Kayan phrasebook
The Kayan language is one of the major languages of Borneo. It is spoken not only in Sarawak, Malaysia, but over a much larger area in Indonesian Kalimantan. Unlike some other Bornean languages, Kayan retains a large measure of uniformity over all this area.
Pronunciation guide
Kayan is an easy language to learn. Kayan language contains a lot of loanword from Malay, English, Chinese, Iban and many other local languages. There are tones or gender to be observed in daily conversation with the Kayans. In Malaysia, the Kayan Baram and Kayan Rejang dialect are nearly unintelligible with one other. Generally, Kayan would be referred to as Kayan Baram. This phrasebook is dedicated solely to Kayan Baram dialect.
Vowels
- a
- like 'a' in "father"
- ê
- like 'e' in "vowel" (schwa)
- e, é
- like 'e' in "bed"
- i
- like 'ee' in "beet"
- o
- like 'ow' in "low",without the "w" sound
- u
- like 'oo' in "hoop", in open positions,such as in final "uh" and "uk" combinations.
Consonants
- b
- like 'b' in "bed"
- c
- like 'ch' in "China"
- ch
- old spelling of c
- d
- like 'd' in "dog"
- f
- like 'ph' in "phone"
- g
- like 'g' in "go"
- h
- like 'h' in "help"
- j
- like 'j' in "jug"
- k
- like 'c' in "cat"; at ends of words, a glottal stop like the stop some people use to pronounce "something" as "sump'n."
- kh
- like 'ch' in "loch" or 'c' in "cat."
- l
- like 'l' in "love"
- m
- like 'm' in "mother"
- n
- like 'n' in "nice"
- p
- like 'p' in "pig"
- q
- like 'q' in "quest" (most commonly with "u", and only in Arabic borrowings)
- r
- like 'rh' in "rheumatism"
- s
- like 'ss' in "hiss"
- sy
- like 'sh' in "sheep"
- t
- like 't' in "top"
- v
- like 'ph' in "phone" (rarely used)
- w
- like 'w' in "weight"
- x
- like 'cks' in "kicks"
- y
- like 'y' in "yes"
- z
- like 's' in "hiss", like 'z' in "haze", like 'dg' in "edge"
Common diphthongs
Phrase list
Basics
- Hello.
- Kenun dengah. (ka-NOON-dunk-AH )
- Hello. (informal)
- Nun dengah. (NOON-dunk-AH )
- How are you?
- Sayu ka ika' ya? ( ?)
- Fine, thank you.
- Sayu ka akui,. ( )
- What is your name?
- Kenun aran ka du? ( ?)
- My name is ______ .
- ______ aran kui. ( _____ .)
- Nice to meet you.
- Sayu kenep deng pepsuk dahim. ( )
- Please.
- Tulung. ( )
- Thank you.
- Trimak kasih/Sayu kenep men ikak/ikam lim/kelo. ( )
- You're welcome.
- Sayu kenep ka mn ika lahuh. ( )
- Yes.
- Ie. ( )
- No.
- Nusik/Usik. ( )
- Excuse me. (begging pardon)
- Akei asi. ( )
- I'm sorry.
- Akei asi kui. ( )
- Goodbye
- Pepsuk la'an. ( )
- Goodbye (informal)
- Bai. ( )
- I can't speak Kayan [well].
- Nusi kui jam/haman duan dahun Kayan[lan-lan ]. ( [ ])
- Do you speak English?
- Jam ika' duan dahun urang puti du? ( ?)
- Is there someone here who speaks English?
- Tek hi hi hak inih jam duan dahun urang puti du? ( ?)
- Help!
- Tulung! ( !)
- Look out!
- Jaga! ( !)
- Good morning.
- Selamet jehima. ( )
- Good evening.
- Selamet ngedau. ( )
- Good night.
- Selamet malem. ( )
- Good night (to sleep)
- Selamet malem. ( )
- I don't understand.
- Nusi kui jam. ( )
- Where is the toilet?
- Ha' hino' jaben du? ( ?)
Problems
- Leave me alone.
- Meng kasau akui. (...)
- Get lost!
- Lap im! ("...")
- Don't touch me!
- Meng gem akui! (...)
- I'll call the police.
- Akui seng bara pulis anih. (...)
- Police!
- Pulis! (...)
- Help!
- Tulung! ("...")
- Stop! Rapist!
- Meng lap! Kelunan buling ketamak! ("...")
- Stop! Thief!
- Meng lap! Kelunan nakau! (...)
- I need your help.
- Akui pelu lan ikak tulung akui. (...)
- It's an emergency.
- Hen dekaya anih..mesti salet. (...)
- I'm lost.
- Lingok kui. (...)
- I lost my bag.
- Padek beg kui. (...)
- I lost my wallet.
- Padek beg sin kui. (...)
- I'm sick.
- Perah kui. (...)
- I feel dizzy.
- Perah kahung kui. ("...")
- I've been injured.
- Ga' kui. (...)
- I'm bleeding.
- Daha kui. ("...")
- I need to see a doctor.
- Akui pelu jupak duktun. (...)
- Can I use your phone?
- Deng akui pakei/pijam telifon ika' ya? (...)
Numbers
- 0
- Kusung
- 1
- Ji
- 2
- Duak
- 3
- Telok
- 4
- Pat
- 5
- Limak
- 6
- Nem
- 7
- Tusu
- 8
- Sayak
- 9
- Pitan
- 10
- Pulu
- 11
- Puli ji
- 12
- Pulu duak
- 13
- Pulu telok
- 100
- Ji atuh
- 110
- Ji atuh pulu
- 111
- Ji atuh pulu ji
- 1,000
- Ji libuk
- 10,000
- Pulu libuk
- 11,000
- Pulu ji libuk
- 100,000
- Ji atuh libuk
- 1,000,000
- Ji juta
- 10,000,000
- Pulu juta
- 100,000,000
- Ji atuh juta
- 1,000,000,000
- Ji biliun / Ji libuk juta
- number _____ (car, bus,house etc.)
