This article attempts to delineate the issue of linguistic homogeny in Iban variants in Sarawak (Malaysia). In brief, the Iban speakers are claimed to descend from Upper Kapuas watershed, Western Kalimantan (Indonesia). Based on local traditions and oral materials, this ethnic group began to move out from Kapuas watershed and penetrate into Sarawak in sixteenth century. After several generations, they expanded to become the major ethnic group in the state. Several recent studies show that the number of ethnic Ibans in West Kalimantan is fairly small and the distribution of Iban communities often displays a pattern of distant pockets or enclaves. The purpose of this article is to explain how a minority group became a majority ethnic group in a newly settled territory. This article argues that this research question is strongly related to the ethnonym of "Iban" and regional dialect levelling or koineization. During the initial stage of the migration, the term "Iban" was an exonym. By the mid-twentieth century, the exonym "Iban" or "Sea Dayak" was gradually becoming an endonym. The change in the status of this ethnonym has enlarged the population size of the "Iban" in Sarawak. The existence of several Iban-like ethnic groups in Sarawak, for example, the Balau, Remun, Kantu', Milikin, and Kumpang, adds support to this argument. This article revisits the issue of linguistic homogeny of the Iban language, taking the language koineization approach. A phonological analysis on the Ibanic varieties spoken in West Kalimantan offer a possible explanation that the Iban variants in Sarawak have appeared as a stable linguistic variety as a result of "dialect levelling" and "simplification". Furthermore, the development of koine Iban seems to fulfil several features in the koine developmental continua proposed by J. Siegel (1985).
This research focuses on the present economic, cultural, and linguistic issues of Telok Melano, a hamlet in Sarawak that was formerly isolated from nearby communities. Telok Melano is changing dramatically as a result of the Pan Borneo Highway construction and the nature of cultural obsolescence in modern society. This qualitative study has been conducted through face-to-face structured and semi-structured interviews, as well as participant observation. This study found that the highway construction benefits the villagers. An economic overturn has begun among them, and basic infrastructure has also been greatly enhanced as a result of the project’s spin-off. Are these changes beneficial to their cultural practices? Ethnographic techniques are delivering a number of interesting results. For instance, the changes have solidified the local Malays’ religious beliefs. Although the locals have abandoned many traditional practices in order to comply with Islamic beliefs, they have preserved certain traditional etiquette. In terms of language, a generational gap emerged between three linguistic varieties spoken in this area. Their dominant mother tongue, the Kuching Malay dialect, is becoming more commonly spoken, particularly with outsiders. This study successfully presents the picture of economic and social changes in Telok Melano following the development of this new road system.
lazimnya dianggap sebagai suku nomadik yang tidak beragama, berkehidupan daif dan tinggal di pedalaman. Pada hakikatnya, tanggapan ini tidak sesuai lagi kerana kajian kontemporari menunjukkan bahawa mereka juga tersebar di persisir pantai, terutamanya di lembah Niah, Suai dan Kemena. Kajian ini berfokus kepada suku Penan di Kampung Jambatan Suai, Sungai Suai. Kampung ini dihuni oleh orang Penan yang berbeza agama, iaitu beragama Katolik dan Islam. Kelompok Penan ini memperlihatkan menuturkan bahasa ibunda berdasarkan agama, iaitu suku Penan Muslim berbahasa Bintulu manakala suku Penan asli masih berbahasa Penan, selain fasih berbahasa Iban dan dialek Melayu Sarawak. Kehadiran empat bahasa di kampung Penan ini telah membentuk suatu lingkungan sosiolinguistik yang kompleks. Makalah ini bertujuan merungkaikan pemilihan bahasa dalam situasi multilingual yang rencam ini. Kajian ini menggunakan kaedah pemerhatian ikutserta dan wawancara untuk mengumpulkan data. Peneliti telah berada di lapangan selama sebulan untuk bersuai kenal, bergaul dan terlibat dalam aktiviti harian mereka. Kajian ini memilih pendekatan Fishman (1971) tentang pemilihan bahasa mengikut domain sebagai kerangka kajian. Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa domain menentukan pemilihan bahasa suku Penan Muslim. Mereka memilih bahasa Bintulu sebagai lambang identiti agama Islam; tetapi menggunakan bahasa Iban dalam hal interaksi interetnik dan intraetnik; dan, secara bersilih ganti menggunakan bahasa Penan. Kajian ini memberi implikasi tersendiri khususnya kepada kosa ilmu suku pribumi Borneo Barat yang bertukar agama Islam iaitu mengubah persepsi umum bahawa "memeluk agama Islam sinonim dengan memilih bahasa Melayu". Dalam kes Penan Muslim, mereka sebaliknya memilih "bahasa Muslim" lain dan bukannya bahasa Melayu.
Bahasa Ibanik adalah cabang bahasa Melayik yang variasinya memaparkan inovasi *-an, *ang dan *-ar kepada /-ay/. Cabang bahasa ini tersebar di Kalimantan Barat (Indonesia) dan Sarawak (Malaysia). Di Sarawak, hanya variasi bahasa Ibanik Iban sahaja yang dikenali umum. Bahasa Remun yang turut merupakan variasi Ibanik sebaliknya kurang mendapat perhatian sarjana. Melalui tinjauan kosa ilmu mendapati bahawa belum ada deskripsi linguistik intensif yang membincangkan hubungan antara bahasa Remun dan bahasa Iban. Kajian ini menerapkan pendekatan deskriptif untuk mencungkil persamaan dan perbezaan kedua-dua bahasa ini dengan berfokus kepada aspek leksikal dan fonologi. Daripada 150 sampel kosa kata yang dibandingkan, didapati kadar persamaan kosa kata untuk kedua-dua bahasa ini ialah 82%. Melalui analisis fonologi ke atas dua fonem, iaitu r dan s didapati bahawa fonem r wujud sebagai /ɣ/ dalam bahasa Remun manakala sebagai /r/ dalam bahasa Iban. Bagi fonem s, bunyi ini wujud sebagai /h/ pada posisi akhir kata Remun dan sebagai /s/ dalam bahasa Iban. Analisis fonologi ini telah memberi bukti tambahan bahawa bahasa Remun bukanlah sejenis dialek Iban walaupun memaparkan persamaan 85% kognat. Hasil kajian ini dapat meningkatkan kesedaran badan perancang bahasa Iban di Sarawak tentang wujudnya kelainan variasi dalam bahasa berkenaan. Justeru kerana bahasa Iban Standard turut diajar sebagai matapelajaran teras dalam pendidikan di Sarawak, kelainan-kelainan ini wajar diberi perhatian untuk melancarkan pembelajaran bahasa Iban.
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