Dusun language

Last updated

Central Dusun
Boros Dusun
Bunduliwan
Native to Malaysia, Brunei
Region Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan
Ethnicity Dusun people, Kadazan people
Ethnic population: 600,000 (2010) [1]
Native speakers
260,000 Central Dusun (2010) [1]
Standard forms
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Regulated by Multiple (?): [2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 dtp
Glottolog cent2100

Central Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan (Dusun: Boros Dusun), is an Austronesian language and one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun (including Kadazan) peoples of Sabah, Malaysia.

Contents

History

What is termed as Central Dusun (or simply Dusun) and Coastal Kadazan (or simply Kadazan) are deemed to be highly mutually intelligible to one other; many consider these to be part of a single language.

The language was among many other Sabahan vernacular languages suppressed under Mustapha Harun's assimilationist enforcement of Bahasa Malaysia across the state. [3] Under the efforts of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah, in 1995, the central Bundu-Liwan dialect was selected to serve as the basis for a standardised "Kadazandusun" language. [4] [5] This dialect, spoken in the Bundu and Liwan valleys of the Croker-Trusmadi ranges (now parts of the present-day districts of Ranau, Tambunan and Keningau), was selected as it was deemed to be the most mutually intelligible when conversing with other "Dusun" or "Kadazan" dialects.

Alphabet and pronunciation

Dusun is written using the Latin alphabet using 21 characters (the letters C, E, F, Q, and X are used in loanwords):

A B D G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z

These characters together are called Pimato.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Dorsal Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative s h
Rhotic r
Approximant w l j

Semivowels /wj/ and rhotic /r/ only occur in most of the other dialects of the Dusun/Kadazan languages. Forschner (1978) and Antonissen (1958) list two fricatives /vz/ for the Rungus and Penampang Kadazan dialects. [x] is also listed as an allophone of /k/ in word-medial position. [6]

Vowels

The vowels are divided into:

Simple vowels: /iuao/

Diphthongs: aaai (sometimes pronounced /e/) iioiuu

Some combinations of vowels do not form diphthongs and each vowel retains its separate sound: aoiaiuuiue. In some words aa is not a diphthong, and this is indicated by an apostrophe between the two vowels: a'a.

Grammar

Personal pronouns

Tindal Dusun [7] has a Philippine-type focus system of syntax that makes one particular noun phrase in a sentence the most prominent. This prominent, focused noun phrase does not need to be the subject or the agent of the clause. In clauses with pronouns, the verbal morphology and the pronoun both indicate focus. If the verb carries actor focus morphology, the actor of the clause will therefore be a nominative pronoun (or, rarely, an emphatic pronoun). Any other noun phrase in the clause will necessarily take pronouns from a different set, as only one noun phrase can be in focus in any given clause.

Tindal pronouns
GlossNominativeGenitiveObliqueEmphatic
1sgokukudohojoho
2sgkonudiaʔjaʔ
3sgisiodisio~dowisio
1intokojatiʔ
1exjahaj~jahɛːdahɛːjahɛː
2pljokowdokowjokow
3pljoloʔdioloʔjoloʔ
Kadazandusun pronouns [8]
GlossEmphaticNominativeGenitiveOblique
1sgyokuokukudoho
1duyato/iyahaikito/iyahai/ikoidato/dahai
1plyotokoutokoudotokou
2sgika/ia'ko/ika/ia'nudia'/dika
2plikoyukoudikoyu
3sg.misiodisido/dau
3sg.fisidodosido/dau
3plyolodiolo

"The "emphatic" pronouns are used alone or preposedly, either as answers or to stress the pronoun. [9] This function is similar to Tagalog's "ikaw" vs "ka", and Paiwan's "ti-" pronoun series.

Examples

(1)

Ika

You(emph)

i

[personal]

Kinomulok?

Kinomulok

Ika i Kinomulok?

You(emph) [personal] Kinomulok

Are you Kinomulok?

I

[personal]

Kinomulok

Kinomulok

oku

I

I Kinomulok oku

[personal] Kinomulok I

I am Kinomulok.

(2)

Isai

Who

ko?

you(non-emph)

Isai ko?

Who you(non-emph)

Who are you?

I

[personal]

Tolimu

Batholomew

oku

I

I Tolimu oku

[personal] Batholomew I

I am Bartholomew.

(3)

Ika

You

mongoi.

go

Ika mongoi.

You go

You go.

Sentence structure

A typical Dusun sentence is VSO. [10]

Poposidang

dry

oku

I

parai.

rice

Poposidang oku parai.

dry I rice

I dry rice.

It is, however, possible for a grammatically correct Dusun sentence to be SVO.

Oinsanan

all

tangaanak

children

sikul

school

nonuan

given

do uniform.

uniform

Oinsanan tangaanak sikul nonuan {do uniform.}

all children school given uniform

All students have been given uniforms.

