Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 8 Online version available in : http://arbitrer.fib.unand.ac.id | 2339-1162 (Print) | 2550-1011 (Online) | JURNAL ARBITRER Submission Track A B S T R A C T Received: January 24, 2023 Final Revision: May 04, 2023 Available Online: May 10, 2023 The language aspect in cultural preservation focuses more on the arts and social systems. In fact, language as a connecting medium for arts and social systems also needs to be preserved. In this regard, this study seeks to language use documentation of the Mentawai language in the Mentawai Islands Regency, specifically in dialect varieties. It is intended to find out the situation and condition of the language, make language maps, and determine the varieties of the Mentawai language in the Mentawai Islands Regency. The research data were taken from 200 Swadesh’s basic vocabularies and 200 cultural vocabularies by means of direct interviews. Comparison of research data is based on seven observation areas, namely Mongan Poula, Maileppet, Muntei, Madobag, Sioban, Matobe, and Makalo villages. This study uses a dialectological approach with quantitative and qualitative methods. In this case, the quantitative method is in the form of dialectometric calculations, while the qualitative method is a description of the situation and conditions of the Mentawai language according to the language map. As a result, the Mentawai language in the Mentawai Islands Regency has two dialects, namely, the Sipora Pagai dialect and Siberut dialect. All two have a dialectometric percentage of 51—80%. Keywords Dialect varieties, language map, dialectology, Mentawai language. Correspondence E-mail: tengku.syarfina@usu.ac.id Article Mentawai Language Variations in the Mentawai Islands Regency, West Sumatra Province Satwiko Budiono1, Rita Novita2, Tengku Syarfina3 1-2National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, Indonesiaia 3Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia Under License of Creative Commons Attributioni-Non Commercial 4.0 International.DOI: https://doi.org/10.25077/ar.10.1.8-18.2023 1. INTRODUCTION Culture preservation is closely related to the language preservation. This is because language is included in one of the culture elements in accordance with Law Number 5 of 2017 concerning the Culture Advancement. All elements of culture are related to one another, including language. From several cultural elements, language preservation belongs to cultural elements which have specificity in appropriate government policies of Law Number 24 of 2009 concerning Flags, Languages, and State Symbols, as well as the National Anthem. The existence of special policies in the field of language, both the development of Indonesian and local languages preservation, makes language have an important role as Indonesia’s intangible wealth. This can be seen from the existence of 718 languages identified in Indonesia (National Agency for Language Development and Cultivation (2019). Even so, many local governments pay little attention to language, especially their local language. One example is in the Mentawai Islands Regency. Several cultural elements that are part of the duties Education and Cultural Office of the Mentawai Islands Regency are museums, cultural heritage, history, and oral traditions. Language matters are not included in the scope of local government’s performance (Education and Cultural Office, 2019). In fact, there is a Regulation of the Minister of Home Affair Number 40 of 2007 concerning Guidelines for Regional Heads in the Preservation and Development of National and Local Languages. In this regulation, the obligation to preserve and develop local languages rests with the local government itself. This is unfortunate because the Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 9 Mentawai people are famous for their many oral traditions (Coronese, 1986; Spina, 1981; Tulius, 2012). Starting from oral traditions about disaster preservation, social systems, customs, to fables. In this regard, this research seeks to add to effort to Mentawai language preservation by documenting the Mentawai language use in the Mentawai Islands Regency, particularly dialect variations of the Mentawai language. This is because the local government has confusion in determining the standard dialect of the Mentawai language so that local content in several elementary schools in the Mentawai Islands Regency only contains the culture or what is commonly called the Mentawai Culture lesson (Saleleubaja, 2019). Determination of the Mentawai language dialect as a standard if it can be determined from the language map. The use of the most dialects in linguistic situation and conditions in the Mentawai Islands Regency can be the reason for determining the standard dialect. That way, this research has a real impact on society besides contributing to the Mentawai language preservation