Kanowit language

{{Short description|Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Kanowit

|nativename=Tanjong

|states=Malaysia, Brunei

|region=Sarawak and neighboring Brunei

|ethnicity=Melanau people

|speakers=200

|date=2000

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=North Bornean

|fam4=Melanau–Kajang

|fam5=Melanau

|iso3=kxn

|glotto=kano1244

|glottorefname=Kanowit-Tanjong Melanau

}}

The Kanowit language, also called Serau Tet Kanowit (language of the Kanowit people), is an Austronesian language spoken in Sarawak, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It is mutually intelligible with the Tanjong (alternatively spelled Tanjung) language, which is spoken even further upriver near the town of Kapit. Tanjong may be a separate language from Kanowit. However, both languages currently share the denomination kxn in ISO 639-3.{{Cite web|url=http://endangeredlanguages.com/lang/4258|title=Kanowit-Tanjong|date=2016|website=The Endangered Languages Project|access-date=13 January 2018}} Kanowit is primarily spoken in Kampung Bedil, a village located approximately one mile up the Rajang River from Kanowit Town.{{Cite book|title=The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification|last=Smith|first=Alexander D.|publisher=University of Hawaii at Manoa|year=2017|location=Honolulu, HI|pages=13}}