Mukomuko language

Mukomuko
Bahaso Mukomuko
Native to	Indonesia (Bengkulu)
Region	Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu (Indonesia)
Ethnicity	Mukomuko
Native speakers	(26,000 cited 1993)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian disputed: Malayo-Sumbawan or Greater North Borneo Malayic Minangkabau Mukomuko
Dialects	Northern Mukomuko Southern Mukomuko
Writing system	Latin (Indonesian alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	vmo retired and subsumed into min[2]
Glottolog	muko1237
Areas where Mukomuko language is a majority

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 in northern Bengkulu that borders West Sumatra.^[3] In 1993, there were an estimated 26,000 Mukomuko speakers.^[1] Mukomuko is closely related to the Minangkabau language and shares similarities with the Pancung Soal dialect, spoken in the southern part of Pesisir Selatan Regency in West Sumatra.^[4][5] The distribution area of this dialect also extends to the northern part of Mukomuko Regency. Geographically, Mukomuko is situated on the border between Bengkulu and West Sumatra, which fosters interaction between the people of Mukomuko and the Minangkabau. This proximity results in a culturally rich environment, representing the convergence of two or more cultures.^[6]

The native inhabitants of northern Mukomuko are the Minangkabau people. Traditionally, culturally, and linguistically, they are closely related to the Pesisir Selatan of West Sumatra. In the past, the Mukomuko region was part of the Pesisir Selatan diaspora of the Minangkabau. In addition to the Minangkabau, the southern part of Mukomuko regency is inhabited by the Pekal people. The Mukomuko region is also a Minangkabau diaspora (rantau) area, often referred to as the Riak nan Berdebur region, along the west coast from Padang to South Bengkulu.^[7][6] However, since the British colonial period, the Mukomuko region has been politically separated from West Sumatra. Since then, the Mukomuko people have been separated from their relatives in West Sumatra, which continued to the Dutch colonial period, the Japanese occupation, and into the independence era.^[7] Centuries of separation have resulted in the Mukomuko language gradually diverging from standard Minangkabau, particularly in its vocabulary. However, despite these changes, mutual intelligibility between the two dialects generally persists.

The Minangkabau language has been regarded as the lingua franca in northern Bengkulu, exerting its influence on neighboring languages like Bengkulu Malay, particularly in terms of phonology and vocabulary.^[8]