Coastal Kadazan, also known as , is a dialect of the

Kadazan Dusun language Central Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan (Dusun: ), is one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun (including Kadazan) peoples of Sabah, Malaysia. Kadazandusun language standardisation What is termed as ''Central Dusun'' (or sim ...

as well as a minority language primarily spoken in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the primary dialect spoken by the

Kadazan The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly in Penampang on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. As a result of integration in cultur ...

people in the west coast of Sabah especially in the districts of

Penampang Penampang ( ms, Pekan Penampang) is the capital of the Penampang District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 93,616 in 2010, with ethnic Kadazan as the majority. It contains, or is synonym ...

, Papar and

Membakut Membakut is a subdistrict in the Interior Division, Sabah, Malaysia. Located in Beaufort District, Membakut railway station is one of the stops for Sabah State Railway Sabah State Railway (SSR) is a railway system and operator in the state ...

(sub-district of

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions * ...

Characteristics

The use of Coastal Kadazan has been declining due to the use of Malay by the

Malaysian federal government The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia ( ms, Kerajaan Persekutuan Malaysia), is based in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in Kuala Lumpur. Malays ...

and by the use of English by missionaries, which was done through the method of language shift enforced by the work of both the colonial and federal governments. The state of Sabah has introduced policies to prevent this decline, which is also happening to other native Sabahan languages. This included the policy of using Kadazan and other indigenous languages in public schools. Efforts have also been done to allow the language to become official in the state. Coastal Kadazan has adopted many loanwords, particularly from other northern Borneo indigenous languages and also Malay. Kadazan extensively employs the voiced alveolar sibilant fricative in their native lexicons, a feature found in only a few Austronesian languages. The Tsou and Paiwan languages also have these particular elements, spoken by the Taiwanese aborigines. Another language is Malagasy spoken in the island of Madagascar thousands of miles away off the coast of Africa. Coastal Kadazan is highly

mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as a ...

with

Central Dusun Central Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan (Dusun: ), is one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun (including Kadazan) peoples of Sabah, Malaysia. Kadazandusun language standardisation What is termed as ''Central Dusun'' (or si ...

and is considered by many to be the same language. Under the efforts of the

Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah Kadazan-Dusun (also written as Kadazandusun or Mamasok Kadazan-Dusun) also less-known as "Mamasok Sabah" are two indigenous peoples of Sabah, Malaysia—the ethnic groups Kadazan and Dusun. The Kadazandusun is the largest native group of Bumi ...

, in 1995, the central Bundu-Liwan dialect (Central Dusun) was selected to serve as the basis for a standardised "Kadazandusun" language. This dialect was selected as it was deemed to be the most mutually intelligible when conversing with other "Dusun" or "Kadazan" dialects.

Phonology

Miller (1993) lists the following phonemes: ranges from weakly rounded to unrounded. Four borrowed consonants from Malay and English include .

Sample prayers

Our Father

:Translation: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary

:Translation: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Austronesian languages comparison table

Below is a table of Kadazan and other Austronesian languages comparing thirteen words.

References

External links

KadazanHomeland
{{Austronesian languages Sabahan languages Languages of Malaysia Languages of Sabah Verb–subject–object languages