Mentawai language

Not to be confused with Mendawai language.

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

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

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.