Introduction to Linguistics from a Phonological Perspective: The Final Vowel /a/ → [o] and Word-Initial Rhotic /r/ → [ɣ] Correspondences in the Batahan Dialect

Abstract

This study provides a preliminary phonological description of the Batahan dialect, a coastal Malay (Pesisir) variety spoken in Batahan District, Mandailing Natal Regency, North Sumatra. It focuses on two segmental correspondences between Standard Indonesian and Batahan: the word-final vowel correspondence, in which Standard Indonesian /a/ corresponds to Batahan [o] in open final syllables (e.g., apa /apa/ ~ [apo] ‘what’; mana /mana/ ~ [mano] ‘where’), and the word-initial rhotic correspondence, in which /r/ corresponds to a voiced dorsal fricative transcribed here as [ɣ] (e.g., rumah /rumah/ ~ [ɣumah] ‘house’; ramai /ramai/ ~ [ɣamai] ‘crowded’). Data were collected from ten native Batahan speakers in and around Pasar Batahan throuɣ word-list elicitation, carrier sentences, semi-structured interviews, and recorded conversation, and were analysed using auditory IPA transcription and a synchronic, correspondence-based comparative procedure. The findings indicate that the /a/ ~ [o] correspondence is regular in word-final open syllables, while the /r/ ~ [ɣ] correspondence is concentrated in word-initial onsets; both pattern Batahan with the west-Sumatran coastal Malayic area, alongside Minangkabau and other Sumatran Malay varieties. Because the study rests on a small purposive sample, targeted elicitation, and auditory (non-acoustic) transcription, the results are best read as documentation of recurring correspondences rather than as claims about historical derivation or articulatory ease. The study contributes an initial lexical record of Batahan sound correspondences and a basis for broader dialectological and sociophonetic investigation of under-documented varieties in North Sumatra.