Simeulue language

The Simeulue language is spoken by the Simeulue people of Simeulue off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.^[1][2]

Simeulue
Simolol
Long Bano
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Simeulue, Aceh, Sumatra
Ethnicity	Simeulue people
Native speakers	(undated figure of 30,000)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands Simeulue
Language codes
ISO 639-3	smr
Glottolog	sime1241

Names

Simeulue is also called Mae o, which literally means 'Where are you going?'. Ethnologue also lists Long Bano, Simalur, Simeuloë, Simolol, and Simulul as alternate names.

Varieties

Simeulue is spoken in five of eight subdistricts (kecamatan) of Simeulue Regency. It includes at least 4 dialects.^[3]

• Devayan: spoken in the four eastern subdistricts of Teupah Selatan, Simeulue Timur, Teupah Barat, and Teluk Dalam
• Simolol (prestige dialect): spoken around Kampung Aie and Simeulue Tengah
• Lekon: spoken in two villages in Alafan, namely Langi and Lafakha.^[4]
• Haloban: spoken in two villages in Banyak Islands, namely Haloban and Asantola.

Sikule, related to Nias, is spoken in Salang, Alafan and Simeulue Barat in northern Simeulue, while Jamu (also called Kamano), related to Minangkabau, is spoken in the capital city of Sinabang and has become the lingua franca of the island.

Phonology

Consonants^[5]

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p b	t d	c ɟ	k g	ʔ
Fricative		s			h
Nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Approximant	w	r, l	j

• The phonemes /d c ɟ g j ɲ/ do not appear word-finally.
• /ɲ/ also does not appear word-initially.

Vowels^[5]

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid-high	e	ə	o
Mid-low	ɛ		ɔ
Low		a

Additionally, the following diphthongs have been observed: /au/, /ai/, /ɔi/.

See also

• Simeulue people
• Sikule language