Kenyah languages

Kenyah
Kenyah
Geographic; distribution	Borneo
Linguistic classification	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian North Bornean North Sarawakan Kenyah; ; ; ;
Glottolog	kaya1332 (partial match)

The Kenyah languages are a group of half a dozen or so closely related languages spoken by the Kenyah peoples of Borneo. They are:

Kenyah proper (a dialect cluster, incl. Madang), Sebob, Bakung, Tutoh (Long Wat), Wahau Kenyah, Uma’ Lung / Uma’ Lasan.

Ethnologue says that the Punan–Nibong languages are related to Uma’ Lasan, Glottolog that they are outside the Kenyah languages.

Classification

Soriente (2008) proposes a Kayan-Kenyah grouping.^[1]

Proto–Kayan-Kenyah
- Kenyah
  - Upper Pujungan
  - Usun Apau
- Penan
  - West Penan
  - East Penan
- Kayanic
  - Lebu’ Kulit
  - Mboh
  - Ngorek
  - Kayan

However, Smith (2015) rejects Soriente's grouping, and argues that Kenyah and Kayan are separate groups. Smith (2015) proposes the following classification.^[2]

Proto-Kenyah
- Highland
  - Highland A dialects: Lepo’ Gah, Lepo’ Sawa, Lepo’ Laang, Lepo’, Ma’ut, Lepo’ Ké, Bakung, Lepo’ Ndang
  - Highland B dialects: Lepo’ Tau, Badeng, Uma’ Lasan, Uma’ Alim, Òma Lóngh
- Lowland
  - Western Lowland dialects: Lebo’ Vo’
  - Eastern Lowland dialects: Uma’ Pawe, Uma’ Kulit, Uma’ Ujok, Lepo’ Timai
- Penan-Sebop
  - Penan
  - Sebop

This classification of Kenyah languages was updated in a second publication, "Penan, Sebop, and Kenyah internal classification". There, it was shown that Penan and Sebop subgroup specifically with the Western-Lowland branch of Lowland Kenyah. This subgrouping was repeated in the dissertation, "The languages of Borneo: a comprehensive classification".

Proto-Kenyah
- Highland
  - Highland A dialects: Lepo’ Gah, Lepo’ Sawa, Lepo’ Laang, Lepo’, Ma’ut, Lepo’ Ké, Bakung, Lepo’ Ndang
  - Highland B dialects: Lepo’ Tau, Badeng, Uma’ Lasan, Uma’ Alim, Òma Lóngh
- Lowland
  - Western Lowland dialects: Lebo’ Vo’, Eastern Penan, Western Penan, Sebop
  - Eastern Lowland dialects: Uma’ Pawe, Uma’ Kulit, Uma’ Ujok, Lepo’ Timai

References

^ Soriente, Antonia. 1997. The classification of Kenyah languages: A preliminary assessment. In SEALS XIV(2): Papers from the 14th meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (2004), ed. by Wilaiwan Khanittana and Paul Sidwell, 49–62. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
^ Smith, Alexander D. "On the Classification of Kenyah and Kayanic Languages." In Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 54, Number 2, December 2015, pp. 333-357.

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[1] Soriente, Antonia. 1997. The classification of Kenyah languages: A preliminary assessment. In SEALS XIV(2): Papers from the 14th meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (2004), ed. by Wilaiwan Khanittana and Paul Sidwell, 49–62. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.

[2] Smith, Alexander D. "On the Classification of Kenyah and Kayanic Languages." In Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 54, Number 2, December 2015, pp. 333-357.

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