Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia and Brunei
Melanau is an Austronesian language spoken in the coastal area of the Rajang delta on northwest Borneo, Sarawak, Malaysia and Brunei. There are several dialects—Mukah-Oya, Balingian, Bruit, Dalat, Lawas, Igan, Sarikei, Segahan, Prehan, Segalang, and Siteng.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
Melanau has the following consonants.[3]
Vowels
Melanau has the following vowels.[3]
Sounds /i a u ɔ/ can have allophones of [ɪ æ~ʌ ʊ ɒ].[4]
Orthography
Vowels and diphthongs
- a – [a]
- aa – [aː]
- e – [ɛ/ə]
- i – [i]
- o – [ɔ]
- u – [u]
- ai – [ai]
- au – [au]
- ei – [ei]
- ou – [ou]
- ui – [ui]
Consonants
- b – [b]
- c – [t͡ʃ]
- d – [d]
- g – [g]
- h – [h, ɦ]
- j – [d͡ʒ]
- k – [k]
- l – [l]
- m – [m]
- n – [n]
- ng – [ŋ]
- ny – [ɲ]
- p – [p]
- r – [r/ʀ]
- s – [s]
- t – [t]
- w – [w]
- y – [j][5]
Notes
- ^ Central Melanau at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Daro-Matu 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.
- ^ Clayre 1972.
- ^ "Melanau language". Omniglot. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
References
- I.F.C.S. Clayre. 1970. "The Spelling of Melanau (nee Milano)," The Sarawak Museum Journal 18:330-352.
- Clayre, Iain F. C. S. 1972. A grammatical description of Melanau. University of Edinburgh.
- Rensch, Calvin R. 2012. Melanau and the Languages of Central Sarawak. SIL Electronic Survey Report. SIL International.
External links
- Kaipuleohone holds two open access collections that include Balingian language materials (RB1-002 and RB2-003-E) as well as notebook pages of stories
