Kayan–Murik languages

Kayan–Murik
Kayan–Murik–Merap[1]
Geographic
distribution
central Borneo (East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Sarawak, and West Kalimantan)
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologkaya1336

The Kayan–Murik languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in Borneo by the Kayan, Murik, and Bahau peoples.

Languages

[edit]

The Kayan–Murik languages include:

Smith (2017, 2019)

[edit]

Smith (2017, 2019) classifies the Kayanic languages as follows:[1][2]

  • Kayanic
    • Kayan–Murik–Merap

Notable sound changes

[edit]

Glottalisation of final vowels

[edit]

In all Kayan–Murik languages, final vowels *-a, *-i, and *-u are closed with a glottal stop (similar to Banyumasan or Ngapak dialect of Javanese). This process resulted -aʔ, -eʔ, and -oʔ in most langauges, but two latter outcomes are instead -ayʔ and -awʔ in Merap.[3]

However, the Kayan–Murik languages have different treatments regarding syllables ending in *-ʔ (inherited from PMP *-q). Data Dian Kayan (DDK) and Bahau lengthen PMP *-aq into -aːʔ (but -iʔ and -uʔ), Busang simply retains the glottal stops without any lengthening, meanwhile, Long Naah Kayan (LNK) and Balui Liko Kayan (BLK) deleted *-q altogether.[4]

Final voiced stops

[edit]

Original final voiced stops have been altered to some extent in the Kayan–Murik languages. In LNK and DDK, *-b and *-d became nasalised into -m and -n, respectively (similar to Karo Batak). Meanwhile, in BLK and Busang, both are lenited into -v and -r. However, in Bahau, Ngorek, and Merap, the outcomes of final voiced stops are more variable, with *-b devoiced into -p, but *-d evolved into -l (Bahau), and then nasalised into -n (Ngorek and Merap).[5]

Vowel breaking before velar consonants

[edit]

In DDK, BLK, and additionally Uma Juman Kayan (UJK), vowels *a and *i were broken into and , before velar consonnts *k or (*anak 'child' → aneək).[6]

Outcomes of *z and *s

[edit]

In Bahau, PMP *s was debuccalised to h in all positions (eventually merging with the outcome of PMP ), while *z chain shifted to s. In other languages, *s was only debuccalised in initial, or final position; therefore, it is still retained in the medial position (merging with medial *-z-). Meanwhile, initial *z- became j- instead in these languages. However, in BLK and Busang, *-s was further deleted in the final position, but this rule did not apply for *-ʀ, nor the sequence *əs in Busang. Because of this, Alexander D. Smith speculates that the Proto-Kayanic outcome for PMP *z is *c, while *s remains unchanged.[7]

PMP Daughter
*pusuʔ 'heart' Bahau puhuʔ
*uzan 'rain' Bahau usan
*bətis 'calf' Busang bəti
*hapəjəs 'smarting pain' Busang pərah
*qitəluʀ 'egg' Busang təloh

Sequences of nasals and voiced consonants

[edit]

In most Kayan–Murik languages, such sequences (*mb, *nd, *nj, *ŋg) have evolved into *b, *d, *j, *g, by deleting the homorganic nasals.[8] This change followed the lenition of medial *-b- and *-d- into -v- (-f- in DDK and Bahau) and -r- in Kayan languages.[8] However, in Murik and Merap, they merged with *mp, *nt, *nc, *ŋk, with devoiced plosives.[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Smith 2017, p. 442.
  2. ^ Smith, Alexander D. (2019). "A Reconstruction of Proto-Segai-Modang". Oceanic Linguistics. 58 (2): 353–385. doi:10.1353/ol.2019.0012.
  3. ^ Smith 2017, p. 83.
  4. ^ Smith 2017, p. 54–57.
  5. ^ Smith 2017, p. 65–66.
  6. ^ Smith 2017, p. 59.
  7. ^ Smith 2017, p. 57–58.
  8. ^ a b Smith 2017, p. 53.
  9. ^ Smith 2017, p. 64.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Smith, Alexander D. (2017). THE LANGUAGES OF BORNEO: A COMPREHENSIVE CLASSIFICATION (Thesis). University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
[edit]