Maʼanyan, Maanyan, Maʼanyan Barito, Maanyan Barito, Maʼanyan Dayak, Maanyan Dayak is an Austronesian language belonging to the eastern branch of the Barito language family. According to the 2003 census, it is spoken by about 150,000 Maʼanyan Dayaks – a Dayak ethnic group native to the Central and South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is closely related to Malagasy, an East Barito dialect continuum spoken in Madagascar, although these languages are not highly mutually intelligible due to centuries-long separation.
Connection with Malagasy The Malagasy language is an Austronesian language spoken in Madagascar, originating from its historical homeland in Southeast Kalimantan. Malagasy is classified among the Southeast Barito languages, and Maʼanyan is often listed as its closest relative, with Malagasy incorporating numerous Javanese loanwords. There are also some Sulawesi loanwords, which Adelaar attributes to contact prior to the migration to Madagascar: See It is known that Maʼanyan Dayaks were brought as labourers and slaves by the Javanese people in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by 50–500 AD. There is high lexical similarity with other East Barito languages like Paku Dayak (77%) and Witu Dusun Dayak (75%). It is likely that the Malagasy had already acquired a separate ethnic and linguistic identity in South Kalimantan prior to their migration(s) to East Africa. Based on linguistic evidence, it has been suggested that the early Malagasy migrants moved away from Kalimantan via Sunda Strait in the 7th century AD, if not later.
Compared to Malagasy, Ma’anyan is characterized by a "West Indonesian" (Hesperonesian) morphosyntactic structure, a consequence of the long-standing influence of Hesperonesian on the languages of Western Indonesia. While Malagasy is closer to the so-called “Philippine-type structure” (resembling many of the languages of the Philippines, Sabah, North Sulawesi, and Taiwan), it is also very innovative phonologically, perhaps as a result of its common phonological history with Comorian languages.
Phonology Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosivevoicelessvoicedNasalFricativeTrillLateralApproximant can also be heard as a tap sound .
Vowels FrontBackCloseOpen can be heard as in closed syllables.
Vocabulary Vocabulary comparison between Malay, Banjarese, Ma'anyan, and Malagasy.
MalayBanjareseMa'anyanMalagasyEnglish ('lemur') monkey basket trap for fish; the plant Donax spp. used to make it shaman, priest regent long (as in time) friend medicine happy, easy to keep ...ing spider
References
External links
Ma'anyan language and grammar (in Ma'anyan)