Dusun language

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Central Dusun
Boros Dusun
Bunduliwan
Native to	Malaysia, Brunei
Region	Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan
Ethnicity	Dusun people, Kadazan people Ethnic population: 714,000 (2024)[1]
Native speakers	260,000 Central Dusun (2010)[2]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian North Bornean Southwest Sabahan Dusunic Dusun Central Dusun
Standard forms	Kadazandusun
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Malaysia (as Kadazandusun)
Regulated by	Multiple:[3] Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah Kadazandusun Language Foundation United Sabah Dusun Association Kadazan Society Sabah
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dtp
Glottolog	cent2100

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

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.

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

Central Dusun consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Dorsal	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ŋ
Plosive	voiceless	p	t	k	ʔ
	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
	voiced	b	d	ɡ
Implosive		ɓ	ɗ
Fricative	voiceless		s		h
	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"

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

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.

Tindal Dusun^[8] has a Philippine-type focus system of syntax that makes one particular noun phrase in a sentence the most prominent. This prominent, focused noun phrase does not need to be the subject or the agent of the clause. In clauses with pronouns, the verbal morphology and the pronoun both indicate focus. If the verb carries actor focus morphology, the actor of the clause will therefore be a nominative pronoun (or, rarely, an emphatic pronoun). Any other noun phrase in the clause will necessarily take pronouns from a different set, as only one noun phrase can be in focus in any given 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]

A typical Dusun sentence is VSO.^[11]

It is, however, possible for a grammatically correct Dusun sentence to be SVO.

Numerals^[12]

English	Dusun
one	iso
two	duo
three	tolu
four	apat
five	limo
six	onom
seven	turu
eight	walu
nine	siam
ten	hopod
hundred	hatus
thousand	soriong

To form numbers such as fifty or sixty, a multiplier is combined with a positional unit (tens, hundreds, thousands etc.), using no.

Separate units are combined with om.

Months^[13]

English	Dusun
January	Milatok
February	Mansak
March	Gomot
April	Ngiop
May	Mikat
June	Lumahas
July	Madas
August	Magus
September	Manom
October	Gumas
November	Milau
December	Momuhau

The Dusun name of the months derive from the traditional cycle of paddy harvesting.

Days of the week^[13]

English	Dusun
	Dusun name	Numerical[citation needed]
Monday	Tontolu	Tadau koiso
Tuesday	Mirod	Tadau koduo
Wednesday	Madsa	Tadau kotolu
Thursday	Tadtaru	Tadau kaapat
Friday	Kurudu	Tadau kolimo
Saturday	Kukuak	Tadau koonom
Sunday	Tiwang	Tadau koturu/minggu

The names for the days of the week are mostly based on a simple numerical sequence, which is commonly used for media and newspapers.^{[citation needed]} The names of Dusun days as part of the seven-day week derive from the life cycle of a butterfly.

Interrogatives^[9][12]

English	Dusun
what	nunu/onu
who	isai
where	hombo/nonggo
when	soira
why	okuro
how	poingkuro
how many	piro/songkuro

Central Dusun language survived by three main dialect groups.

Liwanic : Liwan, Inobong Dusun

Bunduic : Tindal, Bundu, Sinulihan, Tagahas-Tibabar, Gobukon-Luba

Ulu Sugut Dusun : Tinagas, Talantang, Tuhawon

All Central Dusun dialects are 100% mutually intelligible when conversing.

1 ¹ Tontok di timpuun i' om wonsoyo' no dii Kinorohingan do tawan om pomogunan. ² Aiso' po suang do pomogunan, om aiso' o poimpasi; om noolitan di rahat dot opuhod, om odondom o kotuongo'. Nga' mintongkopi' Rusod do Kinorohingan do hiri'd soibau di waig. ³ Om pimboros noh Kinorohingan do poingkaa, "Nawau no," ka – om haro noddi o tanawau. ⁴ Om kokito noh Kinorohingan dot osonong i tanawau, om potongkiado' no dau i tanawau do mantad id totuong. ⁵ Om pungaranai noh Kinorohingan do "Dangadau" i tanawau, om "Dongotuong" i totuong. Om korikot no sosodopon om korikot nogiddi kosuabon – iri no tadau do koiso'.^[14]

Tangit, Trixie M. (May 2005), Planning Kadazandusun (Sabah, Malaysia): Labels, Identity and Language, Mānoa: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Robinson, Laura C. (2005), "A sketch grammar of Tindal Dusun", University of Hawaiʻi Working Papers in Linguistics, vol. 36, no. 5, Mānoa: University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, pp. 1–31

• Kadazandusun Language Foundation
• Kadazandusun Online Vocabulary Sharing
• Numbers in Dusun (Dynamic)
• Collection of Central Dusun sentences at tatoeba.org
• Collection of Central Dusun sentences with audio at tatoeba.org