View source for Kutainese language

{{short description|Austronesian language spoken in Kalimantan, Indonesia}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Kutai
| region           = [[West Kutai Regency|West Kutai]], [[Kutai Kartanegara Regency|Kutai Kartanegara]], and [[East Kutai Regency|East Kutai]] ([[East Kalimantan]])
| states           = [[Indonesia]]
| ethnicity        = [[Kutai people|Kutai]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|290,000|1}}
| date             = 1981
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = Austronesian
| fam2             = [[Malayo-Polynesian languages|Malayo-Polynesian]]
| fam3             = [[Greater North Borneo languages|Greater North Borneo]]
| fam4             = [[Malayic languages|Malayic]]
| lc1              = mqg
| ld1              = Kota Bangun
| lc2              = vkt
| ld2              = Tenggarong
| dialects         = Kota Bangun, Tenggarong, Ancalong
| glotto           = kota1275
| glottoname       = Kota Bangun
| glottorefname    = Kota Bangun Kutai Malay
| glotto2          = teng1267
| glottoname2      = Tenggarong
| glottorefname2   = Tenggarong Kutai
| map              = Kutai Malay.jpg
}}

'''Kutai''' is a [[Malayic languages|Malayic]] language spoken by 300,000 to 500,000 people. It is the native language of the Kutai people ({{Langx|id|Suku Kutai}}, Kutai: ''Urang Kutai''){{Which lang|reason=needs correct dialect template|date=December 2022}}, the indigenous ethnic group which lives along the [[Mahakam River]] in [[Borneo]], especially in [[North Kalimantan]], [[Indonesia]]. They are the principal population in the regencies of [[West Kutai Regency|West Kutai]], [[Kutai Kartanegara Regency|Kutai Kartanegara]], and [[East Kutai Regency|East Kutai]] within North Kalimantan province.

Kutai is part of the local Bornean Malayic languages and is closely related to but distinct from the [[Banjar language]] in [[South Kalimantan]], [[Berau Malay language|Berau]], also spoken in North Kalimantan and to some extent [[Brunei Malay|Brunei-Kedayan Malay]] as well. Kutai forms a dialect continuum between the two varieties and all three share similar phonology and vocabulary with each other.

== Literature ==
Kutai for most of its history is mainly a spoken language and is mostly used as a form of poetry (''[[pantun]]''). During the period of the [[Kutai Kartanegara Sultanate]], most literature was written in [[Malay language|Standard Malay]] in [[Jawi script]] instead of Kutai Malay.

== Dialects == 
Kutai, as with many Malay varieties on the island, is a dialect continuum. A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a spread of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighbouring varieties differ only slightly, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated varieties are not mutually intelligible. There are three principal dialects of Kutai Malay language; all three have little [[mutual intelligibility]] with each other due to the geographical proximity of these dialects. The three main dialects are Tenggarong, Kota Bangun, and Ancalong Estuary.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Incubator|code=vkt}}

{{Languages of Indonesia}}
{{Austronesian languages}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutai, Bahasa}}
[[Category:Languages of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Agglutinative languages]]
[[Category:Malay dialects]]


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[[Category:Malayic languages]]