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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Dialects

According to ''Ethnologue'', Mentawai dialects include: Silabu, Sipura â€“ Simalegi, Sakalagan, Saumanganja â€“ North Siberut, South Siberut â€“ Taikaku â€“ 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