Kayan language (Borneo) explained

Kayan
Nativename:	Kajan
States:	Indonesia, Malaysia
Region:	Borneo
Ethnicity:	Kayans
Speakers:	35,000
Date:	1981–2007
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Fam2:	Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:	Greater North Borneo ?
Fam4:	Kayanic
Fam5:	Kayan–Murik
Lc1:	xay
Ld1:	Kayan Mahakam
Lc2:	kys
Ld2:	Baram Kayan
Lc3:	bfg
Ld3:	Busang Kayan
Lc4:	xkn
Ld4:	Kayan River Kayan
Lc5:	xkd
Ld5:	Mendalam Kayan
Lc6:	ree
Ld6:	Rejang Kayan
Lc7:	whu
Ld7:	Wahau Kayan
Lc8:	bhv
Ld8:	Bahau
Glotto:	kaya1333
Glottoname:	Kayanic

Kayan (Kajan, Kayan proper) is a dialect cluster spoken by the Kayan people of Borneo. It is a cluster of closely related dialects with limited mutual intelligibility, and is itself part of the Kayan-Murik group of Austronesian languages.

Baram Kayan is a local trade language. Bahau is part of the dialect cluster, but is not ethnically Kayan.

Internal classification

Glottolog v4.8 classifies the Kayan dialect cluster as follows:

Phonology

The following is based on the Baram dialect:

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	(pronounced as /link/)	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	tense		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
	voiced	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/	(pronounced as /link/)		pronounced as /ink/
Tap/Trill			pronounced as /ink/
Lateral			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/

• pronounced as //r// can be heard as either a tap pronounced as /[ɾ]/ or a trill pronounced as /[r]/ in free variation.
• pronounced as //k// can be heard as pronounced as /[x]/ when in free fluctuation with [k] in word-medial position.
• pronounced as //ɲ, ŋ// can be realized as more fronted pronounced as /[ɲ̟, ŋ̟]/ when preceding high vocoids.
• pronounced as //dʒ// may also be heard as a palatalized stop pronounced as /[dʲ]/ in free fluctuation.
• pronounced as //s// may also be heard as pronounced as /[ʃ]/ in free variation, and may also fluctuate to a stop sound pronounced as /[tʃ]/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Mid	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Open		pronounced as /link/

• Length [Vː] is said to occur in free variation or in word-final position.
• pronounced as //i// can be heard as pronounced as /[ɪ]/ in initial or medial positions, or in free variation with pronounced as /[i]/.
• pronounced as //ə// can also be heard as pronounced as /[ɘ]/ in word-medial position.
• pronounced as //a// can be heard as pronounced as /[ɐ]/ before a medial or final pronounced as //ʔ// or pronounced as //h//.
• pronounced as //ɔ// can be heard as pronounced as /[o]/ when before a pronounced as //ʔ// or pronounced as //h//, or in fluctuation with pronounced as /[ɔ]/.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Book: Cubit, L. E. . Kayan phonemics . 1964 . Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 120 . 409–423.