Bidayuh languages

Last Updated on Monday, 30 November 2009 00:16 Written by Heineken Friday, 08 August 2008 11:39

Bidayuh is the collective name for several indigenous groups found in southern Sarawak (the largest state in Malaysia), on the island of Borneo, that are broadly similar in language and culture. The name "Bidayuh" means 'inhabitants of land'. Originally from the western part of Borneo, the collective name Land Dayaks was first used during the period of Rajah James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak.

Bidayuh is the second largest Dayak ethnic group in Sarawak (Borneo) after the Iban, where large number of the population is located in the first division, Kuching which is also the capital city of Sarawak. The areas which are considered as the Bidayuh areas are Lundu, Bau, Penrissen, Padawan, and Serian, where most of the Bidayuh villages can be found. Each area speak its own dialect: Lundu speaks Salako-lara; Bratak, Singai, Krokong and Jagoi speak Bau-Jagoi; Penrissen, Padawan and the Siburan vicinity speak Biatah; and Bidayuh who live around Serian such as Tebekang, Mongkos, Tebedu to Tanjung Amo near the border of Kalimantan Indonesia speak Bukar-sadong. Big towns in these areas are Lundu, Bau, Kota Padawan, and Serian, respectively. Though majority who settled in these areas are Bidayuh, other races such as Chinese, Malay and Iban can also be found.

All the Bidayuh, in nature, are of the same race but speak different dialects. The Salako-Lara dialect is totally different from the Bau-Jagoi dialect even though they are neighbors. The same goes to the Biatah and the Bukar-Sadong dialect where some words are pronounced differently though the meanings are the same. With the differences in the pronunciation, Bidayuh from one area normally will have difficulty in communicating with a fellow Bidayuh from another area. Thus, local Malay language is most commonly use to communicate.

At home in villages, family members still speak Bidayuh to each other, but those who live in bigger towns and cities, especially the young generation, they prefer to speak either Malay or English. This may due to the lack of exposure to their own language, inter-cultural marriages and so on.

There is still no common Bidayuh language adopted by the Bidayuh communities in Sarawak to be taught in school yet, compared to Iban or other languages in Sarawak and Borneo generally. This is probably due to no consensus from each of the Bidayuh community to accept one particular dialect as a common language. Thus, there is no common dialect used in spoken and written language.

Here are some examples of the differences in the various Bidayuh dialects;

Want to seek more examples of translations of the different dialects of Bidayuh? Lets discuss it here!


Reference:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidayuh