Social:Dusun language

Central Dusun
	Bunduliwan
	Boros Dusun
Native to	Malaysia, Brunei
Region	Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan
Ethnicity	Dusun people, Kadazan people; Ethnic population: 714,000 (2024)
Native speakers	260,000 Central Dusun (2010)e25
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian North Bornean Southwest Sabahan Dusunic Dusun Central Dusun; ; ; ; ; ;
Standard forms	Kadazandusun language (this page)
Official status
Recognised minority; language in	Malaysia (as Kadazandusun)
Regulated by	Multiple:; Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah; Kadazandusun Language Foundation; United Sabah Dusun Association; Kadazan Society Sabah;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dtp
Glottolog	cent2100

Short description: Language of Dusun people of Malaysia

Central Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan (Boros Dusun), is an Austronesian language and one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun (including Kadazan) peoples of Sabah, Malaysia.

History

What is termed as Central Dusun (or simply Dusun) and Coastal Kadazan (or simply Kadazan) are deemed to be highly mutually intelligible to one other; many consider these to be part of a single language.

The language was among many other Sabahan vernacular languages suppressed under Mustapha Harun's assimilationist enforcement of Bahasa Malaysia across the state.^[4] Under the efforts of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah, in 1995, the central Bundu-Liwan dialect was selected to serve as the basis for a standardised "Kadazandusun" language.^[5]^[6] This dialect, spoken in the Bundu and Liwan valleys of the Crocker-Trusmadi ranges (now parts of the present-day districts of Ranau, Tambunan and Keningau), was selected as it was deemed to be the most mutually intelligible when conversing with other "Dusun" or "Kadazan" dialects.

Phonology

The phonemes in Central Dusun and Coastal Kadazan are as follows:

Consonants

Central Dusun consonants
		Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	k	ʔ
Plosive	voiced	b	d	ɡ
Fricative			s		h
Rhotic			r
Approximant		w	l	j

Robinson specifies that /r/ in Tindal Dusun is a flap [ɾ].

Coastal Kadazan consonants
		Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	k	ʔ
Plosive	voiced	b	d	ɡ
Implosive		ɓ	ɗ
Fricative	voiceless		s		h
Fricative	voiced	v	z
Approximant			l

[x] occurs as an allophone of /k/ in word-medial position.^[7]

Tangit and MBDK note that Coastal Kadazan consonants correspond to the following consonants found in other varieties:


Central Dusun consonant	Coastal Kadazan cognate	Example
/r/	/l/	CD ralan, CK lahan "road"
/r/	/∅/	CD boros, CK boos "word"
/l/	/h/	CD loyou, CK hozou "song"
/w/	/v/	CD awasi, CK avasi "good"
/j/	/z/	CD agayo, CK agazo "big"

Vowels

Kadazandusun is usually said to have four vowels /a i u o/. According to Tingit, /o/ in Central Dusun is less rounded [o̜, ɤ] than in Coastal Kadazan and is sometimes represented with ⟨e⟩.

Orthography

Dusun is written using the Latin alphabet using 21 characters (the letters C, E, F, Q, and X are used in loanwords):

A B D G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z

These characters together are called Pimato.

Diphthongs: ⟨aa⟩ ⟨ai⟩ (sometimes pronounced /e/) ⟨ii⟩ ⟨oi⟩ ⟨uu⟩

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.

Grammar

Personal pronouns

Tindal Dusun^[8] has a Philippine-type focus system of syntax that makes one particular noun phrase in a sentence the most prominent. The prominent or focused noun (or noun phrase) is not necessarily the subject or the agent. In clauses with pronouns, both the pronoun as well as the verbal morphology carry indication of focus. If the verbal morphology carries actor-focus, the clause's actor will be a nominative pronoun - or rarely an emphatic pronoun. Any other noun phrase in the clause must take pronouns from a different set^{[clarification needed]}, as only one noun phrase can be the focus of a clause.

Tindal pronouns
Gloss	Nominative	Genitive	Oblique	Emphatic
1sg	oku	ku	doho	joho
2sg	ko	nu	diaʔ	jaʔ
3sg	isio	disio~dow	isio
1in	toko			jatiʔ
1ex	jahaj~jahɛː	dahɛː		jahɛː
2pl	jokow	dokow	jokow
3pl	joloʔ	dioloʔ	joloʔ

Kadazandusun pronouns^[9]
Gloss	Emphatic	Nominative	Genitive	Oblique
1sg	yoku	oku	ku	doho
1du	yato/iyahai	kito/iyahai/ikoi	dato/dahai
1pl	yotokou	tokou		dotokou
2sg	ika/ia'	ko/ika/ia'	nu	dia'/dika
2pl	ikoyu	kou	dikoyu
3sg.m	isio		disido/dau
3sg.f	isido		dosido/dau
3pl	yolo		diolo

"The "emphatic" pronouns are used alone or preposedly, either as answers or to stress the pronoun.^[10]