Kayan
Kajan
Native toIndonesia, Malaysia
RegionBorneo
EthnicityKayans
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
Glottologkaya1333  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:

Kayan

Bahau

Baram Kayan

Kayan River Kayan

Mendalam Kayan

Rejan–Makaham Kayan

Busang Kayan

Kayan Mahakam

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

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid ɛ ə ɔ
Open a
  • Length [Vː] is said to occur in free variation or in word-final position.
  • /i/ can be heard as [ɪ] in initial or medial positions, or in free variation with [i].
  • /ə/ can also be heard as [ɘ] in word-medial position.
  • /a/ can be heard as [ɐ] before a medial or final /ʔ/ or /h/.
  • /ɔ/ can be heard as [o] when before a /ʔ/ or /h/, or in fluctuation with [ɔ].[2]
  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) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Kayan.
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