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.
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 Mahakamkys – Baram Kayanbfg – Busang Kayanxkn – Kayan River Kayanxkd – Mendalam Kayanree – Rejang Kayanwhu – Wahau Kayanbhv – Bahau |
Glottolog | kaya1333 Kayanic |
Baram Kayan is a local trade language.[further explanation needed] Bahau is part of the dialect cluster, but is not ethnically Kayan.
Internal classification
editGlottolog v4.8 classifies the Kayan dialect cluster as follows:
Kayan |
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Phonology
editThe following is based on the Baram dialect:
Consonants
editLabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | (tʃ) | k | ʔ |
tense | tː | kː | ||||
voiced | b | d | dʒ | g | ||
Fricative | β | s | (ʃ) | h | ||
Tap/Trill | r | |||||
Lateral | l | |||||
Approximant | w | j |
- /r/ can be heard as either a tap [ɾ] or a trill [r] in free variation.
- /k/ can be heard as [x] when in free fluctuation with [k] in word-medial position.
- /ɲ, ŋ/ can be realized as more fronted [ɲ̟, ŋ̟] when preceding high vocoids.
- /dʒ/ may also be heard as a palatalized stop [dʲ] in free fluctuation.
- /s/ may also be heard as [ʃ] in free variation, and may also fluctuate to a stop sound [tʃ].
Vowels
editFront | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
Open | a |
- Length [Vː] is said to occur in free variation or in word-final position.
- /i/ can be heard as [ɪ] in initial or medial positions, or in free variation with [i].
- /ə/ can also be heard as [ɘ] in word-medial position.
- /a/ can be heard as [ɐ] before a medial or final /ʔ/ or /h/.
- /ɔ/ can be heard as [o] when before a /ʔ/ or /h/, or in fluctuation with [ɔ].[2]
External links
edit- ^ 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) - ^ Cubit, L. E. (1964). Kayan phonemics. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 120. pp. 409–423.
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Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Kayan.