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Baba Malay language exist as a result of intermarriage between Chinese immigrant traders and local Malay woman in the Straits Settlement between seventeenth to nineteenth century. In the history, it is stated that it’s customary for the Chinese Immigrant traders to find a wife before returning to the Malay Peninsula, but the process was complicated and expensive.  So, the traders usually settled with the easier option which is to get a local wife.  It’s become a practical thing to do for their live hood.  Baba Nonya’s settlement are located at Melaka, Penang and Singapore. (BabaMalay, 2020)

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Semai was categorized under the Senoi subgroup by the government.  The population of the Semai people are about quarter of the entire Orang Asli population and about two thirds of the Senoi.  The anthropologist divided the Semai community into two groups which are highland and lowland Semai.   The highland Semai is more adapted to the forest resources work such as hunting, fishing and swidden farming of grain and root crops while the lowland Semai more focus on labour force and seeking employment in small scale trading of jungle produce.  Not only that, the lowland Semai are more exposed to the modern economy.  The settlements of the Semai are located at southern state of Perak, south west of Pahang and Selangor.

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Kadazan-Dusun is one of the largest indigenous ethnic group in Sabah.  It is stated that Kadazandusun is a collection of ethnic groups that speak a similar language and also dialects.  They also have a common belief system that have various of custom and practices. There are various of subgroups of Kadazandusun such as the Kadazan of Penampang and Papar, the Lotud, Dusun, Kwijau, Bisaya, Dumpas, Mankaak, Minokok, Maragang, Tangaah, Liwan, Tatanah, Sino-Natives, the Rungus, and other subgroups from Tempusuk, Tambunan, Ranau, and other districts.  Mostly, the Kadazandusun live in the western of Sabah.

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Dominant spoken language:

Kadazandusun

Dialects:

Bundu-Liwan, Tangara

Language family:

Austronesian

Native speakers:

750,000

Religion:

Christian, Islam & Animism.

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2.2 Video: Kadazandusun is dying language

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2.2 Video: Kadazandusun is dying language

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In this video, it shows that the Kadazandusun preserve their language in order to make sure the language is not dying.  It is because the younger generation of Kadazandusun nowadays do not know how to speak their own language anymore.

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2.3 YouTube: Cartoon in Kadazan Dusun language

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2.3 YouTube: Cartoon in Kadazan Dusun language

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Susuyan Giuk om Bilu (Cerita KadazanDusun)

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2.4 NEWS ARTICLE:  KADAZANDUSUN COMMUNITY IN DANGER OF LOSING MOTHER TONGUE – TANGAU

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2.4 NEWS ARTICLE:  KADAZANDUSUN COMMUNITY IN DANGER OF LOSING MOTHER TONGUE – TANGAU

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Key point of the Article:

1) The president of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) mentioned that the Kadazandusun Community was in danger of losing their mother tongue.  Is it because the younger generation speak less and less of the Kadazandusun language.

2) The introduction of Kadazandusun language as subject in school give a positive impact as they (the younger generation) will be able to learn how to speak their mother tongue.

3) One of Upko’s ideologies is to preserve the momogun heritage and culture that also includes Kadazandusun mother tongue. The purpose of this ideologies is to ensure that the Kadazandusun community will not lose their heritage.

4) So far in 2018, there are about 55,566 pupils from 384 primary schools taking Kadazandusun language subject and there are 1,100 teachers who teach the subject.

5) Not only that, there are about 4416 students from 45 secondary schools take up the Kadazandusun language subject.

6) At the higher learning institutes level, UPSI has 143 undergraduates and produced 97 graduates in teaching the Kadazandusun language.
(Borneo today, 2018)

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By BORNEOTODAY REPORTERS
TAMPARULI: Upko has gone a long way in its efforts to preserving the Kadazandusun language but the party is not about to rest on its laurels and bask in its glory.

Wilfred Madius Tangau, the acting president said the Kadazandusun community was in danger of losing its mother tongue as its younger generations were speaking less and less of the language.

But thanks to the introduction of the Kadazandusun language as a subject in schools this was no longer an issue, he said in a statement.

Despite many success stories as a direct result of Upko's involvement and persistence like in getting the Kadazandusun language to be included in the education curriculum, he said there were still more to be done.

"Preservation of the momogun heritage and culture, which includes our mother tongue, is one of Upko's seven ideologies. We will continue to do our part to ensure the Kadazandusun community will not lose any of them," assured the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Tangau who is MP for Tuaran was elated to see the encouraging response from the teachers training colleges and secondary schools who participated in the seminar on the Kadazandusun language, culture and literature organised by the Language and Communication Faculty of the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) Perak at SMK Tamparuli here Thursday.

"This augurs well with the objective of making sure our future generations will not forget their mother tongue," he said while commending UPSI senior lecturer for the Kadazandusun language, Dr Rosliah Kiting for initiating the seminar.

For the record, the teaching of Kadazandusun language at the UPSI Perak was launched by Bernard Dompok, the former Upko president.

"For us in Upko we will give full support and assistance to the best of our ability," he said when opening the seminar.

According to Tangau, 57 out of the 75 primary schools and five of the 11 secondary schools in his constituency are offering the subject ever since the introduction of the Kadazandusun language curriculum.

So far the total number of pupils taking up the Kadazandusun language subject in the country is 55,566 from 384 primary schools involving 1,100 teachers.

Some 4,416 students are also taking up the subject in 45 secondary schools involving 94 teachers.

At the higher learning institutes level, UPSI has 143 undergraduates and produced 97 graduates in teaching the Kadazandusun language.

In IPG Kent, the teachers training institute in Tuaran presently has 55 undergraduates under seven lecturers and it had produced 18 graduates who are already in interim posting.

As for the IPG Keningau, it currently has 45 undergraduates under three lecturers for the Kadazandusun language subject.

Tangau said the Kadazandusun subject was also made an elective language for international students in Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

On another note, he agreed with one of the key speakers at the seminar, Fidelis Sipangkui who in his keynote address called for a professional accreditation for Kadazandusun Language teachers.

"This will give more ooomph to the teachers," he said.

Tangau also encouraged teachers of the Kadazandusun language to write more on the subject and not necessarily in print form but using online platform such as blogs.

He said this would ensure more credible material on the language is available for those wanting to learn or do research on it.

At the seminar, eight Kadazandusun Language Researchers or what is called Bolongkitas presented their papers namely Benedict Topin, Raymond Majumah, Rusinah Sinteh, Lina Bagu, Satiamah Sahat, George, Dr Rosliah and Sipangkui.

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Kadazandusun Community In Danger Of Losing Mother Tongue - Tangau

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By BORNEOTODAY REPORTERS TAMPARULI: Upko has gone a long way in its efforts to preserving the Kadazandusun language but the party is not about to rest on its laurels and bask in its glory. Wilfred Madius Tangau, the acting president said the Kadazandusun community was in danger of losing its...

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2.5  Newspaper Article:  Native Tongues in Decline but All Is Not Lost

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2.5  Newspaper Article:  Native Tongues in Decline but All Is Not Lost

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Key point:

1)   An indigenous study expert says Kadazandusun is among the languages considered threatened in Sabah as rated by a world language measuring system.  Kadazandusun language is rated as 6b (threatened language).

2)   According to Udong, KDCA’s Dewan Bahasa Kadazandusun chairman, the language is in decline is because some members of the community who have gone for higher studies have not promoted the dialect or encouraged others to speak other main languages like Malay.

3)   Moreover, it is stated by Puth-Kitingan that intermarriage between speakers of different languages can be a factor that the language is in decline, if the couple only speak in the dominant language to their children, causing the other language to be neglected.  Not only that, many parents speak broken version of Sabah Malay dialect to their children and because of that many children end up neither fluent in their heritage language nor in standard Malay.

4)   Puth-Kitingan also mentioned that Sabahans were aware and concerned about the decline of their heritage languages among their children.  Because of that, various ethnic groups in Sabah are increasingly developing kindergartens for their children using their heritage languages as the medium of instruction.  Moreover, many other indigenous associations and non-governmental organizations including church groups are also doing their bid, setting up early education institutions to teach children to read, write and count in their heritage languages.

(Borneo today, 2020)

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KOTA KINABALU: A local newspaper's decision to cease running its Kadazan language page here recently was met with much disappointment by the community who rued its effect on the promotion and preservation of their mother tongue.

But while one community griped about the Daily Express publishing its final printed words in Kadazan on May 30, the issue brought to light a much larger problem at hand, namely the preservation of Sabah's other native languages.

An indigenous study expert says Kadazan Dusun is among the languages considered threatened in Sabah as rated by a world language measuring system.

But there are other smaller dialects in the state in danger of vanishing, if people sit on their laurels.

Fortunately, Sabahans are an attentive bunch, according to Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Professor Dr. Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan.

Pugh-Kitingan, head of the Culture, Heritage and Arts Cluster at the Borneo Institute for Indigenous Studies, said most indigenous and non-indigenous Austronesian languages in Sabah are, according to the Ethnologue (R) Database of the World's Languages, threatened.

She said these languages are rated as 6b (Threatened) which means "the language is used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users."

"Kadazandusun alone is rated as 6b, although not all the Dusunic languages such as Labuk Kadazan (among others).

"In some remote areas it is 6a (vigorous) but overall they are threatened," she told Borneo Today.

The Ethnologue has a measuring system called the Expanded Graded Interrupted Disruption Scale (EGIDS), consisting of 13 levels from 0, meaning it is used internationally, and 10 is for extinct.

Each higher number on the scale represents a greater level of disruption to the inter-generational transfer of the language.

An ideal EGIDS measure would be 6a, meaning the language is used for face-to-face communication by all generations and the situation is sustainable.

"A few, such as Northern Tidung and Southern Tidung are 7 (Shifting), which means the child-bearing generation can use the language among themselves, but it is not being transmitted to children," said Pugh-Kitingan.

"The status of Gana, a tiny Murutic language of Bingkor on the Keningau plain, west of the Pagalan River is classified as 8a (Moribund) - the only remaining active users of the language are members of the grandparent generation and older.

"This is because Gana is a small group of around 2,000 of whom only 250 now speak the language.

"They are surrounded by the large Kuruyou (Kuijau) Dusun language speakers, and across the river to the east by the large Keningau Murut language speakers. There has been a lot of intermarriage with Kuruyou Dusun and Gana, and families tend to use Kuruyou," she said.

Pugh-Kitingan pointed out that certain languages like the Ida'an-Begaak-Subpan language has two ratings.

"It is classified as 6b, but its Subpan dialect can be said to be 8a, due to intermarriage of the Subpan people with speakers of Paitanic languages such as Tombonuo or Sungai and Upper Kinabatangan," she said.

Kadazandusun Cultural Association (KDCA) Supreme Council member Rayner Francis Udong concurred that the language of the riverine communities along the Kinabatangan river would be at risk if nothing is done to rectify the situation.

Udong, who is also KDCA's Dewan Bahasa Kadazandusun chairman, said the Dusun Bonggi, who reside in the state's northern parts particularly Banggi Island off Kudat, is another dialect that warrants attention.

"We went there sometime in the late 1990s and while it (Dusun Bonggi) originated from the Dusun language, I could only understand two words out of 10 - that shows you how unique it is, even among Dusunic speakers.

"At that time, not many were interested to learn that language and at the same time the community was also not exposed to developments of other languages.

"From my observation, why the language is in decline is because some members of the community who have gone for higher studies have not promoted the dialect or encouraged others to speak other main languages like Malay.

"If nothing is done, it could be one of the endangered dialects in the long run in Sabah, it can vanish," Udong said.

Pugh-Kitingan said the language situation in Sabah is a complex one, with around 60 major languages which include ancient indigenous Austronesian languages, cross-border Austronesian languages from other parts of Borneo and adjacent islands, and migrant languages.

Of the indigenous languages, the Dusunic, Murutic and Paitanic families of languages, as well as the single Ida'an-Bega'ak-Subpan isolated language and others total around 33 languages.

"Kadazan Dusun, the largest single language in Sabah, is but one of around 10 to 12 Dusunic languages. The Murutic family has around 15 languages while the Paitanic family has around six languages," she said.

Why the languages are in decline

Pugh-Kitingan said firstly intermarriage between speakers of different languages can be a factor if the couple only speak in the dominant language to their children, causing the other language to be neglected.

"But secondly, and more seriously in most cases, many parents speak to each other and their friends in their native language, but insist on speaking to their children in a broken version of the Sabah Malay dialect which is the market place lingua franca throughout Sabah.

"These parents mistakenly believe that this will help the children do well at school, which uses standard Malay, not Sabah Malay, as the main medium of instruction.

"This is a serious mistake, because Sabah Malay and standard Malay are not the heritage languages of most indigenous children.Many children end up neither fluent in their heritage language nor in standard Malay," she pointed out.

Udong agreed, saying something as crucial as their mother tongue could only be effectively mastered if nurtured from home.

"As the saying goes 'charity starts at home'. It all must start from the family and this highlights the importance of parents in playing this role of being the first teachers of their own language.

"They must have the initiative to come up with strategies or rules to ensure their children learn to speak the language and eventually become like breathing," he said.

Pugh-Kitingan shared that a third but not serious factor for the decline was when there is a strong outside language being spoken among children of different ethnic groups in certain environments.

For example, she said, the school yards of most primary schools and as well as Chinese schools which, in Sabah, are attended by children from all ethnic backgrounds.

"Children will pick up and speak the dominant language, usually Hakka, in that environment among their friends. This should not affect the child's heritage language if parents maintain the mother tongue in the home.

"In fact, it is beneficial for children to be exposed to as many languages as possible including Hakka.

"But if the home is not using the heritage language of the children, this language will decline," Pugh-Kitingan stressed.

Sabah communities pitch in to preserve languages

The upside about the whole matter, said Pugh-Kitingan, is that Sabahans were aware and concerned about the decline of their heritage languages among their children.

And to her delight, various ethnic groups in Sabah are increasingly developing kindergartens for their children using their heritage languages as the medium of instruction.

"The huge Kadazan Dusun language group has various private kindergartens run by communities in various local dialects - in Penampang, for example, there are kindergartens in the Coastal Kadazan dialect set up by Kadazandusun Language Foundation.

"In Ranau many SIB churches and others have set up kindergartens in Central Dusun and various other dialects.

"The Kimaragang Dusun of Kota Marudu have established kindergartens in the Kimaragang language.

"Among the Iranun of Kota Belud, there are several private kindergartens teaching children in the Iranun language.

"Among the Ida'an of Lahad Datu, besides kindergartens, the Pertubuhan Kebajikan Idahan Pewaris Madai (Pewaris) has established a tuition centre in Ida'an for young children," she said.

She added that many other indigenous associations and non-governmental organisations including church groups are also doing their bid, setting up early education institutions to teach children to read, write and count in their heritage languages.

"This is so important. It has been proven worldwide over 70 years, and also in Sabah/North Borneo in former times with the Native Volunteer Schools, that when a young child learns to read in their heritage language, the child's cognitive development with regard to symbols and sounds will develop."

This advantage will allow the children to be able to easily shift into a national language in a school system later because of their cognitive-linguistic development, regardless of how different that national language may be.

"These children will score higher at primary and secondary schools, and go on to tertiary education - this has been confirmed among Iranun children in Kota Belud.

"Those who learned to read and write in Iranun in kindergarten are now scoring higher marks at both levels compared to their peers who were forced to learn a 'foreign' language (standard Malay) at kindergarten," Pugh-Kitingan said.

"It has been shown that this fluency from learning to read and write in a child's heritage language is directly proportional to the eradication of poverty and national stability because those children have the potential to do well and develop, regardless of their economic backgrounds, to one day become educated leaders."

She also paid tribute to another group, SIL Malaysia, which has been working under an official agreement with the Sabah government since 1978.

"The group has done major research on the languages of Sabah, published with the state museum, and also has an ongoing memorandum of understanding for research and project collaborations with UMS.

"They have also trained indigenous communities to produce their own dictionaries and published literature in their heritage languages," said Pugh-Kitingan

Udong, meanwhile, is also happy with contributions from higher learning institutions like UMS, Sabah Universiti Teknologi Mara as well as Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris.

"These establishments are doing a good job and they should continue what they are doing including exploring other avenues to further promote and preserve native languages," he said.

What more needs to be done?

Besides building more kindergartens, Udong drove home his message that early education must begin from the humble abode, with parents having a regimented routine to ease their children into the language.

"Parents must set a rule to speak to their children in their mother tongue, say for instance, once a week, from morning to night.

"In terms of syllabus at school, I suggest a body be established to incorporate at least 70 per cent of the dialects in Sabah into the system," he said, adding the KDCA is keen to help in such efforts.

Pugh-Kitingan, on the other hand, believes in a much earlier head start.

"Parents must speak to their children from birth in their heritage language.

"Where parents come from two different language groups, each parent must consistently speak to the baby or little child in their own language, so that the child acquires both languages.

"No, the child will not become confused.Every baby learns a foreign language, and if a child is exposed to many languages before the age of 12, they will always psychologically maintain that language acquisition facility in their brains.

"They will never have to 'learn' another language, like people raised in monolingual environments," she explained.

Pugh-Kitingan was of the opinion that since the Kadazan Dusun is taught as a set subject at primary and secondary schools, the same course template should be applied to other Dusunic languages.

Namely Rungus, Kimaragang, Tobilung, Sandayoh, Lotud, Labuk Dusun, Kuruyou and Bisaya, among others.

"For example in Kudat, where the majority of the population are Rungus, students should be able to study the Rungus language as a subject at school.

"Asking them to learn Kadazan Dusun is like getting them to learn another 'foreign' language because Kadazan Dusun and Rungus are different, though related, languages," she said.

At the end of the day, Pugh-Kitingan said government support is pivotal because they are the main provider of education in the country.

She pointed out it is a win-win prospect for the government as heritage language literacy is an important tool that can be utilised to achieve poverty eradication, recognition of indigenous rights and general literacy improvement.

"It can also be used to attain higher educational standards and employability, an increase in national language fluency, and a reduction in youth delinquency, crime and drug addiction," she said.

She affirmed that any financial investment by the government in this will eventually reap long-term benefits of national development and stability.

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Native Tongues In Decline But All Is Not Lost

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KOTA KINABALU: A local newspaper's decision to cease running its Kadazan language page here recently was met with much disappointment by the community who rued its effect on the promotion and preservation of their mother tongue. But while one community griped about the Daily Express publishing...

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2.6 Slides: Kadazandusun Language: Language shift and attitude to Kadazandusun

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2.6 Slides: Kadazandusun Language: Language shift and attitude to Kadazandusun

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This slide gives some information of Kadazandusun ethnics, their languages and also population on 2010.

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2.7 Journal Article: A Case Study on The Use of Kadazandusun Language in The Teaching of Mother Tongue Language

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2.7 Journal Article: A Case Study on The Use of Kadazandusun Language in The Teaching of Mother Tongue Language

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Key point:

1) This journal article agitates about the teaching of Kadazandusun Language to the Kadazandusun community in Sabah.  Not only that, it also focuses on the factors that influenced the language shit and language domination among the kadazandusun.

2) About 750,000 people speak Kadazandusun language and there the dialects spoken is different depending on the location.  The main dialects are Tangara dialect and Bundu-Liwan.  The pronunciations of the dialect are different and sometimes they also have various of meanings. Even though the dialects are different, the Kadazandusun people can understand the subtle change of meaning in the dialect.

3) During the 1980s, Malay language and English language is the dominant language in the Kadazandusun community.  A symposium organized by the Kadazan Cultural Association entitled ‘Towards the Standardization of the Kadazan dialects’ has been used in school for the Kadazandusun reference language and it was identified.  Not only that, because of the symposium, a spelling system for the Kadazandusun language has been developed.

4) The former Kadazandusun leader Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Bernard G. Dompok has proposed to the Federal Government that Kadazandusun language should be taught in schools in Sabah in 1994.  Later in 1998, the Kadazanusun subject has officially be the additional subject in school.  The subject was taught about 120 minutes a week and taught outside of the school timetable.

5) The purpose of teaching Kadazandusun language in school is to continue the Kadazandusun heritage.

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Dominant spoken language:

Baba Malay

Dialects:

Combination of Chinese dialect, Malay and Hokkien

Language family:

Creole (Unique language that has between two or more languages)

Native speakers:

The numbers in Malaysia is unknown

Religion:

Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism.

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1.2 PODCAST:  BABA MALAY IS ONE OF THE MOST ENDANGERED CONTACT LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD

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1.2 PODCAST:  BABA MALAY IS ONE OF THE MOST ENDANGERED CONTACT LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD

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Key point:

1) They discussed about the origin of Baba Nyonya’s heritage.

2) Baba Malay only spoken by Baba Nyonya’s in Melaka and Singapore.

3) According to Lee Yuen Thien, Manager of Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, Vice-President of Baba & Nyonya Association of Malaysia, Baba Malay language is fading due to the replacement by another language which are standard Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin and English.

4) According to Lee, the challenges to preserve Baba Malay language is it is not taught in school. Nowadays, people become more educated and the younger generation of Baba Nyonya only conversing in English and Mandarin.  Because of that, not many younger generations know how to speak Baba Malay.

5) The history and story of Baba Nyonya heritage was not properly documented.  Because of that, the history will be gone eventually if it is not properly preserve.
(BFM Media Sdn. Bhd , 2020)

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Lee Yuen Thien, Manager, Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, Vice-President, Baba & Nyonya Association of Malaysia | Emily Lim, Committee Member, Persatuan Peranakan Baba Nyonya Kuala Lumpur & Selangor

Contact languages are created when groups of people who speak different languages come together and create a new language from their own ones - and today, many contact languages around the world are at risk of dying out. Among the most endangered, is Baba Malay, which originated in Melaka. We look at contact languages, and the challenges of preserving Baba Malay as a living language.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

Produced by: Sharmilla Ganesan

Presented by: Lim Sue Ann, Sharmilla Ganesan & Dashran Yohan

Download the BFM mobile app. Stay at home and stay up-to-date.

Tags: The Bigger Picture, The Daily Digest, Baba Nyonya, Baba Malay, Melaka, Singapore, contact languages, Education, Personal Development, Culture, History, Heritage

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The Daily Digest: Baba Malay is One of the Most Endangered Contact Languages in the World

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Lee Yuen Thien, Manager, Baba Nyonya Heritage Museum, Vice-President, Baba & Nyonya Association of Malaysia | Emily Lim, Committee Member, Persatuan Peranakan Baba Nyonya Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Contact languages are created when groups of people who speak different languages come together and create a new language from their own ones - and today, many contact languages around the world are at risk of dying out.

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This video shows about the Baba Nyonya heritage.

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Key point:
According to (Baba Malay, 2020)

1) There are numerous terms has been used to describe the Baba Malay language which are Baba Patois, Baba language and peranakan language.  But the term ‘patois’ is not really a good term because it’s means ‘broken language.

2) Baba Malay is a creole dialect which is a combination of more than 2 languages.  It is more structure and has influence of Hokkien language.  Baba Malay is an official language of Baba Nyonya and it is not a broken language

3) Baba Malay speakers usually pronounce some words in a unique way.  Words that end with ‘al, ar and as’ as ‘air’.  For example, ‘mahal’ pronounces as ‘mahair’, ‘pasar’ becomes ‘pasair’ and ‘keras’ pronounced as ‘kerais’.  Usually Baba Malay speakers who lived in the center of the city tended to use ‘air’ more.

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Amek               :           Take

Apa khabair     :           How are you?

Apasair            :           Why?

Arimo               :           Tiger
Bak wan          :           Pork meatball
Besair              :           Big
Bikin                :           Make

Bini                  :           Wife

Brani                :           Brave

Bukan              :           No

Cha Kiak         :           Wooden Clogs

Changkir         :           Cup

Gua                 :           I/Me

Ia                     :           Yes

Jantan             :           Man/male

Kachuak          :           Cockroach

Kalu                 :           If

Kam Siah        :           Thank you

Kasair              :           Rough

Kepiting           :           Crab

Kopiah             :           Hat

Kui                   :           Kneel

Kuping             :           Ear

Kus Semangat:           an expression of surprise/mild shock

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News

The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay ( Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a creole dialect of the Malay Language ( Bahasa Melayu), which contains many of the words from the Chinese Hokkien dialect. It is a dying language, and its contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation. English has now replaced this as the main language spoken amongst the younger generation.

Young Peranakans have lost many of their language, so there is normally a difference in vocabulary between the older and younger generations.

A glossary of some of the popular Baba Nyonya words:
Reference: A Baba Malay Dictionary by William Gwee Thian Hock (Tuttle Publishing)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peranakan

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The language of the Peranakans, Baba Malay ( Bahasa Melayu Baba), is a creole dialect of the Malay Language ( Bahasa Melayu), which contains many of the words from the Chinese Hokkien dialect. It is a dying language, and its contemporary use is mainly limited to members of the older generation.

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1.6 Journal Article:  The Development of Articles in Baba Malay

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1.6 Journal Article:  The Development of Articles in Baba Malay

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This journal give exposure about the use of Baba Malay language in the newspaper and also offer synchronic analysis of nineteenth century Baba Malay ini and itu.

Key point:

During the 19th century, Baba Malay was a business language.  Not only used by Babas, Malay people and newly arrived Chinese immigrant also used Baba Malay language.  Bintang Timor is the first Baba Malay newspaper and it was published on 2 July 1894 until 2 July 1895.  The purposed of the newspaper was to report local news and news from abroad.  Not only that, it also used to advertise, tell stories.  Moreover, it also included Baba Malay pantun and syair.  It is stated on the journal article that Baba Malay have developed its own system of articles in the course of language shift, it was when Hokkien speakers shifted to Malay.

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Dominant spoken language:

Semai

Dialects:

none

Language family:

Austro-Asiatic/Moh-Khemer

Native speakers:

10,00> people

Religion:

Animism, Christianity, Islam.

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3.2 YouTube: The sound of the Semai language 

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3.2 YouTube: The sound of the Semai language 

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This video shows the sound and dialects of Semai language and also teach about the greetings, numbers and many more.

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3.3 YouTube:  SPM – BELAJAR BAHASA SEMAI ORANG ASLI [20 SEPT 2015]

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3.3 YouTube:  SPM – BELAJAR BAHASA SEMAI ORANG ASLI [20 SEPT 2015]

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In this video, the host had a conversation with the radio announcers of Asyik FM, who are Semai people.

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# SPM – BELAJAR BAHASA SEMAI ORANG ASLI [20 SEPT 2015]

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3.4 Journal Article: Revitalizing the Indigenous Semai Orang Asli Language in Malaysia.

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3.4 Journal Article: Revitalizing the Indigenous Semai Orang Asli Language in Malaysia.

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This journal article discussed about the initiatives of Semai Orang Asli community, Ethnic Language Division, Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) and Ministry of Education Malaysia in revitalizing the language through documentation and nation language teaching in semai schools throughout Malaysia.

Key point:

1) According to (Dr Alias Abd Ghani, 2015)  The Semai language has been acknowledge by the Ministry of Information as the main language for the Orang Asli Radio broadcasting programme that has been aired by Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) which is Asyik FM due to the large population of Semai ethnic. Not only that, Semai language has been chosen as the first indigenous Orang Asli language to be taught in school in Peninsular Malaysia with predominantly Semai Pupils.

2) The representatives of the Semai population and the Ethnic Language Unit, Curriculum Development Division (CDD), and Ministry of Education has worked together to revitalize and include Semai Language as part of the Ethnic Minority Education Programme.  In 1996, Semang language has been chosen to be the first language to be taught in Primary schools in Peninsular Malaysia.  The Central Curriculum Committee of the CDC approved the implementation of Semai language programme in the national curriculum om 1998.  The full implementation of the teaching of Semai language began in 1999 and the time allocation for the classes were 120 minutes per week with each period consist for about 30 minutes for four times a week.

3) Local teachers and personnel from the Ethnic and Foreign Languages Unit, CDD had documented the language and develop a spelling system based on the Roman letters in order to keeping with the Malay language.  The main purpose of developing the spelling system was because Semai had no written language.  The spelling system is made based on principles adopted in Malay phonetics and spelling rules.

4) The teaching of Semai language give a better opportunity for the Semai children to communicate and participate in a language programme that reflect in their own language and cultural heritage.

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Kelabit is one of the smallest tribes in Borneo.  The population of Kelabit people are about 6000 people which are 0.4% of 1.5 million of Sarawak’s population.  The ancestor of the Kelabit were farmers and headhunters.  Their homeland is called as Kelabit Highlands, which is a large plateau ringed by a series of jungle-covered with mountains peaks.  They speak their own tribal language which called as Kelabit language.  The kelabit settlements is in northeast of Sarawak.

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Dominant spoken language:

Kelabit

Dialects:

None

Native speakers:

<6000 people

Language family:

Austronesian

Religion:

Christian

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4.2  YouTube: Talking in Kelabit, Sarawak.

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4.2  YouTube: Talking in Kelabit, Sarawak.

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This video shows the conversation of Kelabit people in Kelabit language

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4.3 YouTube:  Alena Murang - Midang Midang (Official Music Video)

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4.3 YouTube:  Alena Murang - Midang Midang (Official Music Video)

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Midang-midang is a Kelabit song sing by Alena Murang who is a Borneo-born Dayak.

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Alena Murang - Midang Midang (Official Music Video)

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4.4 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:  UNESCO WORKING TO PRESERVE KELABIT AND BIDAYUH LANGUAGES – SARAWAK MINISTER

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4.4 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:  UNESCO WORKING TO PRESERVE KELABIT AND BIDAYUH LANGUAGES – SARAWAK MINISTER

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Key point:

1)  According to (Emmor, 2012) The State Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah stated that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is working on the preservation of the Kelabit and Bidayuh language in Sarawak.

2)  Unesco had selected two languages that belonged to minitory indigenous communities because they are undertaking two projects under its ‘Endangered Language’ programme.

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SIBU: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is working on the preservation of the Kelabit and Bidayuh languages in Sarawak, State Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said here.

She said Unesco, which was undertaking the two projects under its 'Endangered Languages' programme, had selected the two languages because they belonged to minority indigenous communities.

"Not many of the Bidayuh and Kelabit speak the languages in their pure form these days. This is especially so in inter-racial marriages where the families opt to speak Bahasa Malaysia or English at home," she told reporters after opening the National Early Childhood Intervention Conference, here, last night.

Fatimah said other minority native groups in the state also risked losing their languages if no effort was taken to preserve and promote them.

She said many of the Kelabit had migrated to towns or urban areas and, in their new environment, the tendency was for them to speak only a little of the original language.

She also said that the government was happy that a nursery of the Dayak Bidayuh National Association (DBNA) in Kampung Bunuk, Kuching, was taking concrete steps to preserve the Bidayuh language by getting trained teachers to teach preschoolers to write and speak in the language.

The Unesco website states that about half of more than the 6,000 languages spoken today across the globe will disappear by the end of this century if nothing is done to protect them.

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Unesco working to preserve Kelabit and Bidayuh languages - Sarawak Minister - Borneo Post Online

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SIBU: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) is working on the preservation of the Kelabit and Bidayuh languages in Sarawak, State Welfare, Women and Family Development Minister Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said here. She said Unesco, which was undertaking the two projects under its 'Endangered Languages' programme, had selected the two languages because they belonged to minority indigenous communities.

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4.5 ARTICLE:  PROJECT RANIH DOCUMENTS KELABIT FOLKSONGS

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4.5 ARTICLE:  PROJECT RANIH DOCUMENTS KELABIT FOLKSONGS

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Key point:

1)  A musician which are Alena Murang and Joshua Maran created a project called “Project Ranih” which was a project that created folksong for children in Kelabit language.  The purpose of doing this project was because they wanted to protect the Kelabit language.

2)  It is mentioned by Joshua Maran that the idea to start this project was because day by day people passed away unexpectedly and they are running out of time to preserved their mother tongue and Kelabit heritage.  It was a tradition among the Kelabit to passed down songs from generation to generation.  In the future, when the younger generation become parents, they may not sing those songs to their children and that’s the reason why the musicians wanted to do this project, so the future generation can listen and acknowledge the Kelabit song.

3)  Through this project, they hope there will be more people speak Kelabit language and the language will be used in music, television and media.

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There is so much loss of language in this small country of ours. I look at myself and my peers, and so many of us have lost a language between our generation and the one before us. It could be Hokkien, or Kristang, or Malayalam, lost to the country's dominant languages. Sometimes even the dominant languages such as Bahasa Malaysia or Mandarin are replaced in favour of English.

According to a report by online resource on world languages Ethnologue, of the 136 languages in use in Malaysia, over 80% are considered endangered.

It is in this climate of loss that Project Ranih was conceived by cousins and heritage musicians Alena Murang and Joshua Maran to protect the Kelabit language by archiving its folksongs for children.

"Everyone was passing away unexpectedly, and I thought we're running out of time to keep these things," says Joshua, discussing where the idea to start the project came from.

Spoken amongst the Kelabit ethnic group of Sarawak, Kelabit is considered "threatened" by Ethnologue and has a user population of over 4,000. According to Ethnologue, a threatened language is used for face-to-face communication within all generations, but it is losing users.

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Project Ranih Documents Kelabit Folksongs - Lensa Seni

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There is so much loss of language in this small country of ours. I look at myself and my peers, and so many of us have lost a language between our generation and the one before us. It could be Hokkien, or Kristang, or Malayalam, lost to the country's dominant languages.

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4.6 Journal Article:  The Kelabit Language, Austronesian Voice and Syntactic typology. 

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4.6 Journal Article:  The Kelabit Language, Austronesian Voice and Syntactic typology. 

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Key point:

1)  Kelabit is a North Borneo language and usually it is spoken mainly in the Fourth and Fifth division of Sarawak.  Kelabit, can be divided into languages with Philippine-type

Characteristics.  It is classified as endangered language at the EGIDS level 6b (threatened).

2)  It is difficult to calculate the exact figure of the Kelabit and it is more difficult to asses the exact number of Kelabit speakers within the population.  In 2010, the number of Kelabit population in Sarawak was 5,900.  Kelabit language often used by the Kelabit of live in the Highland in their daily communication.  In school, Kelabit is not widely use in the communication.  It is because the medium of communication in school is Malay.  The younger generation usually use English or Malay because they have multi-ethnic friendship groups.  Kelabit can be classed endangered due to the process of urban language shift and largescale pattern of migration away from the villages.

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(PDF) The Kelabit Language, Austronesian Voice and Syntactic Typology

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PDF | On Oct 31, 2016, Charlotte Hemmings published The Kelabit Language, Austronesian Voice and Syntactic Typology | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

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Melanau was of one of the earliest settlers in Sarawak and were traditionally worked as fisherman and sago farmer.  Not only that, some of the Melanau were skilled boat builders.  Melanau do not refer themselves as Melanau before this, it is because they called themselves a-likou which are ‘people of the river.  The name ‘Melanau’ was given by one of the Sultans of Brunei in 19th century.  Mostly they live in Mukah, Matu, Daro, Dalat, Bintulu, Kanowit, and Sibu.
(Joshua, n.d.)

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Dominant spoken language:

Melanau language, Malay

Dialects:
There are various of dialect in the 5 variation of Melanau language.

Native speakers:

40,000 but the number are decreasing each year.

Language family:

Austronesian

Religion:

Islam, Christian and Animism.

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5.2 YouTube:  The Sound of the Melanau language (Numbers, Sentences & Sample Text)

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5.2 YouTube:  The Sound of the Melanau language (Numbers, Sentences & Sample Text)

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This video gives an exposure to us on how the Melanau language sounds like.

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The Sound of the Melanau language (Numbers, Sentences & Sample Text)

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5.3 YouTube:  Kelas Bahasa: Bahasa Sarawak | Borak Kopitiam (27 September 2019) 

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5.3 YouTube:  Kelas Bahasa: Bahasa Sarawak | Borak Kopitiam (27 September 2019) 

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In this video, the representative of Melanau ethnic taught the host about Melanau language.

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Kelas Bahasa: Bahasa Sarawak | Borak Kopitiam (27 September 2019)

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5.4 News article:  Mato Daro-Malay dictionary to be published next year

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5.4 News article:  Mato Daro-Malay dictionary to be published next year

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Key point:

1)  A dictionary of Melanau language are expected to be published on 2020.  According to Mohd Sharifudin Yusop, a former senior lecturer of the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communications, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), the dictionary focus on Melanau language in 3 main area which are Matu, Daro and Pulau Bruit. (Bernama, 2019)

2)  The project of producing the dictionary has started since January 2019 by the Unesco/Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka/Education Ministry and have been 60% completed.  The phoenetics of the language will be included in the dictionary as well.

3)   Mohd Sharifudin stated that there no major differences in the Melanau language of the Matu Daro and Pulau Bruit areas but there are slight differences of the language spoken in other areas such as Belawai-Rejang, Mukah, Dalat, Balingian, Bintulu and Miri. (Bernama, 2019)

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A registry of words and dictionary of the Melanau language into Malay is expected to be published by next year.

According to a former senior lecturer of the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communications, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Mohd Sharifudin Yusop, the dictionary will focus on the Melanau language in the Matu, Daro and Pulau Bruit areas.

"The Unesco/Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka/Education Ministry project began in January this year and is 60 percent completed. We expect it to be published next year," he said in Daro, Sarawak, today.

Mohd Sharifudin said the phonetics of the language will also be included in the dictionary.

"This is to ensure that the Melanau language in the area remains intact in pronunciation in the future," he said, adding that the dictionary will be called the Mato-Daro-Malay Dictionary.

Mohd Sharifudin said there is no major difference in the Melanau language of the Matu, Daro and Pulau Bruit areas but it differs from that spoken in other areas like Belawai-Rejang, Mukah, Dalat, Balingian, Bintulu and Miri.
- Bernama

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Mato Daro-Malay dictionary to be published next year

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A registry of words and dictionary of the Melanau language into Malay is expected to be published by next year. According to a former senior lecturer of the Faculty of Modern Languages and Communications, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Mohd Sharifudin Yusop, the dictionary will focus on the Melanau language in the Matu, Daro and Pulau Bruit areas.

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5.5 Journal Article:  Language Choice of Melanau Community in DARO District, Sarawak.

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5.5 Journal Article:  Language Choice of Melanau Community in DARO District, Sarawak.

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Key point:

1)  Based on the data from ethnologue website, there are about five variations of Melanau language which are Melanau Sentral, Melanau Kanowit-Tanjong, Melanau Daro-Matu, Melanau Sibu and Melanau Seru.  But three out of the five variations are categorized as threatened language which are Melanau Sentral, Melanau Kanowit-Tanjong and Melanau Daro-Matu.  There are various of dialects on the five variation of Melanau language.  For instance, Melanau sentral dialects are Balingan, Bruit, Dalat, Oya, Sarikei, Segahan, Segalang, Sileng, and Igan.  As for Melanau Daro-Matu are Melanau Daro and Matu.  Melanau Kanowit andTanjong are the dialects for Melanau Kanowit-Tanjung.

2) The minority languages in Sarawak are marginalized due to the lack of speakers.  It is because Malay and Iban language are the dominant language in Sarawak.  Not only that, because the society live in environment with multiple of ethnicity and languages, they have to make decision of which language they should use in order to communicate with each other.  The people have alternative to choose the language to use when they want to interact with other people.

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Language is crucial for communication and any society's culture.  Through language people communicate with each other, build a relationship and create a sense of community.  Not only that,  language has important social function for the society.

All of us learn language from our parents and also from our culture. Human capacity for languages helps make our complex culture possible.

For this padlet, I've decided to choose language as the element of culture. I would love to make some research about the language used by the other community in Malaysia. The community that I choose are Baba Nyonya, Kadazandusun, Orang Asli Semai, Kelabit and Melanau.

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3.5 Journal Article:  E-Semai Teaching Portal (ESTP):  A Preliminary Study in Assisting the Teaching of Bahasa Semai.

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3.5 Journal Article:  E-Semai Teaching Portal (ESTP):  A Preliminary Study in Assisting the Teaching of Bahasa Semai.

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Key point:

1)  According to (Azwinawati Alwi et al, 2016) Bahasa Semai is the language converse by the Semai.  It has the largest speakers and purest language compared to other Orang Asli language available in Malaysia.  Ministry of Education (MOE) under the Ethnic Language department had enforce the language to be as important as the other ethnic language subjects offered in schools.  There are various of steps taken to ensure the subject is being properly taught in school.

2)  Semai Teaching Portal (ESTP) is a portal developed to encourage the knowledge sharing.   For instance, in sharing teaching techniques with other teachers and also to provide a computing technology with a trusted source for the teachers to refer and use for a long period of time. The aim of ESTP is to help the teachers in mastering the language.  Not only that, it is also to ensure that the language originality is preserved through the correct methods in using the language in term of pronunciation and the word usage and also for formal learning in school.