Mainstream Kenyah language explained

Kenyah
Also Known As:	Lepo’
Nativename:	Bakung
States:	Indonesia, Malaysia
Region:	Borneo
Ethnicity:	Kenyah
Date:	2007–2013
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	Austronesian
Fam2:	Malayo-Polynesian
Fam3:	North Bornean
Fam4:	North Sarawakan
Fam5:	Kenyah
Iso3:	xkl
Glotto:	main1275
Glottorefname:	Usun Apau Kenyah

Mainstream Kenyah, also known as Usun Apau and Bakung, is a Kenyah dialect cluster of North Kalimantan, Indonesia, and Sarawak, Malaysia. Dialects fall into four clusters:

• Lepo’ Tau, Lepo’ Bem, Uma’ Jalan, Uma’ Tukung^[1]
• Lepo’ Ke, Lepo’ Kuda
• Lepo’ Maut, Lepo’ Ndang, Badeng (Madang)^[2]
• Bakung, Lepo’ Tepu’ (Lepo Teppu’).

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	voiced	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative				pronounced as /ink/
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /ink/
Trill				pronounced as /ink/
Approximant		pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/

• Sounds pronounced as //p, t̪// can also occur as geminated pronounced as /[pː,  t̪ː]/ or as unreleased in word-final pronounced as /[p̚, t̪̚]/.

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/

• pronounced as //i// can also occur as lax pronounced as /[ɪ]/.
• Sounds pronounced as //a, u// can also be heard as long pronounced as /[aː, uː]/.^[3]

External links

• Kaipuleohone's archive of Robert Blust's work includes notes on Kenyah language

Notes and References

1. also Lepo Jengan, Lepo Aga, Uma Ake, Lepo Ga, Lepo La’ang, Sambup, and Likan
2. also Lepo Jamok
3. Book: Asih, Yuni Utami . Inventory of Kenyah Lepo Tau Segmental Sounds . 2017.