Mukomuko language

Mukomuko
Bahaso Mukomuko بهاسو موكوموكو‎
Native to	Indonesia (Bengkulu)
Region	Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu (Indonesia)
Ethnicity	Mukomuko
Native speakers	(26,000 cited 1992)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian disputed: Malayo-Sumbawan or Greater North Borneo Malayic Minangkabau Mukomuko
Dialects	Northern Mukomuko Southern Mukomuko
Writing system	Latin Jawi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	(the codevmo has been merged into min in 2008)
Glottolog	muko1237

The Mukomuko language (bahaso Mukomuko) is a language in the Minangkabau language family spoken by the Mukomuko people, a subgroup of the Minangkabau people living in Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu. In 1992, there were an estimated 26,000 Mukomuko speakers. The Mukomuko language is still closely related to the Minangkabau language, which has similarities with the Pancung Soal dialect (spoken in the southern part of Pesisir Selatan Regency in West Sumatra), whose distribution area also extends to the northern part of Mukomuko Regency.

Distribution

Mukomuko language is used by some of the population in the North Mukomuko District and South Mukomuko District in Bengkulu. The capital of North Mukomuko District is Mukomuko and the capital of South Mukomuko District is Ipuh. North Mukomuko District and South Mukomuko District consist of several hamlets, namely in North Mukomuko District there are 39 and in South Mukomuko District there are 30. In the area of North Mukomuko District and South Mukomuko District, besides Mukomuko language, the community also speaks Javanese and Kerinci languages. Javanese is mostly spoken by transmigrants from Java, while Kerinci language is spoken in the hamlets of Sungai Ipuh, Pondok Baru, and Sungai Jarinjing in North Mukomuko District. The boundary of Mukomuko language users extends to Pondok Suguh hamlet in the south and Lubuk Pinang hamlet in the north.

Dialects

The Mukomuko language has two dialects, namely the Northern Mukomuko dialect and the Southern Mukomuko dialect. The Northern Mukomuko dialect is spoken by speakers in the city of Mukomuko and its surrounding areas bordering West Sumatra, while the Southern Mukomuko dialect is spoken in the southern part of Mukomuko regency bordering North Bengkulu regency. Both dialect speakers consider the Northern Mukomuko dialect to be the 'original' dialect because their ancestors originally inhabited the northern region.

The differences between the two dialects are evident in phonetics and vocabulary variations. Phonetic variations between the two dialects involve systematic sound changes. Firstly, the sound [-it] at the end of words in the northern dialect changes to [-ik]. Secondly, the sound [-ir] at the end of words in the Northern dialect changes to [gh] in the southern dialect. Thirdly, the sound [g] at the beginning of words in the Northern dialect changes to [gh] in the Southern dialect. Fourthly, the sound [-ut] at the end of words in the Northern dialect changes to [-uq] in the Southern dialect.

Furthermore, there are notable vocabulary distinctions between the two dialects. The following table presents a sample of words that exhibit differences between them:

Vocabulary variances between the Northern and Southern Mukomuko Dialects

Northern Dialect	Southern Dialect	Indonesian	English
kulit	kulik	kulit	skin
gigit	gigik	gigit	tooth
perut	peghut	perut	stomach
utaro	utagho	utara	north
barat	baghat	barat	west
gatieng	ghatieng	ranting	twigs
gambut	ghambuq	rambut	hair
giang	ghiang	riang	carefree
lutut	lutuq	lutut	knee

The differences between the two dialects can be influenced by other languages. The Southern dialect is more influenced by other languages due to community mobility and the presence of transmigrants from other regions such as Java.