Melanau language

Melanau
Central Melanau
Native to Malaysia, Brunei
Region Sarawak and neighbouring Brunei
Ethnicity Melanau people
Native speakers
 110,000 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Either:
mel – Central Melanau
sdx – Sibu Melanau
Glottolog cent2101  Central[2]
sibu1258  Sibu[3]

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.[4]

Phonology

Consonants

Melanau has the following consonants.[5]

BilabialCoronalPalatalVelarUvularGlottal
Stops and
affricates		 Voiceless pttʃkʔ
Voiced bddʒɡ
Fricatives sh, hʲ
Nasals mnɲŋ
Lateral l
Trills rʀ
Semivowels wj

Vowels

Melanau has the following vowels.[5]

frontcentralback
rounded
High iu
Mid ɛəɔ
Low a

Notes

  1. ↑ Central Melanau at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Sibu Melanau at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Central Melanau". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Sibu Melanau". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  4. ↑ Raymond G. Gordon Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  5. 1 2 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.
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