Total population | |
---|---|
Est. 240,000 in Borneo | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Borneo: Brunei Malaysia (Sabah, Sarawak & Federal Territory of Labuan) | |
Languages | |
Kedayan and Standard Malay | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Sunni Muslim | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Bruneian Malay, Banjarese, Javanese, Lun Bawang/Lundayeh |
The Kedayan (also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or Kadyan) are an ethnic group residing in Brunei, Federal Territory of Labuan, southwest of Sabah, and north of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. [1] [2] According to the Language and Literature Bureau of Brunei, the Kedayan language (ISO 639-3: kxd) is spoken by about 30,000 people in Brunei, [3] and it has been claimed that there are a further 46,500 speakers in Sabah and 37,000 in Sarawak. [4] [5] [6] In Sabah, the Kedayan mainly live in the southern districts of Sipitang and Beaufort, where they are counted as a part of the local Malay populace (and they are often considered as Bruneians owing to assimilation as well as mixed marriage factors). [4] [7] Whilst in Sarawak, the Kedayans mostly reside in the towns of Lawas, Limbang and Miri (especially the Subis area). [4]
The origins of the Kedayans are uncertain. Some of them believe their people were originally from Ponorogo, Java, [1] which they left during the reign of Sultan Bolkiah. Because of his fame as a sea captain and voyager, the Sultan was well-known to the people of Java, Sumatra and the Philippines. [1] It is believed that when the Sultan arrived to the island of Java, he became interested in the local agricultural techniques. [1] He brought some of the Javanese farmers back to his country to spread their techniques. The farmers inter-married with the local Bruneian Malay people, giving birth to the Kedayan ethnicity. [1] Most Kedayans have adopted Islam since the Islamic era of the Sultanate of Brunei. They have also adopted Malay culture. [6] The Kedayans are recognized as one of the indigenous people of Borneo. [8] They are experts in making traditional medicines. The Kedayans are well known for their cultivation of medicinal plants, which they grow to treat a wide range of ailments and to make tonics. [4]
The language of one of the indigenous tribes, the Banjar people in Kutai, East Kalimantan, Indonesia, is said to share more than 90% of the vocabulary with the Kedayan language, despite the fact that the Banjarese do not refer to themselves as Kedayans.[ citation needed ] Both the Kedayans and the Banjarese are related, to a certain extent, because of the similarities in their languages. [9]
The Kedayan language is similar to Brunei Malay, and it has been claimed that as many as 94% of the words in the two languages are cognate. [10]
The main differences in pronunciation are that Kedayan has initial /h/ while Brunei Malay does not, so Kedayan hutan (forest) is utan in Brunei Malay; [11] and Kedayan does not have /r/, so Malay rumah (house) is umah in Kedayan. [12]
Malay is an Austronesian language that is an official language of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and that is also spoken in East Timor and parts of Thailand. Altogether, it is spoken by 290 million people across Maritime Southeast Asia.
The states and federal territories of Malaysia are the principal administrative divisions of Malaysia. Malaysia is a federation of 13 states (Negeri) and 3 federal territories.
Malaysian Malay, also known as Standard Malay, Bahasa Malaysia, or simply Malay, is a standardized form of the Malay language used in Malaysia and also used in Brunei and Singapore. Malaysian Malay is standardized from the Johore-Riau dialect of Malay. It is spoken by much of the Malaysian population, although most learn a vernacular form of Malay or another native language first. Malay is a compulsory subject in primary and secondary schools.
Lawas is a small town and the capital of Lawas District, Limbang Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. This district area is 3,811.90 square kilometres, and population was 46,200. It is 1,200 km from the state capital, Kuching and 200 km from the capital city of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu.
Victoria, sometimes known as Bandar Labuan, is the capital of the Federal Territory of Labuan in Malaysia, an island group off the north coast of Borneo. It is in the southeast corner of Labuan and its Malay name, Bandar Victoria, is commonly used to honour the reign of Queen Victoria. The town is an urban district within the wider city limits of Victoria which includes Labuan Port, a sheltered deep-water harbour which is an important trans-shipment point for Brunei Darussalam, northern Sarawak and western Sabah.
There are a number of languages spoken in Brunei. The official language of the state of Brunei is Standard Malay, the same Malaccan dialect that is the basis for the standards in Malaysia and Indonesia. This came into force on 29 September 1959, with the signing of Brunei 1959 Constitution.
The Lun Bawang is an ethnic group found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the southwest of Sabah and the northern region of Sarawak, highlands of North Kalimantan and Brunei.
Sarawak Malay is a Malayic language native to the State of Sarawak. It is a common language used by natives of Sarawak and also as the important mother tongue for the Sarawakian Malay people.
