Matbat is spoken in the following locations within Raja Ampat Regency:4
The phonology of the Matbat language is summarized below:5
/j/ can be heard freely as [ʝ] or [ɟ] in word-initial position.6
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'.
Tonogenesis in Matbat remains unclear. Some Matbat reflexes of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) proto-forms are listed below.7: 658–659
Remijsen, A. C. L. (2002). Word-Prosodic Systems of Raja Ampat Languages. Leiden: Leiden University. ↩
Kamholz, David (2014). Austronesians in Papua: Diversification and Change in South Halmahera–West New Guinea (Ph.D. thesis). University of California, Berkeley. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8zg8b1vd ↩
Blust, Robert (2013). The Austronesian Languages (Revised ed.). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics. hdl:1885/10191. ISBN 978-1-922185-07-5. 978-1-922185-07-5 ↩
Ronsumbre, Adolof (2020). Ensiklopedia Suku Bangsa di Provinsi Papua Barat. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Kepel Press. ISBN 978-602-356-318-0. 978-602-356-318-0 ↩
Remijsen, Bert (2010). Nouns and Verbs in Magey Matbat. Michael C. Ewing and Marian Klamer (eds.), East Nusantara: typological and areal analyses: Australian National University. pp. 281–311. ↩