Sikule language

The Sikule language (also called Sibigo, Sigulai, Ageumeui, or Wali Banuah) is an Austronesian language spoken on Simeulue island off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.[2] It belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian languages. Sikule is one of Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands languages, which are a sub-group of Western Malayo-Polynesian.[3]

Sikule
Wali Banuah
Native toIndonesia
RegionAceh, Sumatra
Native speakers
(undated figure of 20,000)[1]
Austronesian
Language codes
ISO 639-3skh
Glottologsiku1242

Sikule is spoken in Alafan district, on the western end of Simeulue island. It is apparently related to the Nias language.[4] Ethnologue lists Lekon and Tapah as dialects.[1]

Simeulue is spoken in the rest of Simeulue outside of Alafan, while Jamu (also called Kamano), related to Minangkabau, is spoken in the capital city of Sinabang.

Phonology

The vowel and consonant phonemes of Sikule are shown in the tables below.[5]

Sikule vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid e ə o
Open a
Sikule consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Post-alveolar/Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/Affricate voiceless p t t͡ʃ k (ʔ)
voiced b d d͡ʒ ɡ
Fricative s x h
Approximant central j
lateral l
Trill r

See also

References
  1. Sikule at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
  2. Chapter 3 – Tsunami 1907: Early Interpretation and its Development (PDF), pp. 12–32, archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-26
  3. Adelaar, 2005, p. 22.
  4. "Simeulue" (PDF) – via asiaharvest.org.
  5. Nothofer, 1986, p. 96

Sources
  • Adelaar, Alexander, The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar: A Historical Perspective, The Austronesian Languages of Asia and Madagascar, pp. 1-42, Routledge Language Family Series, London, Routledge, 2005, ISBN 0-7007-1286-0
  • Nothofer, Bernd, The Barrier Island Languages in the Austronesian Language Family, Focal II: Papers From the Fourth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, pp. 87-109, Pacific Linguistics, Series C 94, Canberra, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, 1986.
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