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Kayan language (Borneo)

{{Short description|Austronesian dialect cluster of Southeast Asia}}

{{for|the unrelated "Kayan" language spoken by the Kayan people of Burma|Padaung language}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Kayan

|nativename=Kajan

|states=Indonesia, Malaysia

|region=Borneo

|ethnicity=Kayans

|speakers=35,000

|date=1981–2007

|ref=e18

|familycolor=Austronesian

|fam2=Malayo-Polynesian

|fam3=Greater North Borneo ?

|fam4=Kayanic

|fam5=Kayan–Murik

|lc1=xay |ld1=Kayan Mahakam

|lc2=kys |ld2=Baram Kayan

|lc3=bfg |ld3=Busang Kayan

|lc4=xkn |ld4=Kayan River Kayan

|lc5=xkd |ld5=Mendalam Kayan

|lc6=ree |ld6=Rejang Kayan

|lc7=whu |ld7=Wahau Kayan

|lc8=bhv |ld8=Bahau

|glotto=kaya1333

|glottoname=Kayanic

}}

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.

Baram Kayan is a local trade language.{{explain|date=July 2020}} Bahau is part of the dialect cluster, but is not ethnically Kayan.

Internal classification

Glottolog v4.8 classifies the Kayan dialect cluster as follows:

{{clade

|label1=Kayan

|1={{clade

|label1=

|1=Bahau

|label2=

|2=Baram Kayan

|label3=

|3=Kayan River Kayan

|label4=

|4=Mendalam Kayan

|label5=Rejan–Makaham Kayan

|5={{clade

|label1=

|1=Busang Kayan

|label2=

|2=Kayan Mahakam

|label3=

|3=Rejang Kayan

}}

}}

}}

Phonology

The following is based on the Baram dialect:

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

colspan="2" |Nasal

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|{{IPA link|ɲ}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

|

rowspan="3" |Plosive/
Affricate

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|({{IPA link|tʃ}})

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|ʔ}}

tense

|

|{{IPA link|tː}}

|

|{{IPA link|kː}}

|

voiced

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|dʒ}}

|{{IPA link|g}}

|

colspan="2" |Fricative

|{{IPA link|β}}

|{{IPA link|s}}

|({{IPA link|ʃ}})

|

|{{IPA link|h}}

colspan="2" |Tap/Trill

|

|{{IPA link|r}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Lateral

|

|{{IPA link|l}}

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

|{{IPA link|w}}

|

|{{IPA link|j}}

|

|

  • {{IPA|/r/}} can be heard as either a tap {{IPA|[ɾ]}} or a trill {{IPA|[r]}} in free variation.
  • {{IPA|/k/}} can be heard as {{IPA|[x]}} when in free fluctuation with [k] in word-medial position.
  • {{IPA|/ɲ, ŋ/}} can be realized as more fronted {{IPA|[ɲ̟, ŋ̟]}} when preceding high vocoids.
  • {{IPA|/dʒ/}} may also be heard as a palatalized stop {{IPA|[dʲ]}} in free fluctuation.
  • {{IPA|/s/}} may also be heard as {{IPA|[ʃ]}} in free variation, and may also fluctuate to a stop sound {{IPA|[tʃ]}}.

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

Close

| align="center" |{{IPA link|i}}

|

|{{IPA link|u}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}}

|{{IPA link|ə}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}}

Open

|

|{{IPA link|a}}

|

  • Length [Vː] is said to occur in free variation or in word-final position.
  • {{IPA|/i/}} can be heard as {{IPA|[ɪ]}} in initial or medial positions, or in free variation with {{IPA|[i]}}.
  • {{IPA|/ə/}} can also be heard as {{IPA|[ɘ]}} in word-medial position.
  • {{IPA|/a/}} can be heard as {{IPA|[ɐ]}} before a medial or final {{IPA|/ʔ/}} or {{IPA|/h/}}.
  • {{IPA|/ɔ/}} can be heard as {{IPA|[o]}} when before a {{IPA|/ʔ/}} or {{IPA|/h/}}, or in fluctuation with {{IPA|[ɔ]}}.{{Cite book |last=Cubit |first=L. E. |title=Kayan phonemics |year=1964 |location=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 120 |pages=409–423}}

External links

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikivoyage|Kayan phrasebook|Kayan|a phrasebook}}

{{Bornean languages}}

{{Greater North Borneo languages}}

{{Languages of Indonesia}}

{{Languages of Malaysia}}

Category:Languages of Malaysia

Category:Languages of Indonesia

Category:Kayan–Murik languages

{{au-lang-stub}}