Ngaju language

Ngaju
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Kalimantan
Native speakers	890,000 (2003)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian West Barito South Ngaju
Language codes
ISO 639-3	nij
Glottolog	ngaj1237[2]

Ngaju is an Austronesian language spoken along the Kapuas, Kahayan, Katingan, and Mentaya Rivers in Central Borneo, Indonesia. It is closely related to Bakumpai language. There are three dialects—Pulopetak, Ba'amang, and Mantangai.^[3]

Phonology

Consonants

Ngaju has the following consonants.^[4]

	Biabial		Coronal		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m		n		ɲ		ŋ
Stop	p	b	t	d	c	ɟ	k	g
Fricative			s						h
Approximant (Lateral)						j		w
				l
Trill				ɲ

Vowels

Ngaju has the following vowels. All vowels except ə can be long.^[5]

	Front	Central	Back rounded
High	i		u
Mid	e	ə	o
Low		a

Vocabulary

Vocabulary comparison between Bakumpai, Ngaju, Indonesian and English languages.

Bakumpai	Ngaju	Indonesian	English
Jida	Dia	Tidak	No
Beken	Beken	Bukan	Not
Pai	Pai	Kaki	Foot / Leg
Kueh	Kueh	Mana	Which / Where
Si-kueh	Bara-kueh	Dari mana	Where from
Hituh	Hetuh	Sini	Here
Si-hituh	Intu-hetuh	Di sini	Here
Bara	Bara	Dari	From
Kejaw	Kejaw	Jauh	Far
Tukep / Parak	Tukep	Dekat	Near
Kuman	Kuman	Makan	Eat
Mihup	Mihop	Minum	Drink
Lebu	Lewu	Kampung	Village
Batatapas	Bapukan	Mencuci pakaian	To wash clothes

Notes

1. Ngaju at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Ngaju". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. Raymond G. Gordon, Jr, ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th edition. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
4. Mihing & Stokhof 1977.
5. Mihing & Stokhof 1977

References

Ashn E. Johannes. 1971. "An Introduction to Dayak Ngaju Morphology," Malang MA thesis.

T.W.J. Mihing & W.A.L. Stokhof. 1977. "On the Ngaju Dayak Sound System," Miscellaneous Studies in Indonesian and Languages in Indonesia 3:49-59.