Mentawai language

Not to be confused with Mendawai language.

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

Mentawai
Nganga Simatawe
Native to	West Sumatra, Indonesia
Region	Mentawai Islands
Native speakers	58,000 (2000 census)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands Mentawai
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mwv
Glottolog	ment1249

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

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 [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.
• The semivowels /w j/ only appear in final position.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a

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.