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Iban language

The Iban language (jaku Iban) is spoken by the Iban people. The speakers of this language mostly live in Brunei, West Kalimantan (Indonesia) and Sarawak (Malaysia). This language belongs to the Malayic subgroup. The subgroup is a part of a Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family.

Iban
Jaku Iban
Native to Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia
Region Borneo
Ethnicity Iban
Native speakers
 2,450,000 (2019)[1]

1,900,000 L2 speakers in Malaysia (2019)[1]
Latin, Dunging
Official status
Regulated by
  • Tun Jugah Foundation[2]
  • Ministry of Education Malaysia[3]
  • Dayak Cultural Foundation[3]
Language codes
ISO 639-2 iba
ISO 639-3 iba
Glottolog iban1264
Iban language distribution.svg
   Iban is the majority language where vast majority are first language speakers
   Iban is a minority language
An Iban speaker, recorded in Malaysia.

Phonology

Consonants

Iban has the following consonant inventory:[4]

Iban consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Plosive/

Affricate 		voiceless Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
voiced Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Fricative Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Lateral Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Rhotic Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Approximant Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.

Vowels

Iban has a six-vowel system, with five cardinal vowels plus schwa:[4]

Iban vowels
Front Central Back
Close Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Mid Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.
Open Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:IPA symbol/data' not found.

Vowel sounds are nasalized when preceded by a nasal consonant.[4]

Writing system

According to Iban legend, there was an ancestor named Renggi created a writing script on the skin of wood. Unluckily, it was soaked in water and the writing vanished. Unhappy with the tragedy, Renggi ate the script and swallowed it.[5] The script became ingrained in Renggi's brain and blood and also his descendants. Since then, the Ibans became master at memorising oral traditions, just like exactly written in books.[6] Occasionally, the Ibans used personalised symbols as memory aids on their writing boards (papan turai).[7][8] Papan turai was used to record ritual poems such as pengap and sabak.[9]

Iban language had no extant writing system of its own. So, Christian missionaries adopted the Latin alphabet to write the language.[10] A Sea Dyak Dictionary, published in 1900, was important in the early development of the Iban as a written language.[11] During the Crown Colony era, the Borneo Literature Bureau also worked on the written form of the Iban language.[10]

From 1947 to 1962, Dunging anak Gunggu invented an Iban syllabary. This script is known as the Dunging script.[12][5] In 2010, Dr. Bromeley Philip of Universiti Teknologi MARA[5] created digital fonts for Dunging script, named "LaserIban". He is the grandnephew of Dunging. The digital font is available for Windows and Macintosh computers. Dr Bromeley also launched a course to promote the use of LaserIban. He also had transcribed several traditional folktales from Latin alphabet into Dunging script.[13] However, the Dunging script is not widely used.[12] As of 2011, only three people in the world know how to write the Dunging script. They are Dr Bromeley himself, a longhouse chief Tuai Rumah Bagat Nunui and a teacher Ngambong Katoi.[14]

Iban Language Media

  • An Iban speaker, recorded in Malaysia.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Iban at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Su Hie, Ting; Andyson, Tinggang; Mertom, Lily (28 July 2021). "Language use and attitudes as indicators of subjective vitality: The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia". Language Documentation and Conservation. 15: 190–218. ISSN 1934-5275. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Shin, Chong (2021-05-07). "Iban as a koine language in Sarawak". Wacana. 22 (1): 102. doi:10.17510/wacana.v22i1.985. ISSN 2407-6899.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Asmah Haji Omar (1969).
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Churchill Edward (20 June 2012). "'Long Lost' Iban Alphabet Script 'Found'". The Borneo Post. http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/06/20/long-lost-iban-alphabet-script-found/. Retrieved 20 August 2019. 
  6. ↑ David, Jacqueline (11 July 2021). Dunging Script into the millennium. The Borneo Post. https://www.theborneopost.com/2021/07/11/dunging-script-into-the-millennium/. Retrieved 20 December 2023. 
  7. ↑ Pringle, Robert (1970). Rajahs & Rebels - The Ibans of Sarawak under Brooke Rule (1841-1941). New York: Cornell University Press. p. 37. Retrieved 12 August 2023.
  8. ↑ The Sarawak Hieroglyphics: A Lost Legacy?. The Borneo Post. 13 May 2024. https://www.theborneopost.com/2024/05/13/the-sarawak-hieroglyphics-a-lost-legacy1187066/#:~:text=It%20consists%20of%20a%20series,during%20the%20Gawai%20Batu%20ceremony.. Retrieved 13 May 2024. 
  9. ↑ Kenneth, Christopher. "Bab III - Metodologi (Chapter 3 - Methodology)" (PDF). Universitas Multimedia Nusantara. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Metom, Lilly; Ting, Su-Hie; Ling, Hsin-Nie (2021). "The Iban of Sarawak, Malaysia Ethnic Language Losing Ground to English and Sarawak Malay". Human Behaviour, Development and Society. 22 (3): 54–64. ISSN 2651-1762. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  11. ↑ Clifford, Sather (2016). "A Comprehensive Iban-English Dictionary". Borneo Research Bulletin. 47: 256–261. Archived from the original on 2024-01-07. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Iban". Omniglot. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "Reviving the Iban alphabet". UiTM News Hub. 15 March 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-10-30. Retrieved 19 December 2023.
  14. ↑ Edward, Churchill (19 September 2011). 'Pioneer Iban alphabet students will promote system'. The Borneo Post. https://www.theborneopost.com/2011/09/19/%E2%80%98pioneer-iban-alphabet-students-will-promote-system%E2%80%99/. Retrieved 16 January 2024. 

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