| Nibong | |
|---|---|
| Penan | |
| Native to | Malaysia, Brunei |
| Region | Sarawak, Borneo |
| Ethnicity | Penan people |
Native speakers | ca. 13,000 (2007–2011) [1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: pez – Eastern Penan pne – Western Penan |
| Glottolog | east2485 Eastern [2] west2563 Western [3] |
Penan, also known as Punan-Nibong, is a language complex spoken by the Penan people of Borneo. They are related to the Kenyah languages. Glottolog shows Western Penan as closer to Sebop than it is to Eastern Penan. [3]
The Penan are a nomadic indigenous people living in Sarawak and Brunei, although there is only one small community in Brunei; among those in Brunei half have been converted to Islam, even if only superficially. Penan are one of the last such peoples remaining as hunters and gatherers. The Penan are noted for their practice of 'molong' which means never taking more than necessary. Most Penan were nomadic hunter-gatherers until the post-World War II missionaries settled many of the Penan, mainly in the Ulu-Baram district but also in the Limbang district. They eat plants, which are also used as medicines, and animals and use the hides, skin, fur, and other parts for clothing and shelter.
The Kenyah languages are a group of half a dozen or so closely related languages spoken by the Kenyah peoples of Borneo. They are:
Glottolog is a bibliographic database of the world's lesser-known languages, developed and maintained first at the former Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and since 2015 at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany.
