Dusun language

Central Dusun, also known as Bunduliwan (Dusun: Boros Dusun), is an Austronesian language and one of the more widespread languages spoken by the Dusun (including Kadazan) peoples of Sabah, Malaysia. What is termed as Central Dusun (or simply Dusun) and Coastal Kadazan (or simply Kadazan) are deemed to be highly mutually intelligible to one other; many consider these to be part of a single language. Under the efforts of the Kadazandusun Cultural Association Sabah, in 1995, the central Bundu-Liwan dialect was selected to serve as the basis for a standardised "Kadazandusun" language. This dialect, spoken in the Bundu and Liwan valleys of the Crocker Range (now parts of the present-day districts of Ranau, Tambunan and Keningau), was selected as it was deemed to be the most mutually intelligible when conversing with other "Dusun" or "Kadazan" dialects. Dusun is written using the Latin alphabet using 22 characters (the letters C, E, F, Q, and X are used in loanwords): A B D G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z These characters together are called Pimato. 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. The vowels are divided into: Simple vowels: /i u a o/ Diphthongs: (sometimes pronounced /e/) Some combinations of vowels do not form diphthongs and each vowel retains its separate sound: . In some words is not a diphthong, and this is indicated by an apostrophe between the two vowels: a'a. Tindal Dusun has a Philippine-type focus system of syntax that makes one particular noun phrase in a sentence the most prominent. This prominent, focused noun phrase does not need to be the subject or the agent of the clause. In clauses with pronouns, the verbal morphology and the pronoun both indicate focus. If the verb carries actor focus morphology, the actor of the clause will therefore be a nominative pronoun (or, rarely, an emphatic pronoun).