Rejang language

Rejang
Baso Hejang
Baso Jang
ꤽꥍꤺꥏ
Native toIndonesia
Region
[1]
EthnicityRejang people
Native speakers
350,000 (2000 census)[2]
Dialects
  • Lebong
  • Curup
  • Kepahiang
  • Utara
Latin (present)
Rejang script (historically)
Language codes
ISO 639-3rej
Glottologreja1240

Rejang (baso Jang, baso Hejang) is an Austronesian language predominantly spoken by the Rejang people in southwestern parts of Sumatra (Bengkulu), Indonesia. There are five dialects, spread from mountainous region to the coastal region of Bengkulu, including the Musi (Musai) dialect, the Lebong dialect, the Kebanagung dialect, the Rawas (Awes) dialect, and the Pesisir dialect.

Classification

Rejang is not obviously close to other Malayo-Polynesian languages in Sumatra. McGinn (2009) classified it among the Bidayuh languages of Borneo, closest to Bukar–Sadong. According to the source, these languages shared raising of *a to *ə word-finally, or in final syllables except those ending in velar consonants *k, *ŋ.[3] It may be that it is related to the newly described language Nasal, but that is speculative at this point.[4] Robert Blust and Alexander Smith classified Rejang as part of Greater North Borneo languages (2017a, 2017b).[5][6][7]

Dialects

Rejang has five different dialects. Speakers of each dialects are able to communicate with one another, in spite of lexical and phonological differences. The four dialects of Rejangs are Curup, Lebong, Kepahiang, and Utara. Among all dialects, Awes dialect is the hardest for the speakers of other dialects.

Writing system

Rejang was written with the Rejang script for a long time.[8] The script is thought to predate the introduction of Islam to the area in the 12th century CE, although the earliest attested document has been dated to the mid-18th century. It is traditionally written on bamboo, buffalo horn, bark or copper plates. It was only recently[when?] that the Latin alphabet was introduced as a way of writing the language.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t tʃ k ʔ
voiced b d dʒ ɡ
Fricative s h
Trill (r)
Lateral l
Approximant w j

A trill /r/ is also present, but only in loanwords.[9]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a

Vocabulary

Astronomical terms

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
earth bumai
dênio
dunio		 bumêi
dênio
dunio		 bumêi
dênio
dunio		 bumai
dênio
dunio
star bitang bitang bitang bitang
moon bulên bulên bulên bulên
sun mataibilai matêibilêi matêibilêi
matoibiloi		 mataibilai
cloud awên awên awên awên
sky lenget lenget lenget lenget

Gender

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
female slawêi bia, sêbia,
bie, sêbie,
slawie		 bêa slawêi
male smanêi sêbong,
smanie		 smanêi smanêi
third gender tayuk tayuk tayuk tayuk

Colour

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
red miləak miləak abang miləak
white putiak puteak puteah puteak
black məluo mələu mələa məluo
green ijo ijo ijo ijo
blue biru/blu/blau biru/blu/bləu biru/blu/bləu biru/blu/blau
grey abu-abu/abau abu-abu/abəu abu-abu/abəu abu-abu/abəu
orange jingga jingga jingga jingga
violet ungau ungəu ungəu ungau
brown perang perang perang coklat
pink miləak mudo/miləak jamau miləak mudo/miləak jaməu miləah mudo/miləak jaməu abang mude/miləak jamau
silver pirok pirak pirak pirak
maroon miləak atie miləak atəi abang atəei miləak atəi

Pronouns

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
I uku
ku		 uku
ku		 uku
u		 uku,
ku
you kumu (honour, formal)
ko (common)		 kumu (honour, formal)
ko (common)		 ko kumu (honour, formal)
ko (common)
we itê itê itê itê
they tobo'o tobo'o toboho tobo'o
he/she si si si si

Numbers

Numeral English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
0 zero kosong nol nol nol
1 one do (sometimes dəlai) do (sometimes dəlai) do (sometimes dikup) do (sometimes dəlai)
2 two duai duəi dui duəi
3 three təlau tələu tələu təlau
4 four əpat, pat əpat, pat əpat, pat əpat, pat
5 five ləmo ləmo ləmo ləmo
6 six num num num num
7 seven tujuak tojoak tojoah tojoak
8 eight dəlapən dəlapən dəlapən dəlapən
9 nine semilan semilan semilan semilan
10 ten dəpuluak dəpoloak dəpoloah dəpoloak
11 eleven səblas səblas səblas səblas
12 twelve duai bəlas duəi bəlas dui bəlas duəi balas
13 thirteen təlau bəlas tələu bəlas tələu bəlas təlau bəlas
19 nineteen seilan bəlas semilan bəlas semilan bəlas semilan bəlas
20 twenty duai puluak duəi poloak dui poloah duəi poloak
21 twenty-one duai puluak satu duəi poloak satu dui poloah satu duəi poloak do
50 fifty ləmo puluak ləmo poloak ləmo poloah ləmo poloak
100 one hundred sotos sotos sotos sotos
200 two hundred duai otos duəi otos dui otos duəi otos
1000 one thousand səribau səribeu səribeu səribau
10,000 ten thousand dəpuluak ribau dəpoloak ribəu dəpoloah ribəu dəpoloak ribau
100,000 one hundred thousand sotos ribau sotos ribəu sotos ribəu sotos ribau
1,000,000 one million dəjuta dəjuta dəjuta dəjuta

