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.

Bengkulu Malay
Bahaso Bengkulu
RegionBengkulu Province, Sumatra
Native speakers
66,000[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3bke (merged into pse in 2008) [2]
pse-ben Bengkulu, Bencoolen, Bengkulan
Glottologbeng1290
Linguasphere33-AFA-du
  Areas where Bengkulu Malay is a majority
  Areas where Bengkulu Malay is a significant minority
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Phonology

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

Consonants

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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

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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⟩.

References

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