Lower and Upper Baram Sub-Groups: A Study of Linguistic Affiliation

Abstract

It is not possible to determine the exact number of indigenous languages of Sarawak, one reason being the dialect-language dichotomy, as some isolects has not been ascertained. Ethnic labels may not reflect a linguistically homogenous group. That is to say that the language varieties spoken by an ethnic group may have a dialectal relationship with one another, or they may be heterogeneous, which means they are mutually unintelligible. This paper reports on the results of a lexicostatistic study that examines linguistic affiliation of a group of languages found along the Tinjar-Baram river basin, namely Berawan, Bakong, Narom, Kiput, Dali,’ and Miriek, and also their links with Kenyah Long Terawan, Lepo’ Tau and Belait in nearby Brunei. The paper also traces their historical past and describes how languages spoken by these ethnolinguistic groups have become affiliated to each other. For some reason or another, e.g. migration in search of greener pastures, internal rivalry or/and conversion to modern religions, these indigenous communities are forced to move away from their original speech communities, and they call themselves by different names in their new localities, usually after the name of a river or a mountain. These factors and categorisation on the basis of similar cultural attributes have caused misinterpretation of the identity of the indigenous groups in the past. The paper will clarify some of the misconceptions regarding the ethnolinguistic groups in the region.