Limbang Bisaya: Society an Language.
|
THE SARAWAK MUSEUM JOURNAL |
|
Title :
Limbang Bisaya: Society an Language. |
|
Author :
Hussain bin Jamil & John Newman |
|
Abstract:
A recent field trip to the Limbangarea of northern Sarawak (16th—24th December 1984) has yielded substantial information on the society and language of the Limbang Bisaya which we report on here. This field trip was conducted as part of a larger project being undertaken by the Sarawak branch of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) involving, among other things, the compilations of a Bahasa Bisaya — Bahasa Malaysia word list. The data was gathered by Asiah Haji Ahmad, assisted by Henry Gana (both from the Sarawak branch of DBP). The number of Bisaya in Sarawak would appear to have been under-estimated in the past. Asmah (1983), for example, gives an approximate figure of 4,000 for all of Sarawak. According to Penghulu Fuji of Kampung Ranggu, on the other hand, there are about 6,800 registered Bisayas in Limbang alone. It is further believed that there are many more unregistered and others who have moved to Brunei to work as labourers or have become permanent residents of Brunei. In discussing the language of the Limbang Bisayas (LB), we will make comparisons with the description of the Beaufort Bisaya (BB) variety of Bisaya to be found in Asmah (1983). Peranio (1977), Sandin (1971, 1972) and Sonza (1972) also provide interesting cultural background on the Bisayas. Throughout, we will use the spelling Bisaya (rather than Bisayah or Bisayak), since this is the spelling preferred by the speakers themselves. The Limbang Bisayas, incidentally, refer to the Bisayas of Brunei as orang Koloyo (Koloyo = ‘people, tribe’).
|
| DOI: XXXX |
|
How to cite:
Hussain bin Jami & Newman, J. (1987). Limbang Bisaya: Society an Language. The Sarawak Museum Journal, XXXVII (58): 75-90 |
|
References
|