Days of the week

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
Monday sənin sənin sənin sənin
Tuesday səlasa səlasa səlasa səlasa
Wednesday rabau/rabu/rəbau rabəu/rabu/rəbəu rabəu/rabu/rəbəu rebaa/rəbu/rəbəu
Thursday kəmis kəmis kəmis kəmis
Friday jəm'at/jum'at jəma'at/jum'at jəmahat/jum'at jəm'at/jum'at
Saturday sabtau/səbtau/səbtu sabtəu seteu sabtau/səbtau
Sunday mingau mingəu mingəu mingəu

Prepositions

Place

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
behind bêlakang
kədong		 bêlakang
kêdong		 bêlakang
kêdong		 bêlakang
kêdong
beside dêpêak
pêak		 dêpêak
pêak		 dêpêah
pêah
saping		 dêpêak
pêak
above das das das das
in front of muko muko adep muko
outside luêa luêa luêh luêa
inside lêm lêm lêm lêm
corner iding iding iding iding
under bêak bêak bêah bêak
between antaro antaro antaro antaro

Basic elements

English Lebong Dialect Curup Dialect Kepahiang Dialect Utara Dialect
wind angin angin angin angin
water bioa bioa bioa bioa
land tanêak tanêak tanəah tanəak
soil pitok pitak pitak pitak
air udaro udaro udaro udaro
fire opoi opoi opoe opoi

Sample text

The following is a sample text in Rejang, of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations):

Kutê tun laher mêrdeka, tmuan hok-hok gik srai. Kutê nagiak-ba akêa peker ngen atêi, kêrno o kêlok-nê bêkuat-ba do ngen luyên lêm asai sêpasuak.

Gloss (word-to-word):

Article 1 – All human was born independent, has an equal rights. They are endowed a way to think and heart; then they need to be friend[clarification needed] each other in the taste of brotherhood.

Translation (grammatical):

Article 1 – All human beings are born free and equal in rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Notes

  1. ^ Saputri, Nur Rahmah (2014). Analisis hukum Islam terhadap Adat Bemaling Suku Rejang di Kabupaten Rejang Lebong Bengkulu (PDF) (Undergraduate thesis). UIN Surabaya. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  2. ^ Rejang at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  3. ^ McGinn, Richard (2009). "24. Out-of-Borneo subgrouping hypothesis for Rejang: re-weighing the evidence" (PDF). In Adelaar, Alexander; Pawley, Andre (eds.). Austronesian historical linguistics and culture history: a festschrift for Bob Blust. Pacific Linguistics. pp. 397–410. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 January 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
  4. ^ "Request for New Language Code Element in ISO 639-3" (PDF), ISO 639-3 Registration Authority
  5. ^ Blust 2010, pp. 44, 47.
  6. ^ Smith 2017a, p. 346–364.
  7. ^ Smith 2017b, p. 459–460.
  8. ^ Rejang (Redjang, Kaganga), ScriptSource (developed and maintained by SIL International), retrieved 30 May 2019
  9. ^ Aichele, W. (1984). A Fragmentary Sketch of the Rejang Language. Materials for a Rejang-Indonesian-English dictionary (Pacific Linguistics: Series D, 58.): Canberra: Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

Bibliography

  • Blust, Robert (2010). "The Greater North Borneo Hypothesis". Oceanic Linguistics. 49 (1). University of Hawai'i Press: 44–118. doi:10.1353/ol.0.0060. JSTOR 40783586. S2CID 145459318.
  • MacGinn, Richard (1982). Outline of Rejang Syntax (PDF). NUSA 14. Jakarta: Universitas Atma Jaya.
  • Smith, Alexander D. (2017). The Languages of Borneo: A Comprehensive Classification (PDF) (Ph.D. thesis). University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
  • Smith, Alexander D. (2017). "The Western Malayo-Polynesian Problem". Oceanic Linguistics. 56 (2). University of Hawai'i Press: 435–490. doi:10.1353/ol.2017.0021. S2CID 149377092.

External links

Rejang language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rejang script.
  • Richard McGinn, Archive of Materials for the Study of the Rejang of Sumatra. Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  • Rejang in Unicode Table
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