Kayan (Kajan, Kayan proper) is a dialect cluster spoken by the Kayan people of Borneo. It is a cluster of closely related dialects with limited mutual intelligibility, and is itself part of the Kayan-Murik group of Austronesian languages.
Baram Kayan is a local trade language. Bahau is part of the dialect cluster, but is not ethnically Kayan.
Internal classification Glottolog v4.8 classifies the Kayan dialect cluster as follows:
Phonology The following is based on the Baram dialect:
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasalPlosive/Affricatevoiceless()tensevoicedFricative()Tap/TrillLateralApproximant
can be heard as either a tap or a trill in free variation. can be heard as when in free fluctuation with [k] in word-medial position. can be realized as more fronted when preceding high vocoids. may also be heard as a palatalized stop in free fluctuation. may also be heard as in free variation, and may also fluctuate to a stop sound .
Vowels FrontCentralBackCloseMidOpen
Length [Vː] is said to occur in free variation or in word-final position. can be heard as in initial or medial positions, or in free variation with . can also be heard as in word-medial position. can be heard as before a medial or final or . can be heard as when before a or , or in fluctuation with .
References