Vocabulary

Numerals [11]
EnglishDusun
oneiso
twoduo
threetolu
fourapat
fivelimo
sixonom
seventuru
eightwalu
ninesiam
tenhopod
hundredhatus
thousandsoriong

To form numbers such as fifty or sixty, a multiplier is combined with a positional unit (tens, hundreds, thousands etc.), using no.

tolu

three

no

already

hopod

ten

tolu no hopod

three already ten

thirty

Separate units are combined with om.

soriong

1000

om

and

turu

seven

no

already

hatus

100

om

and

duo

two

no

already

hopod

ten

om

and

siam

nine

soriong om turu no hatus om duo no hopod om siam

1000 and seven already 100 and two already ten and nine

one thousand, seven hundred and twenty nine

Months [12]
EnglishDusun
JanuaryMilatok
FebruaryMansak
MarchGomot
AprilNgiop
MayMikat
JuneLumahas
JulyMadas
AugustMagus
SeptemberManom
OctoberGumas
NovemberMilau
DecemberMomuhau

The Dusun name of the months derive from the traditional cycle of paddy harvesting.

Days of the week [12]
EnglishDusun
Dusun nameNumerical[ citation needed ]
MondayTontoluTadau koiso
TuesdayMirodTadau koduo
WednesdayMadsaTadau kotolu
ThursdayTadtaruTadau kaapat
FridayKuruduTadau kolimo
SaturdayKukuakTadau koonom
SundayTiwangTadau koturu/minggu

The names for the days of the week are mostly based on a simple numerical sequence, which is commonly used for media and newspapers.[ citation needed ] The names of Dusun days as part of the seven-day week derive from the life cycle of a butterfly.

Interrogatives [8] [11]
EnglishDusun
whatnunu/onu
whoisai
wherehombo/nonggo
whensoira
whyokuro
howpoingkuro
how manypiro/songkuro

Dialects

Central Dusun language survived by three main dialect groups.

Liwanic : Liwan, Inobong Dusun

Bunduic : Tindal, Bundu, Sinulihan, Tagahas-Tibabar, Gobukon-Luba

Ulu Sugut Dusun : Tinagas, Talantang, Tuhawon

All Central Dusun dialects are 100% mutually intelligible when conversing.

Examples

Genesis 1:1–5

1 1Tontok di timpuun i' om wonsoyo' nod Kinorohingan o tawan om pomogunan.2Aiso' po suang do pomogunan, om aiso' o poimpasi; om noolitan di rahat dot opuhod, om odondom o kotuongo'. Nga' mintongkop i' i Rusod do Kinorohingan do hiri'd soibau di waig.3Om pomoros no o Kinorohingan do poingkaa, "Nawau no," ka – om haro noddi o tanawau.4Om kokito nod Kinorohingan dot osonong i tanawau, om potongkiado' no dau i tanawau do mantad id totuong.5Om pungaranai nod Kinorohingan do "Dangadau" i tanawau, om "Dongotuong" i totuong. Om korikot no sosodopon om korikot nogiddi kosuabon – iri no tadau do koiso'. [13]

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References

  1. 1 2 Central Dusun at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Bating, Henry (2008). Bahasa Kadazandusun dan Pembakuan [The Kadazandusun Language and Standardization]. Kursus Pemantapan Profesionalisme Bahasa Kadazandusun (in Malay). IPG Keningau. pp. 1–11.
  3. Lent, John A. (1974). "Malaysia's guided media". Index on Censorship. 3 (4): 66. doi:10.1080/03064227408532375.
  4. "Official Language & Dialects". Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. Lasimbang, Rita; Kinajil, Trixie (2004). "Building Terminology in the Kadazandusun Language". Current Issues in Language Planning. 5 (2): 131–141. doi:10.1080/13683500408668253.
  6. Miller, Carolyn (1993). "Kadazan/Dusun Phonology Revisited". In Boutin, Michael E.; Pekkanen, Inka (eds.). Phonological Descriptions of Sabah Languages: Studies from Ten Languages: Bonggi, Ida'an, Kadazan/Dusun, Kalabuan, Kimaragang, Labuk-Kinabatangan Kadazan, Lotud, Tagal, Tatana', Tombonuwo. Sabah Museum Monograph, Vol. 4. Kota Kinabalu: Sabah State Museum. pp. 1–14.
  7. Robinson, Laura C. (2005). A Sketch Grammar of Tindal Dusun (PDF). Working Papers in Linguistics, 36(5). University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  8. 1 2 Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (2008). Puralan Boros Kadazandusun id Sikul (in Central Dusun). Putrajaya: Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum.
  9. Komoiboros Dusun Kadazan[Duzunkadazan Dictionary]. Malaysia: Mongulud Boros Dusun Kadazan. 1994. pp. 29–30.
  10. Minah Sintian (2019). Struktur Binaan Ayat Bahasa Kadazandusun dan Bahasa Melayu: Satu Pengenalan [Kadazandusun and Malay Language Structural Sentence Construction: An Introduction]. Paper presented at the Seminar Antarabangsa Susastera, Bahasa dan Budaya Nusantara (SUTERA) 2019, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Pusat Penyelidikan Langkawi UKM, 1–2 August 2019 (in Malay) via ResearchGate.
  11. 1 2 Price, Daniel Charles (2007). Bundu Dusun Sketch Grammar (in English and Central Dusun). Crawley: University of Western Australia.
  12. 1 2 Joseph Yabai, @ Jausip (18 August 2016). "Ondomo do tikid tadauwulan tulun Kadazandusun" [Memorize the calendar of the Kadazandusun]. Utusan Borneo (in Central Dusun). Retrieved 22 December 2021 via PressReader.
  13. Buuk do Kinorohingan: Habar dot Osonong (in Central Dusun). Petaling Jaya: Pertubuhan Bible Malaysia. 2007. ISBN   978-983-030-117-4.

Further reading