Maʼanyan language

"MHY" redirects here. For the Chinese video game company, see miHoYo.

Maanyan or Maʼanyan (also Maanjan or Maanyak Dayak) is an Austronesian language belonging to the East Barito languages. It is spoken by about 150,000 Ma'anyan people (one of the Dayak peoples) living in the province of Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It is most closely related to the Malagasy language spoken in Madagascar, although these languages are not mutually intelligible due to the geographical separation.

Ma'anyan
Pronunciation	[maʔaɲan]
Native to	Indonesia
Region	Kalimantan
Native speakers	150,000 (2003)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian East Barito Central–South Ma'anyan
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mhy
Glottolog	maan1238

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	ɟ	ɡ
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Fricative			s			h
Trill			r
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

/r/ can also be heard as a tap sound [ɾ].

Vowels

	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Open	ɛ	a

/i, u/ can be heard as [ɪ, ʊ] in closed syllables.^[2]

Connection with Malagasy

The Malagasy language is an Austronesian language spoken in Madagascar, originating from its historical homeland in South East Borneo.^[3][4] Malagasy is classified among the Southeast Barito languages,^[3][5] and Ma'anyan is often listed as its closest relative, with Malagasy incorporating numerous Malay and Javanese loanwords.^[5][6] It is known that Ma'anyan people were brought as labourers and slaves by Malay and Javanese people in their trading fleets, which reached Madagascar by ca. 50–500 AD.^[7][8][9] There is high lexical similarity with other East Barito languages like Paku (77%) and Dusun Witu (75%). It is likely that the Malagasy had already acquired a separate ethnic and linguistic identity in South Borneo prior to their migration(s) to East Africa.^[4] Based on linguistic evidence, it has been suggested that the early Malagasy migrants moved away from Borneo in the 7th century AD, if not later.^[10][5]

Compared to Malagasy, Ma’anyan is characterized by a "West Indonesian" (Malay-type) morphosyntactic structure, a consequence of the long-standing influence of Malay on the languages of western Indonesia. While Malagasy is closer to the so-called “Philippine-type structure” (resembling many of the languages of the Philippines, Sabah, North Sulawesi, and Taiwan), it is also very innovative phonologically, perhaps as a result of its common phonological history with Comorian languages.^[3]

Vocabulary

Vocabulary comparison between Malay, Banjarese, Ma'anyan, and Malagasy.

Malay	Banjarese	Ma'anyan	Malagasy	English
monyet	warik	warik	varika ('lemur')	monkey
bemban	bamban	waman
bulian	balian	wadian
patih	patih	patis		regent
lama	lawas	lawah	lava	long (as in time)
kawan	kawal	kawal/hengau	namana	friend
obat	tatamba	tatamba	tambavy	medicine
senang	aray	aray	ravo	happy, easy
masih	magun	pagun	manangona ('to accumulate')	to keep ...ing
arya	aria	uria
demang	damang	damhong		spider

References

1. Ma'anyan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Gudai, Darmansyah (1988). A Grammar of Maanyan, A Language of Central Kalimantan. Australian National University.
3. Adelaar, K. Alexander (2006). "The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence". In Simanjuntak, Truman; Pojoh, Ingrid H.E.; Hisyam, Mohammad (eds.). Austronesian Diaspora and the Ethnogeneses of People in Indonesian Archipelago: Proceedings of the International Symposium. Jakarta: LIPI Press. pp. 205–232. ISBN 979-26-2436-8. OCLC 73745051. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
4. Adelaar, K. Alexander (2017). "Who Were the First Malagasy, and What Did They Speak?". In Acri, Andrea; Blench, Roger; Landmann, Alexandra (eds.). Spirits and Ships: Cultural Transfers in Early Monsoon Asia. Book collections on Project MUSE 28. Singapore: ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. pp. 441–469. doi:10.1355/9789814762779-012. ISBN 978-981-4762-75-5. OCLC 1012757769.
5. Adelaar, K. Alexander (2006). "Borneo as a Cross-Roads for Comparative Austronesian Linguistics". In Bellwood, Peter; Fox, James J.; Tryon, Darrell T. (eds.). The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. Canberra: ANU E Press. pp. 81–102. doi:10.22459/A.09.2006.04. ISBN 1-920942-85-8. JSTOR j.ctt2jbjx1.7. OCLC 225298720.
6. There are also some Sulawesi loanwords, which Adelaar attributes to contact prior to the migration to Madagascar: See Adelaar, K. Alexander (2006). "The Indonesian migrations to Madagascar: making sense of the multidisciplinary evidence". In Simanjuntak, Truman; Pojoh, Ingrid H.E.; Hisyam, Mohammad (eds.). Austronesian Diaspora and the Ethnogeneses of People in Indonesian Archipelago: Proceedings of the International Symposium. Jakarta: LIPI Press. pp. 213–215. ISBN 979-26-2436-8. OCLC 73745051. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
7. Dewar, Robert E.; Wright, Henry T. (1993). "The Culture History of Madagascar". Journal of World Prehistory. 7 (4): 417–466. doi:10.1007/bf00997802. hdl:2027.42/45256.
8. Burney, David A.; Burney, Lida Pigott; Godfrey, Laurie R.; Jungers, William L.; Goodman, Steven M.; Wright, Henry T.; Jull, A. J. Timothy (2004). "A Chronology for Late Prehistoric Madagascar". Journal of Human Evolution. 47 (1–2): 25–63. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.05.005. PMID 15288523.
9. Kumar, Ann (2012). "Dominion Over Palm and Pine: Early Indonesia's Maritime Reach". In Wade, Geoff (ed.). Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 101–122.
10. Adelaar, K. Alexander (1995). "Asian Roots of the Malagasy: A Linguistic Perspective". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia. 151 (3): 325–356. doi:10.1163/22134379-90003036. ISSN 0006-2294. JSTOR 27864676. OCLC 5672481889.

• Gudai, Darmansyah H. (1985). A Grammar of Maanyan: A Language of Central Kalimantan (PhD thesis). The Australian National University. doi:10.25911/5D763957026A1. hdl:1885/10904.

External links

• Ma'anyan language and grammar (in Ma'anyan)