Melanau language
| Melanau | |
|---|---|
| Central Melanau | |
| Native to | Malaysia, Brunei |
| Region | Sarawak and neighbouring Brunei |
| Ethnicity | Melanau people |
Native speakers | 110,000 (2000)[1] |
Austronesian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:mel – Central Melanausdx – Sibu Melanau |
| Glottolog | cent2101 Centralsibu1258 Sibu |
Melanau is an Austronesian language spoken in the coastal area of the Rejang delta on northwest Borneo, Sarawak, Malaysia and Brunei. There are several dialects—Mukah-Oya, Balingian, Bruit, Dalat, Igan, Sarikei, Segahan, Prehan, Segalang, and Siteng.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
Melanau has the following consonants.[3]
| Bilabial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops and affricates |
Voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | ʔ | |
| Voiced | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | |||
| Fricatives | s | h, hʲ | |||||
| Nasals | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Trills | r | ʀ | |||||
| Semivowels | w | j | |||||
Vowels
Melanau has the following vowels.[3]
| front | central | back rounded | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ | ə | ɔ |
| Low | a |
Notes
- ^ Central Melanau at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Sibu Melanau at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- ^ a b Clayre 1970.
References
- I.F.C.S. Clayre. 1970. "The Spelling of Melanau (nee Milano)," The Sarawak Museum Journal 18:330-352.
- Rensch, Calvin R. 2012. Melanau and the Languages of Central Sarawak. SIL Electronic Survey Report. SIL International.
