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Bengkulu Malay
Bahaso Bengkulu
Region Bengkulu Province, Sumatra
EthnicityEthnic population: 66,000 [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 bke retired and subsumed into pse [2]
pse-ben Bengkulu, Bencoolen, Bengkulan
Glottolog beng1290
Linguasphere33-AFA-du

Bengkulu Malay or Bengkulu is a Malayic language spoken on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, around the city of Bengkulu, in the rest of the Indonesian province of Bengkulu and in the Pesisir Barat Regency ("west coast") of Lampung Province. It is more closely related to other Malay variants in Sumatra such as Col, Jambi Malay and Palembang Malay as well Minangkabau spoken in neighbouring West Sumatra than to the Rejang language, which is also spoken in the province.

Phonology

Bengkulu is written in the Latin alphabet and sometimes in Rejang script.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ ⟨c⟩ k ⟨k⟩ ʔ ⟨k⟩ (coda)
voiced b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ ⟨j⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ny⟩, ⟨n⟩ (before c/j) ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Fricative s ⟨s⟩ ɕ ⟨si⟩ ( h ⟨h⟩) (coda)
Lateral l ⟨l⟩
Tap ɾ ⟨r⟩
Semivowel j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩

The letters ⟨f⟩, ⟨sy⟩, ⟨v⟩ and ⟨z⟩ are used in loanwords from Indonesian.

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ⟨i⟩ u ⟨u⟩
Middle ɛ ⟨e/é⟩ ə ⟨e⟩ ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open a~ ɑ ⟨a⟩

Bengkulu diphthongs are ⟨ai⟩, ⟨au⟩, ⟨ia⟩ and ⟨ua⟩ (where "ia" and "ua" are used in loanwords).

References

  1. ^ "Bengkulu in Indonesia". Joshua Project. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  2. ^ "Change Request Documentation: 2007-179". SIL International.