Kadazandusun language

Semivowels /w j/ and rhotic /r/ only occur in most of the other dialects of the Dusun/Kadazan languages. Forschner (1978) and Antonissen (1958) list two fricatives /v z/ for the Rungus and Penampang Kadazan dialects. [x] is also listed as an allophone of /k/ in word-medial position.[3]

The vowels are divided into:

Simple vowels: /i u a o/

Diphthongs: aa ai (sometimes pronounced /e/) ii oi uu

Forschner (1978) notes for the Rungus dialect that the phoneme /e/ is a contraction of the diphthongs /ai/ or /oi/.

Some combinations of vowels do not form diphthongs and each vowel retains its separate sound: ao ia iu ui ue. In some words aa is not a diphthong, and this is indicated by an apostrophe between the two vowels: a’a.

Personal pronouns in Dusun are determined by their use in the sentence. There are emphatic subject, non-emphatic subject, possessive and accusative. Dusun has separate words for inclusive and exclusive we, and distinguishes singular, dual, and plural.

The Dusun phrase structure follow a different pattern since the normal English subject-verb-object structure is non-existent in the Dusun construction. A typical Dusun sentence follows the verb-subject-object structure.

• Dusun sentence: Monginum isio do montoku.

Direct English translation: Drink him rice wine.

English interpretation: He is drinking rice wine.

• Dusun sentence: Nunu maan nu do suab?

Direct English translation: What do you tomorrow?

English interpretation: "What are you doing tomorrow?" or to a lesser extent, "Are you doing anything tomorrow?"

The names for the days of the week are mostly based on a simple numerical sequence, which is commonly used for media and newspapers. Sometimes Dusun names for the days come from the seven stages in the metamorphosis of butterfly, which is commonly taught in school syllabus and literature purpose.

Ontok di timpuun ih, tuminimpuun o Kinorohingan do minomonsoi do libabou om pomogunan. Orolot iti pomogunan om inggaa suang, om pointuong nokulumutan di rahat topuhod. Mintulud sunduan do Kinorohingan do hiri id soibau di waig. Om pomoros nodi o Kinorohingan do, "Nawau no" ka. Om haro nodi o tanawau. Om asanangan tomod o Kinorohingan do nokokitoh diri. Pitongkiado no do Kinoingan ih tanawau do mantad hiri id totuong. Om pungaranai nodi do Kinorohingan do "dangadau" it anawau, om iri otuong nopo nga pinungaranan dau do "dongotuong". Haro di sosodopon, sinusuhut minsusuab – iri no o tadau kumoiso.

In the beginning God created heaven and earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep water. The spirit of God was hovering over the water. Then God said, "Let there be light!" So there was light. God saw the light was good. So God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light "day", and the darkness he named "night". There was evening, then morning, the first day.