Kadazandusun language


Central Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan, is one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun and Kadazan peoples of Sabah, Malaysia.

Kadazandusun language standardization

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. Dusun Bundu-liwan's selection was based on it being the most mutually intelligible, when conversing with other Dusun or Kadazan dialects.

Alphabet and pronunciation

The Dusun-Kadazan language is written using the Latin alphabet and it has 22 characters :
A B D G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z
These characters together are called Pimato.

Consonants

Semivowels /w j/ and rhotic /r/ only occur in most of the other dialects of the Dusun/Kadazan languages. Forschner and Antonissen list two fricatives /v z/ for the Rungus and Penampang Kadazan dialects. is also listed as an allophone of /k/ in word-medial position.

Vowels

The vowels are divided into:
Simple vowels: /i u a o/
Diphthongs: aa ai ii oi uu
Forschner notes for the Rungus dialect that the phoneme /e/ is a contraction of the diphthongs /ai/ or /oi/.
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.

Structure

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 montoku.
Direct English translation: Drink him rice wine.
English interpretation: He is drinking rice wine.
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?"

Grammar

The following table is a comparison of lexical terms in English, Dusun and the Malay language.
EnglishDusunMalay
zeroaisokosong/sifar
oneisosatu
twoduodua
threetolutiga
fourapatempat
fivelimolima
sixonomenam
seventurutujuh
eightwalulapan
ninesiamsembilan
tenhopodsepuluh
elevenhopod om isosebelas
twentyduo nohopoddua puluh
hundredhatus/sahatusratus/seratus
two hundredsduo nahatusdua ratus
thousandribu/soriburibu/seribu
five thousandslimo noribulima ribu
millionlaksa/liongjuta
billionbilionbilion

For example: tolu noribu duo nahatus walu nohopod om siam

Name of the Months

Names of the days of the week

The names for the days of the week are mostly based on a simple numerical sequence, which is commonly used for media and newspapers. Sometimes Dusun names for the days come from the seven stages in the metamorphosis of butterfly, which is commonly taught in school syllabus and literature purpose.

Five Ws and one H (Interrogatives)

Personal pronouns

Personal pronouns in Dusun are determined by their use in the sentence. There are emphatic subject, non-emphatic subject, possessive and accusative. Dusun has separate words for inclusive and exclusive we, and distinguishes singular, dual, and plural.

Examples

Genesis 1:1-3

Ontok di timpuun ih, tuminimpuun o Kinorohingan do minomonsoi do libabou om pomogunan. Orolot iti pomogunan om inggaa suang, om pointuong nokulumutan di rahat topuhod. Mintulud sunduan do Kinorohingan do hiri id soibau di waig. Om pomoros nodi o Kinorohingan do, "Nawau no" ka. Om haro nodi o tanawau. Om asanangan tomod o Kinorohingan do nokokitoh diri. Pitongkiado no do Kinoingan ih tanawau do mantad hiri id totuong. Om pungaranai nodi do Kinorohingan do "dangadau" it anawau, om iri otuong nopo nga pinungaranan dau do "dongotuong". Haro di sosodopon, sinusuhut minsusuab – iri no o tadau kumoiso.

Translation

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The spirit of God was hovering over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light "day", and the darkness he named "night". There was evening, then morning, the first day.