000 (2000 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mwv
Glottologment1249

Dialects

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According to Ethnologue, Mentawai dialects include: Silabu, Sipura – Simalegi, Sakalagan, Saumanganja – North Siberut, South Siberut – Taikaku – Pagai.[1]

Syamsir Arifin, et al. (1992) list twelve dialects of Mentawai:

Dialects in Siberut Island are:[2]

  • Sikapone
  • Togiiite
  • Pokai
  • Simajegi
  • Simatalu
  • Paipajet
  • Sakuddei
  • Sagulubbe
  • Sirileleu
  • Sikabaluan
  • Sempungan
  • Saibi & Sarabua
  • Silaoinan
  • Sarareiket
  • Sabirut

Phonology

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Consonants

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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 [β ɣ ʔ]. [t͡ɕ] is a distinct sound in Mentawai, but not given phoneme status by Syamsir et al. because of the lack of minimal contrasts.[3]
  • The semivowels /w j/ only appear in final position.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a

References

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  1. ^ a b Mentawai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Findresults.site".
  3. ^ Arifin, Malano & Kasim (1992)

Bibliography

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