Kanowit language

Kanowit
Kanowit
Tanjong
Native to	Malaysia, Brunei
Region	Sarawak and neighboring Brunei
Ethnicity	Melanau people
Native speakers	200 (2000)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian North Bornean Melanau–Kajang Melanau Kanowit; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kxn
Glottolog	kano1244
ELP	Kanowit-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 further 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

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

^ Kanowit at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ "Kanowit-Tanjong". The Endangered Languages Project. 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
^ Smith, Alexander D. (2017). The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa. p. 13.
^ 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.

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[e18-1] Kanowit at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] "Kanowit-Tanjong". The Endangered Languages Project. 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2018.

[:0-3] Smith, Alexander D. (2017). The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa. p. 13.

[:02-4] 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.

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