Bruneian Malays are a native Malay ethnic group that lives in Brunei, the federal territory of Labuan, the southwestern coast of Sabah and the northern parts of Sarawak. The Bruneian Malays are a subgroup of the larger ethnic Malay population found in the other parts of the Malay World, namely Peninsular Malaysia and the central and southern areas of Sarawak including neighbouring lands such as Singapore, Indonesia and Southern Thailand, having visible differences especially in language and culture, even though they are ethnically related to each other and follow the teachings of Islam. All Bruneian Malays who are born or domiciled in East Malaysia even for generations before or after the independence of the states of Sabah and Sarawak from the British Empire through the formation of Malaysia in 1963 are also considered Malaysian Malays in the national census and were in the same status like the Malaysian Malays domiciled in Peninsular Malaysian states and the central and southern parts of Sarawak. They are also defined as a part of the Bumiputera racial classification together as a subgroup within the Malaysian Malay ethnic population along with the Kadazan-Dusuns, Orang Ulu, Ibans, Malaccan Portuguese, Muruts, Orang Sungai, Bajau, Suluks and the Malaysian Siamese.
The Brunei Malay language, also called Bruneian Malay language, is the most widely spoken language in Brunei and a lingua franca in some parts of Sarawak and Sabah, such as Labuan, Limbang, Lawas, Sipitang and Papar. Though Standard Malay is promoted as the official national language of Brunei, Brunei Malay is socially dominant and it is currently replacing the minority languages of Brunei, including the Dusun and Tutong languages, existing in a diglossic speech, wherein Brunei Malay is commonly used for daily communication, coexisting with the aforementioned regional languages and Malay creoles, and standard Malay used in formal speech; code switching between standard Malay and Brunei Malay is spoken in informal speech as a lingua franca between Malay creoles and regional languages. It is quite similar to Standard Malay to the point of being almost mutually intelligible with it, being about 84% cognate with standard Malay. Standard Malay is usually spoken with Brunei pronunciation.
The Tutong language, also known as Basa Tutong, is a language spoken by approximately 17,000 people in Brunei. It is the main language of the Tutong people, the majority ethnic group in the Tutong District of Brunei.
The Beaufort District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the Interior Division which includes the districts of Beaufort, Keningau, Kuala Penyu, Nabawan, Sipitang, Tambunan and Tenom. The population of Beaufort is composed mainly of Bisaya, Brunei Malays, Kadazan-Dusuns, Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh, Muruts and Chinese. Bisaya are the majority ethnic, and the population is scattered around the town. The capital of the district is in Beaufort Town.
The Sipitang District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the Interior Division which also includes the districts of Beaufort, Keningau, Kuala Penyu, Nabawan, Tambunan and Tenom. The capital of the district is in Sipitang Town. The ecotourism village of Long Mio and Long Pasia is located in this district, while the small town of Sindumin serves as a gateway to the state of Sarawak.
The Language and Literature Bureau is the Bruneian language authority of the country's official language Malay. It is also the operator of public libraries in the country. It was established in 1960 and is now a government department under the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
Old Airport is an area in Berakas, near the city of Bandar Seri Begawan, in the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam. It is the common name given to the former site of the Brunei Airport, and is now the location of several government offices.
The Tutong people are an ethnic group native to Brunei, mainly in Tutong District. They traditionally speak the Tutong language. They are officially recognised as one of the seven ethnic groups of the Bruneian Malay race.
Pengiran Mohammad, pen name Zairis M.S., is a Bruneian politician and writer in the Government of Brunei whole formerly took office as the second Minister of Religious Affairs from 2010 to 2015, and Deputy Minister of Education from 2005 to 2010.
Muslim bin Burut, pen name Muslim Burmat, was a writer from Brunei who wrote a great deal of literature, particularly novels and short stories that are used in Brunei's educational institutions. In addition to receiving numerous literary honours, his works—which are primarily realistic but also include fresh historiography—showcase aspects of Brunei society.
Muhammad Yasin bin Abdul Rahman, also known as Yassin Affandi, was a Bruneian politician who served as the president of the National Development Party from 2005 to 2010. He worked with A.M. Azahari during the Brunei revolt of 1962, when they called for the unification of Brunei, Sarawak, and North Borneo (Sabah) under a single administration. Together with other rebels, they directed against Brunei's proposed inclusion in the Federation of Malaysia.
Mahmud Saedon bin Othman was a Bruneian writer and Muslim scholar. His proficiency in the legal and Islamic domains, served as the foundation for the nation's giving of diplomas in law and Syar'ie law. Additionally, he was the principal advocate for the progressive reinstatement of syariah laws as the supreme law of the nation and the Islamic Legal Specialist in the Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA).