Tatana (Tatanaq) is a Sabahan language spoken in Sabah, Malaysia. Due to limited studies, it is hard to ascertain whether Tatana requires a category on its own or is considered a Bisaya variety based on its 90% linguistic intelligibility with the closely related Bisaya ethnic in Sabah. The current speakers of Tatana identify themselves as an ethnic subgroup of the Dusun people of Borneo. Jason Lobel (2013:360) classifies Tatana (along with Papar) as Murutic rather than Dusunic.
Phonology
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosive/AffricatevoicelessvoicedNasalFricativeApproximantRhotic ~
/ɾ/ may also be heard as a trill [r]. Stop sounds /p, t, k/ and /b, d, ɡ/ are heard as unreleased [C̚] in word-final positions.
Vowels
FrontCentralBackCloseMid()()Open PhonemeAllophone/ə/[ə], [ɛ], [œ], [ɤ], [ɔ]/a/[ä], [æ], [ʌ]
References
Lobel, Jason William. 2013. Philippine and North Bornean languages: issues in description, subgrouping, and reconstruction. Ph.D. dissertation. Manoa: University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Further reading