effort. On the other hand, this research belongs to updating the situation and linguistic conditions of the Mentawai Language in the Mentawai Island Regency. This is because the distance between this study and previous research has a gap of 30 years, so it is necessary and important to remap the Mentawai language use nowadays. In addition, the research novelty can also be seen from the verification of Mentawai language mapping data in Mentawai Islands Regency. This condition is based on differences in terms of the number of dialects and names from previous research. This is known from the language map images included in the Lenggang, Zainudin HR (1978), Muhajir (1988), and Wagner (1989). From the language map contained in Lenggang, Zainudin HR (1978), it can be seen that the Mentawai language consists of four dialects, namely the North Siberut, South Siberut, Sipora, and Sikakap dialects. The Sikakap dialect is the naming of dialects on North Pagai Island and South Pagai Island. Language maps of observation areas and the dialect categories results can be seen in Figure 1. Figure 1: Mentawai language dialect map (1978) Figure 2: Mentawai language dialect map (1988) Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 10 Results Figure 1 is different from the language maps of Muhajir (1988). In his language map, Muhajir described the Mentawai language as having five dialects, namely the Simalegi, Simatalu, Terukan, Sikabaluan, and general Mentawai dialects. The meaning of the general Mentawai dialect is a dialect that is more common and widely used, such as at the observation area of Sioban, Sikakap, and Muara Siberut. The different results are more related to the naming of dialects and the number of observation area compared to the previous language map. The observation area of Sikakap, Sioban, and Muara Siberut are grouped according to different dialects Lenggang, Zainudin HR (1978). However, Muhajir (1988) grouping the observation area of Sikakap, Sioban, and Muara Siberut into one dialect, namely the general Mentawai dialect. Language maps of observation areas and dialect categories results from Muhajir (1988) can be seen in Figure 2. The difference in the language use at the same observation area with the time difference of ten years, can be indicate a rapid change in language. These changes can be caused by several factors. Starting from high language contact, easier transportation routes, to educational factors. In fact, Pampus in 1989 also described the use of the Mentawai language dialect (Wagner, 1989). In its language map, Pampus takes 13 observation areas. This number is more than the two previous studies. The observation areas and dialect categories results can be seen in Figure 3. In Figure 3, many people assume that Pampus classifies the Mentawai language into 13 dialects (the same as the number of observation areas), namely (1) Sikakap, (2) Sipora, (3) Taileleu, (4) Maileppet, (5) Sarereiket, (6) Sila’oinan, (7) Saibi, (8) Sagulubbe’, (9) Paipajet, (10) Simatalu, (11) Sikabaluan, (12) Terukan, and (13) Simalegi. Based on Swadesh’s vocabulary data in the appendix, the authors see that there are many vocabulary similarities between the observation areas so that it is impossible for the Mentawai language to have that many dialects. This is because Pampus does not specifically mention the number of Mentawai language dialects. Besides that, there are more observation areas than previous studies. This makes the Mentawai language use continue to change according to the development of society and its social dynamics. The novelty of this study is also evident in the comparison of secondary data from Statistics of Indonesia (2018). This is intended to determine the Mentawai language use itself in daily communication. Comparison of secondary data by connecting the results of language mapping with the language use in daily communication is also found in research of Budiono (2021), Syarfina et al. (2022), and Syarfina & Budiono (2022). This is due to the language use in daily communication based on a survey from Statistics of Indonesia (2018) can be the basis for the presence or absence of language change in society. In addition, this secondary data also supports whether the community still uses their local language or not. This is important to know because not all people who can speak the local language still use the local language in their daily communication. II. METHODS This research belongs to the dialectology research. This is because this study aims to determine the situation and condition of the language in the Mentawai Islands Regency. The situation and condition of the language can be seen by first determining the status of language use in the Mentawai Islands Regency. Starting from different Figure 3: Mentawai language dialect map (1989) Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 11 languages, different dialects, different