Kelabit language
Encyclopedia
Kelabit is one of the remotest languages of Borneo, on the Sarawak
–Kalimantan
border, and spoken by one of the smallest ethnicities in Borneo, the Kelabit people.
Kelabit is notable for having "a typologically rare series of true voice aspirates
" along with modally voiced and tenuis consonant
s but without an accompanying series of voiceless
aspirates. It is the only language known to have this phonation contrast, which has been reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European
. (See glottalic theory
.)
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
–Kalimantan
Kalimantan
In English, the term Kalimantan refers to the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo, while in Indonesian, the term "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo....
border, and spoken by one of the smallest ethnicities in Borneo, the Kelabit people.
Kelabit is notable for having "a typologically rare series of true voice aspirates
Breathy voice
Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
" along with modally voiced and tenuis consonant
Tenuis consonant
In linguistics, a tenuis consonant is a stop or affricate which is unvoiced, unaspirated, and unglottalized. That is, it has a "plain" phonation like , with a voice onset time close to zero, as in Spanish p, t, ch, k, or as in English p, t, k after s .In transcription, tenuis consonants are not...
s but without an accompanying series of voiceless
Voiceless
In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of...
aspirates. It is the only language known to have this phonation contrast, which has been reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
. (See glottalic theory
Glottalic theory
The glottalic theory holds that Proto-Indo-European had ejective stops, , but not the murmured ones, , of traditional Proto-Indo-European phonological reconstructions....
.)