Idaʼan language

The Idaʼan (also Idahan) language is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken by the Idaʼan people on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia.

Idaʼan
Begak
Native to	Malaysia
Region	Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, and Sandakan districts of Sabah
Ethnicity	Idaʼan
Native speakers	10,000 (2013)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian North Bornean Sabahan Northeast Sabahan Idaʼan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	dbj
Glottolog	idaa1241
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Background

The language has a long literary history; the earliest known work in the language is a manuscript dated 1408 A.D. The manuscript, written using the Jawi script, gives an account of an Idaʼan man named Abdullah in Darvel Bay who embraced Islam, with the region thus becoming one of the earliest known regions in Malaysia to embrace Islam. The Idaʼan, Begak and Subpan peoples originally formed one ethnic group. The Idaʼan converted to Islam following the conversion of Abdullah, while the Begak and Subpan continued to practice their traditional religion.^[2]

Varieties

The Idaʼan language has been described as having three dialects: Idaʼan proper (spoken in Sagama and several villages west of Lahad Datu), Begak (spoken in Ulu Tungku and several villages east of Lahad Datu), and Subpan (spoken in the districts of Kinabatangan and Sandakan).^[3] These dialects correspond to three ethnic groups who originally formed a single group.

Lobel (2016)^[4] lists Sungai Seguliud and Begak as Idaanic languages (language varieties closely related to Idaʼan proper). The Begak dialect is said to be threatened with extinction, as younger speakers are switching to Malay.

Phonology

Collection of words in English and translation in Idaʼan, Bisaya and Adang Murut (Lun Bawang) in 1860 by Spencer St.John.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low		a

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	Voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k	ʔ
	Voiced	b	d	dʒ	ɡ
Fricative			s
Liquid	Lateral		l
	Trill		r
Semivowel		w		j

References

1. Idaʼan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Goudswaard (2005), p. 1
3. Banker (1984)
4. Lobel, Jason William (2016). North Borneo Sourcebook: Vocabularies and Functors. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824857790.

Sources

• Banker, John E. (1984). "The Idaʼan language". In King, Julie K.; King, John Wayne (eds.). Languages of Sabah: A Survey Report. Pacific Linguistics C-78. Canberra: Department of Linguistics, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. pp. 85–90. doi:10.15144/PL-C78.85.
• Goudswaard, Nelleke Elisabeth (2005). The Begak (Idaʼan) Language of Sabah. Utrecht Institute of Linguistics / LOT Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistic. ISBN 90-76864-73-X.