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Kanowit language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kanowit
Tanjong
Native toMalaysia, Brunei
RegionSarawak and neighboring Brunei
EthnicityMelanau people
Native speakers
200 (2000)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3kxn
Glottologkano1244
ELPKanowit-Tanjong

The Kanowit language, also called Serau Tet Kanowit (language of the Kanowit people), is an Austronesian language spoken in Sarawak, Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It is mutually intelligible with the Tanjong (alternatively spelled Tanjung) language, which is spoken even farther upriver near the town of Kapit. Tanjong may be a separate language from Kanowit; however, both languages currently share the denomination kxn in ISO 639-3.[2] Kanowit is primarily spoken in Kampung Bedil, a village located approximately one mile up the Rajang River from Kanowit Town.[3]

Vocabulary

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Some Kanowit vocabulary translated into English:[4]

Kanowit English
bahah 'husked rice', 'seed'
balak 'banana'
buyaʔ 'because'
kapan 'thick'
kəbeh 'die'
lakəy 'old (age)'
mañit 'sharp'
məlut 'sleep'
mərəw 'woman'
musuŋ 'lips', 'beak'
nəlabaw 'ask'
ñaga 'to fry'
pəloʔon 'ten'
sak 'red', 'ripe'
sidəp 'aflame'
supat 'swollen'
təjalaŋ 'rhinoceros hornbill'
tənawan 'person'
tigah 'straight'
ubaʔ 'word'
ubəl 'mute'

References

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  1. ^ Kanowit at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Kanowit-Tanjong". The Endangered Languages Project. 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  3. ^ Smith, Alexander D. (2017). The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa. p. 13.
  4. ^ Smith, Alexander D. (2017). The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa. pp. 98, 102, 104–109, 296, 298, 301, 303, 305.