Kendayan language

Not to be confused with Kedayan, one of the dialects of Brunei Malay.

Kendayan
Kanayatn, Salako
Native to	Indonesia, Malaysia
Region	Borneo
Native speakers	330,000 (2007) [1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Malayic Kendayan
Dialects	Belangin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	knx
Glottolog	kend1254

Kendayan, Kanayatn, or Salako (Selako), is a Malayic Dayak language of Borneo. The exact number of speakers remains unknown, but is estimated to be around 350,000. ^[2]

The name Kendayan is preferred in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Salako in Sarawak, Malaysia. It is sometimes referred to as bahasa Badameà, particularly in Bengkayang Regency and the areas near Singkawang City. ^[3] Other dialects of Kendayan include Ahe, Banana and Belangin. Speakers of any of the dialects can understand speakers of any of the others.

Language context

A speaker of Bedamea.

Salako is spoken in the state of Sarawak in Malaysia and the province of West Kalimantan in Indonesia. ^[3] There are speakers in Sambas and Bengkayang Regencies and in Singkawang. Other dialects are spoken in the Pontianak, Bengkawang and Landak Regencies of West Kalimantan.

It is said that Singkawang in southern Sambas is the place of origin of Salako speakers.

Dialects spoken in West Kalimantan have been influenced by the Indonesian, which is the national language of Indonesia. This is the language used in official contexts, schools, the media and in church. ^[3] In Sarawak, the influence of Malay has been less significant, as it became the national language more recently. ^[3]

Kendayan is a vital language that is used in the community and at home. The Ahe variety is also spoken as a lingua franca by native speakers with Land Dayak groups. ^[3] However, younger speakers are typically educated through Indonesian away from the villages, which could affect language vitality in the future. ^[3]

Comparison with other neighbouring languages

English	Malay-Indonesian	Kanayatn	Belangin/Balangin	Banjarese	Ngaju	Bakumpai
that	yang	nang	nang	nang	ijē	ji
old	tua	tuha	tua	tuha	bakas	bakas
people	orang	urakng	urak; uhak	urang	oloh	uluh
quiet (adjective)	diam/sunyi/senyap	diapm	diap	diam	Benyem/Tunis
woman/female	perempuan	bini	mbini	bibini	bawi	bawi
hometown	kampung halaman	binua	binua	banua	lewun	lebu
face	muka	muha	muá	muha	baụ
one	satu	asa	satu	asa	ijẹ	ije
two	dua	dua	dua	dua	due	due
three	tiga	talu	tege	talu	telo	telo
single (relationship status)	bujang	bujakng	bujak	bujangan	bujang/salia
shy	malu	supantn'/supe	malu	supan	hamen/mahamen
village	kampung	kampokng	kampong	kampung	lewu
bride	pengantin	panganten	penganten	panganten	panganten
bald	botak/gundul	pala'	botak	longor	borang
stupid	bodoh	baga	mangkak; baga	bungul	mameh
drunk	mabuk	kamabuk	mabu'k	mabuk	busau
swimming	berenang	ngunanang	benanang; nyon'yong	bakunyung/bananang	hanangui

References

1. Kendayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Thomas, Joseph, J. B. Mangunsudarsono, Hery Suryatman and Abdussamad. 1985. Morfologi kata kerja bahasa Kendayan. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa (Departmenen Pedidikan dan Kebudayan)
3. Adelaar (2005)

Sources

• Adelaar, K. Alexander (2005). Salako or Badamea: Sketch Grammar, Text and Lexicon of a Kanayatn Dialect in West Borneo. Frankfurter Forschungen zu Südostasien, volume 2. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.

Further reading

• Alexander Adelaar. 2006. Where does Belangin belong?. In Fritz Schulze and Holger Warnk (eds.), Insular Southeast Asia: Linguistic and cultural studies in Honour of Bernd Nothofer , 65–84. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
• Burkhardt, Jey Lingam. 2007. Group interaction patterns as observed in informal learning events among pre-literate/semi-literate Salako women.
• Dunselman, Donatus. 1949, 1949, 1950. Bijdrage tot de kennis van de taal en adat der Kendajan Dajaks van West-Borneo. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië 105, 105, 106. 59–105, 147–218, 321–371.
• Hermann, Paulus. 1988. A contrastive study on Kendayan and English consonants for the prediction of pronunciation difficulties. MA Thesis, Department of English, Faculty of Arts and Letters, Teaching Training College (IKIP), Yogyakarta.
• Hudson, Alfred B. 1970. A Note on Selako: Malayic Dayak and Land Dayak Languages in Western Borneo. Sarawak Museum Journal 18. 301–318.
• Lansau, Donatos. 1981. Struktur bahasa Kendayan. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengemban gan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
• Joseph, Thomas. 1984. Morfologi dan sintaksis bahasa Kendayan. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengemban gan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.
• Sukamto. 1993. Tata bahasa Kendayan. Jakarta: Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengemban gan Bahasa, Departemen Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan.

External links

• Portions of the Book of Common Prayer for Salako speakers, digitized by Richard Mammana and Charles Wohlers