Kenyah languages

The Kenyah languages are a group of half a dozen or so closely related languages spoken by the Kenyah peoples of Borneo. They are:

Kenyah proper (a dialect cluster, incl. Madang), Sebob, Bakung, Tutoh (Long Wat), Wahau Kenyah, Uma’ Lung / Uma’ Lasan.
Kenyah
Geographic
distribution		Borneo
Linguistic classificationAustronesian
Glottologkaya1332  (partial match)

Ethnologue says that the Punan–Nibong languages are related to Uma’ Lasan, Glottolog that they are outside the Kenyah languages.

Classification

Soriente (2008) proposes a Kayan-Kenyah grouping.[1]

  • Proto–Kayan-Kenyah
    • Kenyah
      • Upper Pujungan
      • Usun Apau
    • Penan
    • Kayanic
      • Lebu’ Kulit
      • Mboh
      • Ngorek
      • Kayan

However, Smith (2015) rejects Soriente's grouping, and argues that Kenyah and Kayan are separate groups. Smith (2015) proposes the following classification.[2]

  • Proto-Kenyah
    • Highland
      • Highland A dialects: Lepo’ Gah, Lepo’ Sawa, Lepo’ Laang, Lepo’, Ma’ut, Lepo’ Ké, Bakung, Lepo’ Ndang
      • Highland B dialects: Lepo’ Tau, Badeng, Uma’ Lasan, Uma’ Alim, Òma Lóngh
    • Lowland
      • Western Lowland dialects: Lebo’ Vo’
      • Eastern Lowland dialects: Uma’ Pawe, Uma’ Kulit, Uma’ Ujok, Lepo’ Timai
    • Penan-Sebop

This classification of Kenyah languages was updated in a second publication, "Penan, Sebop, and Kenyah internal classification". There, it was shown that Penan and Sebop subgroup specifically with the Western-Lowland branch of Lowland Kenyah. This subgrouping was repeated in the dissertation, "The languages of Borneo: a comprehensive classification".

  • Proto-Kenyah
    • Highland
      • Highland A dialects: Lepo’ Gah, Lepo’ Sawa, Lepo’ Laang, Lepo’, Ma’ut, Lepo’ Ké, Bakung, Lepo’ Ndang
      • Highland B dialects: Lepo’ Tau, Badeng, Uma’ Lasan, Uma’ Alim, Òma Lóngh
    • Lowland
      • Western Lowland dialects: Lebo’ Vo’, Eastern Penan, Western Penan, Sebop
      • Eastern Lowland dialects: Uma’ Pawe, Uma’ Kulit, Uma’ Ujok, Lepo’ Timai

References
  1. Soriente, Antonia. 1997. The classification of Kenyah languages: A preliminary assessment. In SEALS XIV(2): Papers from the 14th meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society (2004), ed. by Wilaiwan Khanittana and Paul Sidwell, 49–62. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics.
  2. Smith, Alexander D. "On the Classification of Kenyah and Kayanic Languages." In Oceanic Linguistics, Volume 54, Number 2, December 2015, pp. 333-357.


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