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)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mwv |
Glottolog | ment1249 |
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]
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 |
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | e | o | |
Open | a |