Ethnicity Iban people | ||
Native speakers 790,000 (2013)700,000 L2 speakers in Malaysia (2013) |
The Iban language (jaku Iban) is spoken by the Iban, a branch of the Dayak ethnic group formerly known as "Sea Dayak" who live in Sarawak, the Indonesian province of Kalimantan Barat and in Brunei. It belongs to Malayic languages a Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, and is related to Malay, more closely to Sarawakian Malay. It is thought that the homeland of the Malayic languages is in western Borneo, where the Ibanic languages remain. The Malayan branch represents a secondary dispersal, probably from central Sumatra but possibly also from Borneo. The Iban language is also a subject tested in PMR and SPM, the Malaysian public examination for Form 3 and Form 5 students respectively. Students comment that questions from these exams mostly cover the classic Iban language, making them a daunting task for many who are more fluent in the contemporary tongue. The language is mostly taught to students in rural areas with a majority Iban population, including Baleh (Kapit), Betong, Sri Aman, Saratok, Lubok Antu, Pelagus (Kapit), Pakan and Julau.
Contents
Dialects
The Iban can be subdivided into different sub-ethnic groups. Each of them speak in different dialects. The most formal, intermediate and working dialect is the Saribas (mainly Betong and Saratok), others such as Balaus, Sebuyaus, Ulu Ai, or Rejangs, which are mutually intelligible throughout Sarawak region. With the exceptional of Iban Remun dialects which have a unique dialect, but still intelligible to Ibans from other districts. In West Kalimantan, dialects such as Bugaus, Seberuangs, Mualangs, Chengkangs, Sebarus, Daus are more disparate. Here are some examples of the differences in the various dialects spoken in Sarawak and West Kalimantan, with their English equivalents:
-Sample phases in Iban Remun-
Alphabet
Although the Iban language is presently written using the Latin alphabet, an Iban syllabary was devised by Dunging anak Gunggu, who reportedly spent fifteen years from 1947 to 1962 devising the script. Twenty generations before Dunging, which would represent approximately 400–600 years, an ancestor named Renggi also devised a script, but it was lost in a flood apparently. The Iban syllabary is published but is not widely distributed; recent efforts by Dr. Bromeley Philip of Universiti Teknologi MARA to promote and revitalize the use of script have resulted in the creation of digital fonts, a teaching program, and the transcription of several traditional folktales.
Grammar
The prefix is used to show work or something action to be. The prefix is put in front of the verb. There are many prefixes used in Iban language. For example, gagai used in many style of prefix base on condition of the word.
Other examples:
Personal pronouns
Iban has separate words for inclusive and exclusive we, and distinguishes singular, dual, and plural.
Sample
mostly pronouns are put after subjects
Possessive pronouns
engku - "mine"enggi' di', enggi nuan - "yours"enggi iya - "his/her"enggi tua - "ours (both of us)"enggi sida - "theirs"Sample phases:
Demonstrative determiners
There are three demonstrative determiners in Iban. Tu "this, these" is used for a noun which is generally near to the speaker, nya "that, those" is used for a noun which is generally far from the speaker and "Nyin" which is the furthest from the speaker.
These words can also act as demonstrative pronouns where they can stands on theirs own, replacing rather than modifying a noun.
Example:
Demonstrative pronouns
In Iban, demonstrative pronouns are words that show which person or thing is being referred in relation to the location of the addressee to the speaker. There are three demonstrative pronouns in Iban depending on location to the speaker. They can only be used to refer to an addressee (human) and cannot be used to refer to inanimate objects.
Examples:
Demonstrative adverbs
Demonstrative adverbs in Iban are closely related to the demonstrative pronouns in Iban grammar. For example, corresponding to the demonstrative pronouns are the adverbs such as kitu (= going here), kia (= "going there") and kin (= "going there (farthest)") equivalent adverbs corresponding to the demonstrative pronoun this are tu, nya and nyin.
Examples:
Locatives
Examples:
Manner
Iban also has a set of adverbs referring to manner. They are a combination of baka (ke) ("like/as") and the abbreviated determiner forms tu, nya and nyin.
Examples:
Sample phrases
Bible Translation
Apai kami di serega, kudus mih nama nuan, datai mih perintah nuan, jadi mih peneka nuan, baka ke dalam serega baka nya dalam bumi. Beri ke kami pengidup tiap hari. Ampun penyalah kami, baka kami ti ngampun orang ti salah ngelaban kami. Intu kami ari penguji, lepaska kami ari penyai. Laban nuan ti beempu perintah,enggau kuasa enggau mulia. Datai ke belama - lama iya. Amin.First
Word phrase
-Active verb sentence-
-Passive verb sentence-