Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages

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Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands
Barrier Islands–Batak
Geographic
distribution		Sumatra
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Proto-languageProto-Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands
Glottolognort2829

The Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages (also Barrier Islands–Batak languages) are a group of Malayo-Polynesian languages spoken by the Batak and related peoples in the interior of North Sumatra and by the Nias, Mentawai people, and others on the Barrier islands (Simeulue, Nias, and Mentawai Islands Regency) off the western coast of Sumatra.

Classification[]

The languages of the Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands subgroup are:

  • Gayo
  • Batak languages
  • Simeulue
  • Nias–Sikule
  • Mentawai
  • Enggano (?)

This subgroup was first proposed by Lafeber (1922), who called it "Batak-Nias".[1] Nothofer (1986) presented lexical and phonological evidence in support of this subgroup, calling it "Barrier Islands–Batak".[2]

The position of the highly divergent Enggano language is controversial. Both Lafeber (1922) and Nothofer (1986) include Enggano as a probable daughter language.[1][2] This is rejected by Edwards (2015) who considers Enggano a primary branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages.[3] Recent research by Smith (2017) however supports the inclusion of Enggano within his tentative "Sumatran" subgroup, which is an extended version of Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands that further includes the Nasal language spoken in Bengkulu in southwestern Sumatra.[4]

Lexicon[]

Edwards (2015: 78)[3] provides the following table comparing body part vocabulary items across various languages of the Barrier Islands. Edwards (2015: 89) considers the aberrant Enggano language as not part of the Barrier Islands-Batak languages.

Gloss PMP Enggano Mentawai Nias Sikule Simeulue
head *qulu e-(ʔ)udu uteʔ həɡə tuhu ulu
hair, head *buhek e-pududui alai bu bu buʔ
face *daqih e-baka mata bava muko bobaŋon
eye *mata e-baka mata hərə mata mata
nose *ijuŋ ẽ-pãnũ asak ixu nixu ixuŋ
mouth *baqbaq e-kaʔa ŋaŋa bava bafa ba(ʔ)ba
lips *biRbiR e-ukudipo bibo beve befe befil
tongue *dilaq e-dio† lila, ʤala lela l/nela dila
tooth *nipen e-kaʔa ʧon ifɨ ifɨ ehen
ear *taliŋa e-kadiha taliŋa taliŋa ɡuɡuyu (k)oeuʔ
neck *liqeR ẽ-ũʔũ lolokat baɡi ʔoɡu leŋɡəl
hand *kamay/*lima e-ʔapo kabei bələxa,taŋa taŋa kaoʔ,siʔu
fingernail *kanuhkuh ẽ-kanũʔũnũ sulet siʔa tena tenab˺
breast *titi(q)/*susu e-koko tottot susu totoʔ totuʔ
belly *tian e-kitai baɣa talu amatan besil
leg *qaqay e-ae dere ahe ae haɨ
knee *tuhud ẽ-pũʔũ u-ae bókolo tuhi bohun boxul
hair, body *bulu e-pududui bulu bu bu buʔ
skin *kulit e-ʔudi kulit uli bebi bebiʔ
meat/flesh *hesi e-heda akkelak naɡole ö(h)i isi
fat/grease *miñak/*himaR ẽ-mĩnãʔ㇠lainak tavə tafɨ tafɨ
bone *tuqelaŋ e-ʔaa tolat təla tɨ/öla sod˺
heart *pusuq e-báhau, ẽ-kẽmã teinuŋ tədə ɨlaxa, oho ate
blood *daRaq e-kiaki loɣau do do dala
liver *qatay ẽ-nĩũnĩũ atei ate bala
urine *iheq ẽ-ĩkõ kia iə xiɨ k/xiɨ
excrement *taqi e-kai tanai tai tai tai

References[]

  1. ^ a b Lafeber, Abraham (1922). Vergelijkende klankleer van het Niasisch. s'-Gravenhage: Hadi Poestaka.
  2. ^ a b Nothofer, Bernd (1986). "The Barrier Island Languages in the Austronesian Language Family". In Geraghty, P., Carrington, L. and Wurm, S.A. (eds.) Focal II: Papers From the Fourth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, pp. 87–109. Pacific Linguistics, Series C, No. 94, Canberra, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University.
  3. ^ a b Edwards, Owen (2015). "The Position of Enggano within Austronesian". Oceanic Linguistics 54(1): 54-109
  4. ^ Smith, Alexander D. (2017). "The Western Malayo-Polynesian Problem". Oceanic Linguistics 56(2): 435-490
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