Matbat language

Matbat
Misool
Native to	Indonesia
Native speakers	1,000–1,500 (2001)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Nuclear MP (Central–Eastern) Halmahera–Cenderawasih Halmahera Sea Maya–Matbat Matbat
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xmt
Glottolog	matb1237

Matbat is a heavily Papuan-influenced Austronesian language spoken in West Papua on the island of Misool, Raja Ampat islands. Like neighboring Ma'ya, it is one of a handful of Austronesian languages with tone.

Matbat has five lexical tones: high falling ˥˩ 41, high ˦ 3, low rising ˩˨ 12, low level ˩ 1, and low falling ˨˩ 21, which in open syllables has a peaking allophone, ˩˨˩ 121. Most Matbat words are monosyllabic; additional syllables in polysyllabic words are often weak and toneless, though a few words do have two tonic syllables. Examples of some of the longer monomorphemic words are /kamow˩˨/ 'star', /wuj˦te/ 'sea shore', /sapu˥˩luj˩˨/ 'round', /bim˦bom˩˨˩pu/ 'butterfly'.

Phonology

Phonology of the Matbat language:

Consonant sounds

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d		k g
Fricative	ɸ	s			h
Nasal	m	n		ŋ
Lateral		l
Glide			j	w

Vowel sounds

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open	a

Further reading

• Remijsen, Bert. "A second RA tone language: Matbat". http://www.lotpublications.nl/publish/articles/000175/bookpart.pdf. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)