The Mentawai language is an
Austronesian language, spoken by the
Mentawai people of the
Mentawai Islands Mentawai may refer to:
* Mentawai Islands
* Mentawai Strait
* Mentawai people
* Mentawai language
{{dab
Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...
,
West Sumatra
West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 cen ...
,
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
.
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:
*South ]Siberut
Siberut is the largest and northernmost of the Mentawai Islands, located 150 kilometres west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. It covers an area of 3,838.25 km2 including smaller offshore islands, and had a population of 35,091 at the 2010 Cen ...
**Madobat
**Salappa
**Ulubaga
* Sipora
**Bariulou
**Bosua
**Sioban
* North Pagai
**Pasapuat
**Silabu
**Saumanganya
* South Pagai
**Boriai
**Bulasat
**Sikakap
Dialects in Siberut Island
Siberut is the largest and northernmost of the Mentawai Islands, located 150 kilometres west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. It covers an area of 3,838.25 km2 including smaller offshore islands, and had a population of 35,091 at the 2010 Cens ...
are:
*Sikapone
*Togiiite
*Pokai
*Simajegi
*Simatalu
*Paipajet
*Sakuddei
*Sagulubbe
*Sirileleu
*Sikabaluan
*Sempungan
*Saibi & Sarabua
*Silaoinan
*Sarareiket
*Sabirut
Phonology
Consonants
* Allophones of /b ɡ k/ can be heard as � ɣ ʔ ͡ɕis 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
References
Bibliography
*
*
Languages of Indonesia
Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages
{{Austronesian-lang-stub