Kayan–Murik languages
The Kayan–Murik languages are a group of Austronesian languages spoken in Borneo by the Kayan, Murik, and Bahau peoples.
Languages
The Kayan–Murik languages include:Smith (2017, 2019)
Smith classifies the Kayanic languages as follows:- Kayanic
- *Kayan–Murik–Merap
- **Kayan
- *** Baram
- *** Rejang-Busang
- *** Bahau
- *** Data Dian
- **Murik–Merap
- *** Ngorek
- *** Pua’
- *** Huang Bau
- *** Merap
Notable sound changes
Glottalisation of final vowels
In all Kayan–Murik languages, final vowels *-a, *-i, and *-u are closed with a glottal stop. This process resulted -aʔ, -eʔ, and -oʔ in most languages, but two latter outcomes are instead -ayʔ and -awʔ in Merap.However, the Kayan–Murik languages have different treatments regarding syllables ending in *-ʔ. Data Dian Kayan and Bahau lengthen PMP *-aq into -aːʔ, Busang simply retains the glottal stops without any lengthening, meanwhile, Long Naah Kayan and Balui Liko Kayan deleted *-q altogether.
Final voiced stops
Original final voiced stops have been altered to some extent in the Kayan–Murik languages. In LNK and DDK, *-b and *-d became nasalised into -m and -n, respectively. Meanwhile, in BLK and Busang, both are lenited into -v and -r. However, in Bahau, Ngorek, and Merap, the outcomes of final voiced stops are more variable, with *-b devoiced into -p, but *-d evolved into -l, and then nasalised into -n.Vowel breaking before velar consonants
In DDK, BLK, and additionally Uma Juman Kayan, vowels *a and *i were broken into eə and iə, before velar consonants *k or *ŋ.Outcomes of ''*z'' and ''*s''
In Bahau, PMP *s was debuccalised to h in all positions, while *z chain shifted to s. In other languages, *s was only debuccalised in initial, or final position; therefore, it is still retained in the medial position. Meanwhile, initial *z- became j- instead in these languages. However, in BLK and Busang, *-s was further deleted in the final position, but this rule did not apply for *-ʀ, nor the sequence *əs in Busang. Because of this, Alexander D. Smith speculates that the Proto-Kayanic outcome for PMP *z is *c, while *s remains unchanged.| PMP | → | Daughter |
| *pusuʔ 'heart' | → | Bahau puhuʔ |
| *uzan 'rain' | → | Bahau usan |
| *bətis 'calf' | → | Busang bəti |
| *hapəjəs 'smarting pain' | → | Busang pərah |
| *qitəluʀ 'egg' | → | Busang təloh |