subdialects, different speech, or no language differences. However, this study only compares Mentawai language data so that the status determination is more about dialect status determination. Research that compares the dialect variations use is also found in research on Javanese dialect variations by Budiono (2018) as well as research on dialect variations of the Minangkabau language by Novita et al. (2021). Determination of this status can be used as language documentation material in the Mentawai Islands Regency. Informants This research requires informants who understand, use, and have influence on the Mentawai language in a dialectological approach. In this case, informants on dialectology research followed the NORM criteria (Non-Mobile, Older, Rural, and Male) according to the field research approach from Lauder (2007) and Boberg et al. (2018). This is because informants with these criteria can provide local cultural concepts that are still pure and have not been influenced by external cultural concepts. Thus, this research obtains results that are in accordance with the actual situation and conditions of the language without any intervention from other cultures or makes it easier for researchers to collect data. The meaning of Non-Mobile here is that informants rarely travel outside the village. This aims to obtain the purity of Mentawai language speakers. The meaning of Older is an informants aged >50 years. This age is considered to have understood the concept of Mentawai language which is intact and strong compared to the age below it. The meaning of Rural is that informants were born and raised in the village without ever changing their place of residence. This is important because informants who frequently change their place of residence will not bring up the uniqueness of the cultural concepts in the Mentawai language at the observation area. It is because they have difficulty identifying which ones are typical of their local language. The meaning of Male is that informants should be male compared to female. This is inseparable from the wider male domain compared to female who tend to be narrower in the domestic sphere. Instruments and Data Collection This study used an instrument in the form of 400 vocabulary words by conducting direct interviews with Mentawai speakers. The vocabulary consists of 200 Swadesh vocabularies and 200 cultural vocabularies. In this case, the 200 cultural vocabularies are further divided into 52 body parts vocabularies, 25 kinship system vocabularies, 98 movement and work vocabularies, and 25 task vocabularies. The choice of this questionnaire is due to the fact that some of these cultural vocabularies have the potential to change in all languages. In addition, the same cultural vocabularies is also used as a list of instrument by National Agency for Language Development and Cultivation (2019). In collecting data, researchers do interview techniques and direct notes. What is meant here is that researchers conduct interview with informants in the field by directly writing down the results of the answers. This direct recording technique allows researchers to confirm directly so that the data obtained has high validity in accordance with the actual reality in the field. In addition, this study has observation areas at the village level as in previous studies. However, due to limited time, funds, and personnel, only seven locations were accessible for this research. Some of those observation areas include (1) Mongan Poula Village, (2) Madobag Village, (3) Muntei Village, (4) Maileppet Village, (5) Matobe Village, (6) Sioban Village, and (7) Makalo Village. The selection of the observation areas is based on the representativesness of the distinctive Mentawai language use on each island, both on Siberut Island, Sikakap Island, and Pagai Island. In addition, the selection of seven observation areas is also equated with internal observation areas of National Agency for Language Development and Cultivation (2019). It can be said that this study also verified the language mapping results, especially the Mentawai dialect variations in the Mentawai Islands Regency. Data Analysis This study has data analysis in the form of (1) dialectometric calculations, (2) making language maps, and (3) comparison of other language data. In carrying out dialectometric calculations, there is a formula that determines the status of the language. Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 12 This formula is a dialectometric calculations from Seguy (Lauder, 2007) and is commonly used in dialectology research in Indonesia. The dialectometric calculation formula can be seen below. Information: s: the number of different observation areas n: number of map comparisons d: difference in vocabulary in percentage Results of dialectometric calculations based on the formula above have several categories of language status classification. Starting from different languages, different dialects, different subdialects, different speech, until there is no language difference. Some of these classification categories are distinguished based on their percentage gain. In this study, the classification category of dialectometric calculations refers to Guiter (Lauder, 2007). This is because this calculation category is also used in Language and Language Maps in Indonesia (National Agency for Language Development and Cultivation, 2008). The classification of dialectometric calculation categories can be seen in Table 1. to top, and so on. In this study using circular numbering anticlockwise because it adjusts to the distribution of observation areas and geographical conditions. Furthermore, the triangular map is also based on the closest observation areas as a basis for comparison. Furthermore, comparison of other language data in the analysis of this study uses data from Statistics of Indonesia (2018). This is known from a village potential survey in which there is data on the language use in daily communication. Comparisons between linguistics data based on the dialectological approach and language data in daily communication based on survey results are interesting. This is because linguistic data emphasizes the local language vocabulary that is controlled by the community. Meanwhile, language data in daily communication shows whether the local language is used or not in daily communication. Even though language speakers can speak local languages, language speakers do not use their local languages, which will be seen in the language data in daily communication. In addition, the comparison of language data belongs to qualitative method and dialectometric calculations belong to the quantitative method according to Creswell (2014). III. RESULT AND DISCUSSION The discussion section in this study consists of (1) dialectometric calculations, (2) Mentawai language dialect maps, and (3) linguistic situations and conditions in Mentawai Islands Regency. Dialectometric calculations display the results of data processing from data collection in the field. The results of data processing are presented in tabular form in a concise way to make it easier to find out the results of the existing data. In addition, the results of data processing are also presented in the form of Mentawai language dialect maps. This is intended to be able to describe the variations of Mentawai language dialects based on their geographical location. Not only that, the situation and condition of the language in the Mentawai Islands Regency is based on the language use in daily communication from the survey results by Badan Pusat Statistik (2018) also compared with the results of dialectometric calculations and dialect maps of the Mentawai language. Table 1. Dialectometric calculation No Status Percentage (%) 1 Different language >80% 2 Different dialect 51—80% 3 Different subdialect 31—50% 4 Different speech 21—30% 5 There’s no difference <20% In other hand, making language maps refers to Ayatrohaedi (2002) and National Agency for Language Development and Cultivation (2018). This is intended to be able to equate the language map in previous studies so that the differences in dialect variations can be seen from the language map. In this case, making a language map begins with making basic map, numbering map, triangular map, to a spider web map. In determining numbering, there are several numbering patterns. Starting from zigzag, circular clockwise, circular anticlockwise, from top to bottom, from bottom Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 13 Dialectometric Calculations The data from this study are compared to one another based on the shortest distance between observation areas. Not all observation areas are compared. Only the closest observation areas according to the triangular map are compared in dialectometric calculations. This is intended to make it easier to create language boundaries in spider web maps. The following are the dialectometric calculations results listed in Table 2. that have dialectometric calculation results that differ only in speech. These results can be seen from the percentage gain of 21—30% between the comparison between Muntei and Maileppet, the comparison between Matobe and Sioban, and the comparison between Sioban and Makalo. These various acquisitions indicate that there is a change in the Mentawai language use. This is because the results of the dialectometric calculations in this study only indicated two dialects of the Mentawai language. Of course, these results are different from previous research which categorizes Mentawai dialects into three dialects (Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2019). Mentawai Language Dialect Map The dialectometric calculation in the form of Table 5 in the previous section still requires a description that makes it easier to read the result categories. This is because not all of them can read the results of the dialectometric calculation. For this reason, dialectometric calculations require visualization in the form of a Mentawai language dialect map. This is intended to be able to know the dialect boundaries of the Mentawai language itself and its distribution. In making the Mentawai language dialect map, there are several maps that must be made first. Starting from the basic map, numbering map, triangular map, to the spider web map. The basic map is taken from the administrative map of the Mentawai Islands Regency with various adjustments. These adjustments took the form of eliminating administrative boundaries, administrative names, and other administrative markers. After that, the basic map is added cardinal directions, scales, and descriptions. The purpose of the information here is more to the boundaries of areas, such as the Indian Ocean, the Mentawai Strait, and the island of Sumatra. The basic map in this study can be seen in Figure 4. After that, the next map making is a numbering map according to the research observation areas. Observation areas are numbered according to a circular pattern anticlockwise. This is because the first numbering is located at the observation area in Mongan Poula Village as an old village. According to the oral tradition that developed in the community, the Mentawai people came from Table 2. Dialectometric calculations No Observation Area % Results 1/2 Mongan Poula Madobag 52.75% Different dialects 1/4 Mongan Poula Maileppet 55.25% Different dialects 1/5 Mongan Poula Matobes 59.75% Different dialects 2/3 Madobag Muntei 31% Different subdialects 2/4 Madobag Maileppet 43% Different subdialects 3/4 Muntei Maileppet 27.75% Different speech 3/5 Muntei Matobes 38.25% Different subdialects 3/6 Muntei Sioban 34% Different subdialects 4/5 Maileppet Matobes 37.75% Different subdialects 5/6 Matobes Sioban 27.50% Different speech 5/7 Matobes Makalo 33% Different subdialects 6/7 Sioban Makalo 22.25% Different speech In the results of dialectometric calculations in Table 2 above, it can be seen that only the observation area in Mongan Poula Village has dialectometric calculation results with different dialects from other observation areas. This indicates that there are only two dialects in the Mentawai language. Most of the dialectometric calculations results show different subdialect results. This can be seen from the percentage gain of 31—50%. These results are known from the comparison between Matobe and Makalo, comparison between Muntei and Matobe, comparison between Madobag and Maileppet, and comparison between Madobag and Muntei. In fact, there is also a comparison of isolects Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 14 Siberut Island before spreading to the other islands. The numbering map in this study can be seen in Figure 5. Next, the closest observation areas are connected by lines to form a triangular map. This is the basis for dialectometric calculation comparisons. What is meant is that the dialectometric comparisons are only carried out at the closest observation area according to the triangular map. In this case, not all observation areas are compared because not all observation areas contact other observation areas. The triangular map in this study can be seen in Figure 6. From this triangular map, the comparison of observation areas in dialectometric calculations can be known. This triangular map can be said to be a map with dialect boundaries. The dialectometric calculations results can be easily known through a Figure 5: Numbering map Figure 6: Triangular map spider web map. In this case, there is only one thick line marks the dialect boundary between Mongan Poula Village (1) Madobag Village (2) and Maileppet Village (4). Apart from that the other lines are limited to marking the boundaries of different subdialects and different speech. In accordance with this spider web map, it can be clearly seen that the dialect boundary is divided into two regions between north and south. This condition is the same as Pampus research (Wagner, 1989) which only has a dialect boundary between the north and south. The spider web map in this study can be seen in Figure 7. Language Situations and Conditions The dialectometric calculation results along with the Mentawai language dialect map in the previous section indicate that there is a decrease Figure 7: Spider web map Figure 4: Basic map Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 15 in the number of Mentawai dialects from the three dialects (Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, 2019) into two dialects. However, the results of this study have the same results as the Pampus research (Wagner, 1989). In this case, the observation area among previous studies is still different. This also causes the results to vary. It would be better if the next research could compare all