- (kelita', bes,uma ) lubun _____ (...)
- half
- ji hunang (...)
- less
- kurang (...)
- more
- lebih (...)
- roughly (more or less)
- lebih kurang
Time
- now
- kerei nih (...)
- later
- na'a (...)
- before
- em pian (...)
- after
- uh / uh anih (...)
- morning
- jehima
- afternoon
- belua dau
- evening
- levi
- night
- malem
Clock time
- one o'clock AM
- pukun ji jehima (...)
- two o'clock AM
- pukun dua' jehima (...)
- noon
- belua dau (...)
- one o'clock PM
- pukun ji levi (...)
- two o'clock PM
- pukun dua' levi (...)
- midnight
- belua malem (...)
Duration
- _____ second(s)
- _____ siken (SEE-khen)
- _____ minute(s)
- _____ minit (MI-nit)
- _____ hour(s)
- _____ jam (jahm)
- _____ day(s)
- _____ dau (DHAW)
- _____ week(s)
- _____ migu (MEE-goo)
- _____ month(s)
- _____ bulan (BOO-lahn)
- _____ year(s)
- _____ duman (dhu-MAHN)
- _____ hour(s) and _____ minute(s)
- If the minute is in numbers, _____jam _____ minit. If the minute is expressed as a fraction of the hour e.g two and a half hour: dua jam ji unang.
Days
- today
- dau anih (...)
- yesterday
- dahlem
- the day before yesterday
- dahlem dahlem dih / dau em pian men dahlem dih
- tomorrow
- jima
- the day after tomorrow
- jima jima / jima atih / dua' dau la'an
- three days after today
- telo dau la'an
- this week
- migu anih
- last week
- migu areh
- next week
- migu atih
- Sunday
- Dau Migu / Dau Tusu
- Monday
- Dau Ji
- Tuesday
- Dau Dua'
- Wednesday
- Dau Telo'
- Thursday
- Dau Pat
- Friday
- Dau Lima'
- Saturday
- Dau Nem
Months
- January
- Bulan Ji
- February
- Bulan Dua'
- March
- Bulan Telo'
- April
- Bulan Pat
- May
- Bulan Lima'
- June
- Bulan Nem
- July
- Bulan Tusu
- August
- Bulan Saya'
- September
- Bulan Pitan
- October
- Bulan Pulu
- November
- Bulan Pulu Ji
- December
- Bulan Pulu Dua'
Writing time and date
Writing time
- 1.00
- pukun ji
- 1.01
- pukun ji ,ji minit
- 1.15
- pukun ji ,pulu lima minit
- 1.20
- pukun ji ,dua' pulu minit
- 1.30
- pukun ji ji unang / pukun ji telo' pulu minit
- 1.40
- pukun ji pat pulu minit
- 1.45
- pukun ji pat pulu lima' minit / Pulu lima' minit jeleng pukun dua'
- As in Malay, the hours are written from zero to 12. So 06.00 PM is written as 6.00PM.
Date
First one should write the day, after that the month and then the year, as in Malay
- September 3rd 1986
- 3hb September 1986 : 03/09/1986 ; 3/9/1986
Colors
Kayan have limited names for color. For example the word "Nyemit" can mean either blue, yellow or green.
- black
- pitem ( )
- white
- puti (POO-te)
- red
- bela ( )
- blue
- nyemit lagit ( )
- yellow
- nyemit ( )
- green
- nyemit uro' ( )
- orange
- urin ( )
- purple
- nyemit uvek lan / papel ( )
- brown
- lah tana ( )
Transportation
Bus and train
- How much is a ticket to _____?
- Kuri legah tiket tei ha' _____? ( )
- I want to buy one ticket to _____.
- Akui ngenep bele' ji tiket tei ha' _____. ( )
- Where does this car/bus go?
- Kelita' / Bes anih tei ha' ino' du? ( )
- Where is the car/bus to _____?
- Ha' ino' kui deng ala kelita'/bes tei ha' _____ du? (...)
- Does this car/bus stop in _____?
- Tren/bes anih ngeta' ha'_____ du? (...)
- What time does the car/bus leave for _____?
- Pukun kuri kelita'/bes anih leka' tei ha' _____ du? (...)
- When will this car/bus arrive in _____?
- Pukun kuri kelita' / bes anih ateng ha' _____ du? (...)
Directions
- How do I get to _____ ?
- Nuno seng tei ha'_____ ? (...)
- ...the bus station?
- ...padang bes?
- ...the airport?
- ...padang bilun? (...)
- ...downtown?
- ...pasen? (...)
- ...______ house
- ... uma ________ ? (...)
- Where are there a lot of...
- Ha' ino' te' kahum... (...)
- ...hotels?
- ...hutil / ngavan melo'? (...)
- ...restaurants?
- ...kedei kuman? (...)
- ...sites to see?
- ...ngavan aleng sayu en lawat / nyineng / tei? (...)
- Please show me on the map.
- Nujo' men akui ha' kelatet anih. ( )
- street
- alan (...)
- Turn left.
- Tei pedah ta'o. (...)
- Turn right.
- Tei pedah hulei. (...)
- left
- ta'o (...)
- right
- hulei (...)
- straight ahead
- tutau (...)
- towards the _____
- jeleng _____ (...)
- past the _____
- lipes _____ (...)
- before the _____
- em pian _____ (...)
- Watch for the _____.
- Nyineng _____. (...)
- intersection
- sipang (...)
Taxi
Lodging
Money
Sin
Eating
eat=kuman