Kayan language (Borneo)

Last updated
Kayan
Kajan
Native to Indonesia, Malaysia
Region Borneo
Ethnicity Kayans
Native speakers
(35,000 cited 1981–2007) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
xay   Kayan Mahakam
kys   Baram Kayan
bfg   Busang Kayan
xkn   Kayan River Kayan
xkd   Mendalam Kayan
ree   Rejang Kayan
whu   Wahau Kayan
bhv    Bahau
Glottolog kaya1333   Kayanic
A sample text in the Kayan River language. John 316 KayanRiver.png
A sample text in the Kayan River language.

Kayan (Kajan, Kayan proper) is a dialect cluster spoken by the Kayan people of Borneo. It is a cluster of closely related dialects with limited mutual intelligibility, and is itself part of the Kayan-Murik group of Austronesian languages.

Contents

Baram Kayan is a local trade language.[ further explanation needed ] Bahau is part of the dialect cluster, but is not ethnically Kayan.

Internal classification

Glottolog v4.8 classifies the Kayan dialect cluster as follows:

Kayan

Bahau

Baram Kayan

Kayan River Kayan

Mendalam Kayan

Rejan–Makaham Kayan

Busang Kayan

Kayan Mahakam

Rejang Kayan

Phonology

The following is based on the Baram dialect:

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t ( ) k ʔ
tense
voiced b d g
Fricative β s ( ʃ ) h
Tap/Trill r
Lateral l
Approximant w j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Open a
  1. Kayan Mahakam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Baram Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Busang Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kayan River Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mendalam Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Rejang Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    (Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box)
  2. Cubit, L. E. (1964). Kayan phonemics. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 120. pp. 409–423.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bontoc language</span> Northern Luzon language spoken in the Philippines

Bontoc (Bontok) is the native language of the indigenous Bontoc people of the Mountain Province, in the northern part of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wetarese language</span> Austronesian language of Wetar, Indonesia

Wetarese is an Austronesian language of Wetar, an island in the south Maluku, Indonesia, and of the nearby islands Liran and Atauro, the latter island separate from the mainland of East Timor, north of Dili.

Mapoyo, or Mapoyo–Yavarana, is a Carib language spoken along the Suapure and Parguaza Rivers, Venezuela. The ethnic population of Mapoyo proper is about 365. Yabarana dialect is perhaps extinct; 20 speakers were known in 1977. An additional dialect, Pémono, was discovered in 1998. It was spoken by an 80-year-old woman and has since gone extinct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ma'ya language</span> Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia

Maʼya is an Austronesian language of the Raja Ampat islands in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. It is part of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea (SHWNG) subgroup and is spoken by about 6,000 people in coastal villages on the islands Misool, Salawati, and Waigeo, on the boundary between Austronesian and Papuan languages.

Ngbaka (Ngbàkà) is a Gbaya language spoken by just over a million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a regionally important language, used by the Gilima, Ngbundu, Mbandja and Mono peoples, and is taught in primary schools; 10% are literate in Ngbaka.

Jarawa is the most populous of the Bantu languages of northern Nigeria. It is a dialect cluster consisting of many varieties.

Central Asmat is a Papuan language of West New Guinea, spoken by the Asmat people.

Horpa are a cluster of closely related Gyalrongic languages of China. Horpa is better understood as a cluster of closely related yet unintelligible dialect groups/languages closely related to Horpa Shangzhai or Stodsde skad. The term Stodsde skad is a Tibetan name meaning "language of the upper village".

Kayan, also known as, Padaung or Padaung Karen) is a Karen language of Burma, spoken by the Kayan people. The Kayan dialects share more than 90% lexical similarity. Padaung is 71% to 76% lexically similar to Lahta.

Waurá (Wauja) is an Arawakan language spoken in the Xingu Indigenous Park of Brazil by the Waujá people. It is "partially intelligible" with Mehináku. The entire population speaks the language.

Barawana (Baré) is an Arawakan language of Venezuela and Brazil, where it is nearly extinct. It was spoken by the Baré people. Aikhenvald (1999) reports "just a few old speakers left" of Baré proper, and that the Guinau variety was extinct. Kaufman (1994) considers Baré proper, Guinau, and Marawá to be distinct languages; Aikhenvald, dialects of a single languages.

Kaba (Kabba), or Kabba of Goré, is a language of the Sara people in Central African Republic and Chad, with around 100,000 speakers.

Yamdena is an Austronesian language of Yamdena and surrounding islands in the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. In 1991 there were an estimated 25,000 speakers of the language. Current BPS data has the present number of speakers at 69,000.

Boazi (Bwadji), also known as Kuni after one of its dialects, is a Papuan language spoken in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea by the Bwadji people in the vicinity of Lake Murray and is written using the Latin script, with ⟨æ⟩ for, ⟨ø⟩ for, and ⟨꞉⟩ for vowel length. Some recordings of songs and stories have been made in this language.

Orokaiva is a Papuan language spoken in the "tail" of Papua New Guinea.

Mumeng is a dialect chain of the Austronesian family in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Dambi–Kumalu and Patep–Zenag–Gorakor have a degree of mutual intelligibility. Kapin may belong as well.

Kalagan is an Austronesian dialect cluster of the Davao Region of Mindanao in the Philippines. It is also spoken in a few parts of Caraga, still in Mindanao.

Taliabo (Taliabu) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on the island of the same name in the Moluccas of Indonesia.

Bunama is an Austronesian language spoken in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua New Guinea.

The Bantayanon language is the regional language of the Bantayan islands in the Philippines. It is a part of the Bisayan language family and is closely related to Waray and Hiligaynon. There are three dialects of Bantayanon, based in the three municipalities that comprise the island group: Binantayanun, Linawisanun, and Sinantapihanun, the most idiosyncratic of the three. There are also significant dialectal differences between the speech patterns of those that live in the town centers and those that live outside of the more rural areas of the islands.