observation areas in previous studies so that the results could be used as a reference for the situation and condition of the latest Mentawai language. Based on existing research and language maps, it indicated a decrease in language use. This indication can be proven by looking at data on the language use in daily communication in the Mentawai Islands Regency. The data is taken from the Village Potential Survey (Badan Pusat Statistik, 2018a). Of the 43 villages in the Mentawai Islands Regency, most of them still use the Mentawai language un their daily communication. Only six villages in the Mentawai Islands Regency do not use Mentawai language in their daily communication. In addition, there are two villages in the Mentawai Islands Regency where the majority are Mentawai ethnic groups, but use Indonesian in their daily communication. The table for the language use other than Mentawai in Mentawai Regency can be seen in Table 3. In table 3, it can be seen that there are two villages dominated by the Mentawai ethnic who use Indonesian as their daily communication. This number is relatively small because most of the villages in the Mentawai Islands Regency still use the Mentawai language in their daily communication. However, this condition should not be underestimated. This is because the change in the use of the Mentawai language into Indonesian can spread to various other villages if there is no anticipation from the local government for the Mentawai language preservation. This concern is increasing when more and more young Mentawai speakers are migrating outside the Mentawai Islands regency. One of factors that most underlies young Mentawai speakers to leave the Mentawai Islands regency is for education reasons. This is because the Mentawai Islands Regency only has elementary schools to secondary schools. Universities do not exist in Mentawai Islands Regency (Badan Pusat Table 3. Language Use in Mentawai Islands Regency No Village Dominance ethnic Language Use 1 Bulasat Mentawai Mentawai 2 Sinaka Mentawai Mentawai 3 Makalo Mentawai Mentawai 4 Malakopa Mentawai Mentawai 5 Taikako Batak Mentawai 6 Sikakap Minang Minang 7 Matobe Mentawai Mentawai 8 Saumanganya Mentawai Mentawai 9 Silabu Mentawai Mentawai 10 Betumonga Mentawai Mentawai 11 Bosua Mentawai Mentawai 12 Nemnemleleu Mentawai Mentawai 13 Beriulou Nias Mentawai 14 Mara Mentawai Mentawai 15 Sioban Mentawai Mentawai 16 Saureinu Mentawai Mentawai 17 Matobe Mentawai Mentawai 18 Betumonga Mentawai Mentawai 19 Goisooinan Mentawai Mentawai 20 Bukit Pamewa Jawa Jawa 21 Sipora Jaya Mentawai Indonesia 22 Sido Makmur Jawa Indonesia 23 Tuapejat Mentawai Indonesia 24 Madobag Mentawai Indonesia 25 Muara Siberut Minang Minang 26 Maileppet Mentawai Mentawai 27 Muntei Mentawai Mentawai 28 Matotonan Mentawai Mentawai 29 Pasakiat Teileleu Mentawai Mentawai 30 Katurei Mentawai Mentawai 31 Sagulubbeg Mentawai Mentawai 32 Saliguma Mentawai Mentawai 33 Saibi Samukop Mentawai Mentawai 34 Cimpungan Mentawai Mentawai 35 Sirilogui Mentawai Mentawai 36 Mongan Poula Mentawai Mentawai 37 Sotboyak Mentawai Mentawai 38 Bojakan Mentawai Mentawai 39 Malancan Mentawai Mentawai 40 Simatalu Mentawai Mentawai 41 Simalegi Mentawai Mentawai 42 Sigapokna Mentawai Mentawai 43 Muara Sikabaluan Mentawai Mentawai Statistik, 2021). This makes young Mentawai speakers have to leave the Mentawai Islands regency to continue their higher education, such as to Padang City or other cities in Indonesia. Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 16 Meanwhile, the community participation rate for schools has been increasing over time. If there is no inculcation of strong values about the Mentawai language, it is not impossible that young Mentawai speakers who migrate can lose their identity and Mentawai language use. This is because young Mentawai speakers who migrate certainly not showing their local attributes so they can be accepted by other people. One of the local attributes released when migration is the Mentawai language itself. This has an impact on the reluctance of young speakers who no longer want to speak Mentawai after returning from migration if the internalization and transmission of Mentawai language to young speakers is not strong. This is reinforced by Mentawai identity markers such as tattoos that have been abandoned since the government banned them in 1954. This is because tattoos are synonymous with Sabulungan beliefs so that people seem to be forced to have a religion that is recognized by the state (Febrianti, 2021). Only some people still maintain this tattoo culture. Meanwhile, some other people no longer have this tattoo marker. In this way, the remaining marker of Mentawai identity is the Mentawai language use even though the people have migrated outside the Mentawai Islands Regency. On this basis, the development of local content in Mentawai Culture lessons is very important. This is because learning local