Minangkabau (Minangkabau: ,

Pegon script Pegon ( Javanese and Sundanese: , ; also known as , ) was a modified Arabic script used to write the Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese languages, as an alternative to the Latin script or the Javanese script and the old Sundanese script. In ...

: ; id, Bahasa Minangkabau; ms, Bahasa Minangkabau or , Jawi: ) is an Austronesian language spoken by the

Minangkabau Minangkabau may refer to: * Minangkabau culture, culture of the Minangkabau people * Minangkabau Culture Documentation and Information Center * Minangkabau Express, an airport rail link service serving Minangkabau International Airport (''see belo ...

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a Provinces of Indonesia, 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, ...

, the western part of

Riau Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of Sumatra along the Strait of Malacca. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south. Accord ...

South Aceh Regency South Aceh Regency ( id, Kabupaten Aceh Selatan) is a regency in the Aceh special region of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra. The regency covers an area of 4,173.82 square kilometres and had a population of 202, ...

, the northern part of

Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...

and Jambi, also in several cities throughout

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 ...

by migrated Minangkabau.Kajian Serba Linguistik : Untuk Anton Moeliono Pereksa Bahasa (2000) The language is also a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

along the western coastal region of the province of

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

, and is even used in parts of

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

, where the language is called ''Aneuk Jamee''. Due to the huge proximity between Minangkabau and

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

, there is some controversy regarding the relationship between the two. Some see Minangkabau as an early variety of Malay, while others think of Minangkabau as a distinct (

Malayic The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The most prominent member is Malay, which is the national language of Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia; it further serves as basis for Ind ...

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

Geographic distribution

Minangkabau is the native language of the

Minangkabau people Minangkabau people ( min, Urang Minang; Indonesian or Malay: ''Orang Minangkabau'' or ''Minangkabo''; Jawi: منڠكبو), also known as Minang, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indonesi ...

. There are approximately 5.5 million speakers of the language. It is also spoken in the western part of

, the northern part of

and Jambi. Along the western coastal region of

, the language is also a

. The language is used and called ''Aneuk Jamee'' in parts of

. 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 Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan'') is a state in Malaysia which lies on the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia. It borders Selangor on the north, Pahang in the east, and Malacca and Johor to the s ...

; this ''

Negeri Sembilan Malay Negeri Sembilan Malay (; also known as or ) is an Austronesian language spoken mainly in the Malaysian state of Negeri Sembilan and in northern Malacca in Alor Gajah. The language is spoken by the descendants of Minangkabau settlers from Sum ...

'', 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. In everyday communication between Minangkabau people of different regions, the Agam-Tanah Datar dialect (''Baso Padang'' or ''Baso Urang Awak'' 'our eople'slanguage') is often used and has become a kind of standard. The Tapan language, spoken in the town of Tapan in southern

province, is a recently discovered

Malayan language The Malayic languages are a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian language family. The most prominent member is Malay, which is the national language of Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia; it further serves as basis for Ind ...

which has been proposed as related to but not part of Minangkabau. Together, Tapan and Minangkabau would form a Greater Minangkabau subgroup.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)''. The two languages Tapan and Muko-Muko form a '' Lunangic'' subgroup within the ''Minangic'' (Greater Minangkabau) language group.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)''. The Minangic subgroup is characterized by the following word-final sound changes. * *V i� > V i�ŋ * *us > uĭh * *at > eʔ * *as > eh * *is > ih

Phonology

The sound inventory of Minangkabau is listed below: Diphthongs: , , , , .

Example

Sentences

Numerals

References

External links

Rosetta Project: Minangkabau Swadesh List
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minangkabau Language Agglutinative languages Languages of Indonesia Languages of Malaysia Minangkabau Malayic languages Languages of Sumatra Languages of Aceh