探討西婆羅洲南島語系

An Introduction to the Austronesian Languages in Western Borneo

西婆羅洲 (Western Borneo) 南島語言群共分為馬來語系 (Malayic)、比達友語系 (Bidayuhic) 和達滿語系 (Tamanic)。其中，馬來語系為最大的語系，屬於該語系的語言有海岸馬來方言 (Coastal Malay dialects)、西婆羅馬來方言(Western Borneo Malay dialects)、伊班語系 (Ibanic)、蘇海語 (Suhaid) 和本那哇語 (Benawas) 等等。比達友語系則為第二大語系，其方言十分的多元，共分為東、南和北比達友方言。與其他南島語相比，比達友語系保留較多的古馬來亞玻里尼西亞 (Proto Malayo-Polynesian, PMP) 語音。此外該語言也含有元音交替 (ablaut)，即轉換一個字的形態成為被動態的動詞。西婆羅洲的第三類語系──達滿語系共有三種方言，即達滿 (Taman)，印巴羅 (Embaloh)和加利 (Kalis)。操該語系的族群雖然處於婆羅洲，但其語音系統卻與婆羅洲島外的南蘇拉威西 (South Sulawesi) 武起士語 (Bugis) 極為相近。本文從語音演變方面來分析該三大南島語言群的語音狀況。

The Austronesian languages of Western Borneo include three main branches: Malayic, Bidayuhic and Tamanic. Malayic, consisting of coastal Malay dialects, western Borneo Malay dialects, Suhaid and Benawas language, as well as Iban, and other Ibanic languages, is the largest language branch. Bidayuhic is the second largest Austronesian branch. This language is diverse in dialects and varieties. In general, it can be divided into eastern, southern and northern dialects. Among the Austronesian languages in western Borneo, Bidayuhic seems to have retained many Proto Malayo-Polynesian (PMP) forms. Ablaut, a rare linguistics feature in Austronesian, can also be found in this language. The third language branch, Tamanic has three dialects, namely Taman, Embaloh and Kalis. Linguistic evidences show that this language is closely related to the Bugis language of South Sulawesi. This article discusses the phonological environments of each of these branches by examining their historical derivation.