content in schools can internalize and transmit Mentawai language and culture un a more intensive and integrated manner. The development of local content lesson in the form of Mentawai Culture needs to be added to Mentawai language learning. Regarding the selection of a standard dialect that can be used as the basis for learning Mentawai language, it is the dialect with the most speakers in the Mentawai Islands Regency. This can make it easier to find teachers and the learning process. Referring to the results of this study, dialect variations in the Mentawai Islands Regency are only divided into two, namely the Siberut dialect and the Sipora Pagai dialect. Thus, the recommended dialect that can be selected as learning in the Mentawai Islands Regency is the Sipora Pagai dialect. This is also based on the existence of the Bible in the Mentawai language which refers to the Sipora Pagai dialect (Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia, 1993). The Bible is used by pastors in worship activities at churches in the Mentawai Islands regency. In addition, the dialect recommendation which is the standard for the Mentawai language, the Sipora Pagai dialect, is also based on the existence of the Indonesian—Mentawai Bilingual Dictionary (Khatib et al., 1993) who also choose the Sikakap dialect (in this study it was called the Sipora Pagai dialect). The selection was based on several considerations. First, the number of speakers is more than other dialects. Second, Christian, Catholic, and Protestant priests have used this dialect to preach and translate the Bible into the Mentawai language. Third, this dialect is also used by RRI Padang in its Rural Broadcast to educate the Mentawai people, especially in the agricultural sector. Fourth, the area using this dialect is very wide, almost covering the whole of the Mentawai Islands. Fifth, the results of research on this dialect are quite large compared to other dialects. IV. CONCLUSION Based on the previous discussion, it can be concluded that the Mentawai language has two dialects, namely the Siberut dialect and the Sipora Pagai dialect. This is due to the dialectometric calculation gain of around 51—80%. The Siberut dialect is found in Mongan Poula Village, while the Sipora Pagai dialect is found in Madobag, Muntei, Maileppet, Matobe, Sioban, and Makalo Villages. In the Sipora Pagai dialect, there are two subdialects that can be seen on the dialect map. Even so, further research on the mapping of the Mentawai language is still needed, especially taking the same observation areas as previous studies so that the research results can be balanced. On the other hand, the dialect count results indicate a decrease in the community language use. This indication was only evident from the differences in the dialectometric results between Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, (2019) with this research. The difference can be seen from the classification of Maileppet Village as the southern Siberut dialect, while this research classifies Maileppet Village as the Sipora Pagai dialect. This is due to dialectometric calculations between Maileppet Village and other villages in the Sipora Pagai dialect only up to different subdialect Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 17 REFERENCES Ayatrohaedi. (2002). Pedoman Penelitian Dialektologi. Pusat Bahasa Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa. (2008). Bahasa dan Peta Bahasa di Indonesia. Pusat Bahasa Departemen Pendidikan Nasional. Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa. (2018). Pedoman Penelitian Pemetaan Bahasa di Indonesia. Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa. (2019). Bahasa dan Peta Bahasa di Indonesia (6th ed.). Badan Pengembangan dan Pembinaan Bahasa, Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan. 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Meanwhile, the language use in Mentawai Islands Regency is still dominated by Mentawai language in daily communication. This condition shows that the Mentawai language is still used by the community even though there is a mixture of dialects in it. It is important to preserve and develop the dominance of Mentawai language use in the Mentawai Islands Regency. If there are no efforts to preserve and develop the Mentawai language, then the Mentawai language use can be reduced. One of the ways is to develop Mentawai Culture local content lessons as part of the internalization and transmission of the Mentawai language. Mentawai language learning can take the Sipora Pagai dialect as the most spoken dialect. Satwiko Budiono / Jurnal Arbitrer - Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023) 18 Muhajir, dkk. (1988). Ringkasan Laporan Hasil Penelitian Bahasa Mentawai. Novita, R., Firdaus, W., & Budiono, S. (2021). Minangkabau Language Mapping Verification in West Sumatra Province. 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