Minangkabau language explained

Minangkabau
Nativename:Minangkabau: Baso Minangkabau
States:Indonesia (West Sumatra)
Region:West Sumatra, Riau, Jambi, Bengkulu, North Sumatra, Aceh (Indonesia)
Ethnicity:Minangkabau, Aneuk Jamee
Speakers: million
Date:2007
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Austronesian
Fam2:Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:disputed:
Malayo-Sumbawan or Greater North Borneo
Fam4:Malayic
Dia1:West Sumatran Minangkabau, Aneuk Jamee, Pasisi, Mukomuko, Rokan, Kampar, Kuantan
Script:Latin
Minangkabau script
Agency:Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa
Iso2:min
Iso3:min
Glotto:mina1268
Glottorefname:Minangkabau
Map:Minangkabau.svg
Notice:IPA

Minangkabau (Minangkabau: Minangkabau: Baso Minangkabau, Jawi script: ; Indonesian: Bahasa Minangkabau) is an Austronesian language spoken by the Minangkabau of West Sumatra, the western part of Riau, South Aceh Regency, the northern part of Bengkulu and Jambi, also in several cities throughout Indonesia by migrated Minangkabau.[1] The language is also a lingua franca along the western coastal region of the province of North Sumatra, and is even used in parts of Aceh, where the language is called Aneuk Jamee.

Minangkabau is similar to Malay. The relationship between the languages is characterized in different ways. Some see Minangkabau as an early variety of Malay, while others think of Minangkabau as a distinct (Malayic) language.

Minangkabau is one of a few languages that generally lacks verb forms and grammatical subject-object distinctions.

Although Minangkabau is still commonly spoken amongst the Minangkabau people, education specific to the culture in urbanizing locations is slowly being erased as it is deemed less and less important in West Sumatra. The Minangkabau language is deemed as "informal" in the urban regions of Padang, with the Indonesian language being preferred instead in formal institutions. Youth in the city will frequently use a mixture of conversational Minang and Indonesian slang.

Geographic distribution

Minangkabau is the native language of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra.[1] There are approximately 5.5 million speakers of the language. It is also spoken in the western part of Riau, South Aceh Regency, the northern part of Bengkulu and Jambi.[1] Along the western coastal region of North Sumatra, the language is also a lingua franca. The language is used and called Aneuk Jamee in parts of Aceh.

Besides Indonesia, Minangkabau is also spoken in Malaysia, by some descendants of migrants from the Minang-speaking region in Sumatra (Ranah Minang, Tanah Minang, or Land of the Minang). Significant numbers of the early migrants settled in what is now the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan; this Negeri Sembilan Malay, known as Bahaso Nogori / Baso Nogoghi, is now a distinct language, more closely related to Malay than to Minangkabau. More recent immigrants are known as Minang.

Dialects

The Minangkabau language has several dialects, sometimes differing between nearby villages (e.g. separated by a river). The dialects are Rao Mapat Tunggul, Muaro Sungai Lolo, Payakumbuh, Pangkalan-Lubuk Alai, Agam-Tanah Datar, Pancungsoal, Kotobaru, Sungai Bendung Air, and Karanganyar.[2] In everyday communication between Minangkabau people of different regions, the Agam-Tanah Datar dialect (Baso Padang or Baso Urang Awak 'our [people's] language') is often used and has become a kind of standard.

The Tapan language, spoken in the town of Tapan in southern West Sumatra province, is a recently discovered Malayan language which has been proposed as related to but not part of Minangkabau. Together, Tapan and Minangkabau would form a Greater Minangkabau subgroup.[3] The two languages Tapan and Muko-Muko form a Lunangic subgroup within the Minangic (Greater Minangkabau) language group.[3] [4]

The Minangic subgroup is characterized by the following word-final sound changes.[4]

Phonology

The sound inventory of Minangkabau is listed below:[5]

!Labial!Alveolar!Palatal!Velar!Glottal
Nasalpronounced as /ink/ (m)pronounced as /ink/ (n)pronounced as /ink/ (ny)pronounced as /ink/ (ng)
Plosive/
Affricate
voicelesspronounced as /ink/ (p)pronounced as /ink/ (t)pronounced as /ink/ (c)pronounced as /ink/ (k)pronounced as /ink/ (k), (ʼ)
voicedpronounced as /ink/ (b)pronounced as /ink/ (d)pronounced as /ink/ (j)pronounced as /ink/ (g)
Fricativepronounced as /ink/ (s)pronounced as /ink/ (h)
Lateralpronounced as /ink/ (l)
Rhoticpronounced as /ink/ (r)
Semivowelpronounced as /ink/ (w)pronounced as /ink/ (y)
Vowels!!Front!Central!Back
Closepronounced as /ink/ (i)pronounced as /ink/ (u)
Midpronounced as /ink/ (e)pronounced as /ink/ (o)
Openpronounced as /ink/ (a)

Diphthongs: pronounced as /[iə̯]/, pronounced as /[uə̯]/, pronounced as /[ui̯]/, pronounced as /[ai̯]/, pronounced as /[au̯]/.

Example

Sentences

EnglishMinangkabauIndonesian
How are you now?
I'm well. How about you?
What is your name?
My name is ...
Thank you.
The trees in the jungle don't have the same height, moreover the people. (Proverb) (Pribaso) (Peribahasa)
"As the frog swims, so he/she swims too." (He/she is doing something without having a goal.)
Don't throw the rubbish here! (Command) (Parintah) (Perintah)
Do not touch! You will burn your hand.

Numerals

NumberMinangkabauIndonesianEnglish
1one
2two
3three
4four
5five
6six
7seven
8eight
9nine
10ten
11eleven
15fifteen
50fifty
100one hundred/a hundred
150one hundred and fifty
500five hundred
  1. ,000
thousand
  1. ,000,000
million
  1. ,000,000,000
billion

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Kajian Serba Linguistik : Untuk Anton Moeliono Pereksa Bahasa (2000)
  2. Nadra, Reniwati, and Efri Yades, Daerah Asal dan Arah Migrasi Orang Minangkabau di Provinsi Jambi Berdasarkan Kajian Variasi Dialektikal (2008)
  3. Kurniati, S., Putri, Y. P., Wichmann, S., & Gil, D. (2011). Tapan: An Exploration in Malayic Subgrouping. Paper presented at the 15th International Symposium on Malay Indonesian Linguistics (ISMIL 15).
  4. Gil, D. & McKinnon, T. (2015). Excrescent Nasals in Malayic Dialects of Western Sumatra. Paper presented at the 13th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics (13-ICAL).
  5. Book: Adelaar, K. Alexander . 1992 . Proto-Malayic: The Reconstruction of its Phonology and Parts of its Lexicon and Morphology . Pacific Linguistics, Series C, no. 119 . Canberra . Dept. of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, the Australian National University .