Dusun languages
| Kadazan Dusun | |
|---|---|
| Bo'os Kadazan/Boros Dusun | |
| Bunduliwan | |
| Native to | Malaysia, Brunei |
| Region | Sabah, Labuan |
| Ethnicity | Dusun people, Kadazan people |
|
Native speakers
|
(140,000 Central Dusun cited 1991) 100,000 ethnic population other dialects (1981–2000) |
|
Austronesian
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | dusu1277 |
Kadazan Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan (Dusun: Boros Dusun), is one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun and Kadazan peoples of Sabah, Malaysia.
Under the efforts of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah, the standardized Kadazan-Dusun language is of the central Bundu-Liwan dialect spoken in Bundu and Liwan (now parts of the present-day districts of Ranau, Tambunan and Keningau). Dusun Bundu-liwan's selection was based on it being the most mutually intelligible, when conversing with other Dusun or Kadazan dialects.
The Dusun-Kadazan language is written using the Latin alphabet and it has 22 characters (the letters C, E, F, Q, and X are not used except in loanwords):
A B D G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
These characters together are called Pimato.
The vowels are divided into:
Simple vowels: a i o u
Diphthongs: aa ai (sometimes pronounced /eː/) ii oi uu
Some combinations of vowels do not form diphthongs and each vowel retains its separate sound: ao ia iu ui ue. In some words aa is not a diphthong, and this is indicated by an apostrophe between the two vowels: a’a.
The Dusun phrase structure follow a different pattern since the normal English SUBJECT – VERB – OBJECT structure is non-existent in the Dusun construction. A typical Dusun sentence follows the [VERB – SUBJECT – OBJECT structure.
Frequency distribution of word order in languages
surveyed by Russell S. Tomlin in 1980s.
Example
Dusun sentence: Monginum isio do waig.
Direct English translation: Drink him water.
English interpretation: He is drinking water.
Dusun sentence: Nunu maan nu do suab?
Direct English translation: What do you tomorrow?
English interpretation: "What are you doing tomorrow?" or to a lesser extent, "Are you doing anything tomorrow?"
...
Wikipedia