Manggarai language

Last updated
Manggarai
Native to Indonesia
Region Flores
Ethnicity Manggarai
Native speakers
(undated figure of 900,000) [1]
Austronesian
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mqy
Glottolog mang1405   Manggarai
Location map of the regency of Greater Manggarai, which consists of three regencies: Manggarai Regency, West Manggarai Regency and East Manggarai Regency, on Flores island, in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia Location East Nusa Tenggara Greater Manggarai.png
Location map of the regency of Greater Manggarai, which consists of three regencies: Manggarai Regency, West Manggarai Regency and East Manggarai Regency, on Flores island, in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

The Manggarai language (tombo Manggarai, Indonesian : bahasa Manggarai) is the language of the Manggarai people from the western parts of the island of Flores, in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

Contents

Background

Manggarai is the native language of the Manggarai people of Flores island in East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. Based on statistical data reported by the Central Agency on Statistics (BPS) in 2009, it is the native language of more than 730,000 people in the province of East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. [2]

Outside Flores, there was once a small minority of Manggarai-speaking people in the village of Manggarai located in the eastern part of Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia. Formerly a neighbourhood in the capital with a large concentration of transmigrant workers from the Greater Manggarai region of Nusa Tenggara Timur, the neighbourhood's populace today from the said area has been decreasing (due to factors such as return to their ancestral village, intermarriage with different ethnic groups, etc.) for it is now populated by the majority native Betawi ethnic group.

The Manggarai language is part of the Austronesian family, and is therefore related to Indonesian and other Malay varieties. Most speakers of Manggarai also speak Indonesian for official and commercial purposes and to communicate with non-Manggarai Indonesians (including citizens of the same province from different diverse ethnic groups). Riung is often considered a dialect of Maranggai or a separate language. In addition, languages such as Kepoʼ, Manus, Rajong, Rembong, and Wae Rana are also sometimes considered Manggarai dialects. [3]

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes [4]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
prenasal vl. ᵐp ⁿt ⁿtʃ ᵑk
prenasal vd. ᵐb ⁿd ⁿdʒ ᵑɡ
Nasal m n ŋ
Fricative v s h
Lateral l
Trill r
Approximant j

Vowels

Vowel phonemes [5]
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a

Citations

  1. Manggarai at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. This data include statistics for the population of the Regency of Greater Manggarai on Flores island, which consists of three districts: Manggarai district, West Manggarai district, and East Manggarai district.
  3. "Bahasa Manggarai". Peta Bahasa (in Indonesian). Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Archived from the original on 2023-11-13. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  4. Verheijen & Grimes (1995) , p. 586
  5. Verheijen & Grimes (1995) , p. 587

References