Kayan
Kajan
Native toIndonesia, Malaysia
RegionBorneo
EthnicityKayan people
Native speakers
(35,000 cited 1981–2007)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
xay – Kayan Mahakam
kys – Baram Kayan
bfg – Busang Kayan
xkn – Kayan River Kayan
xkd – Mendalam Kayan
ree – Rejang Kayan
whu – Wahau Kayan
bhv – Bahau
Glottologkaya1323  Kayan Proper
kaya1325  Kayan River Kayan
reja1241  Rejang Kayan

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.[further explanation needed] Bahau is part of the dialect cluster, but is not ethnically Kayan.

Phonology

The following is based on the Baram dialect:

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t (tʃ) k ʔ
tense tː kː
voiced b d dʒ g
Fricative β s (ʃ) h
Tap/Trill r
Lateral l
Approximant w j

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Open a

External links

  1. ^ Kayan Mahakam at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Baram Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Busang Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kayan River Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mendalam Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Rejang Kayan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    (Additional references under 'Language codes' in the information box)
  2. ^ Cubit, L. E. (1964). Kayan phonemics. Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 120. pp. 409–423.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link)
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Kayan.
Greater North Borneo
Austronesian languages
Languages of Indonesia
Languages of Malaysia
Categories