Rejang (, ) is an Austronesian language predominantly spoken by the Rejang people in southwestern parts of Sumatra (Bengkulu), Indonesia. There are five dialects, spread from mountainous region to the coastal region of Bengkulu, including the Musi (Musai) dialect, the Lebong dialect, the Kebanagung dialect, the Rawas (Awes) dialect, and the Pesisir dialect.
Classification Rejang is not obviously close to other Malayo-Polynesian languages in Sumatra. McGinn (2009) classified it among the Bidayuh languages of Borneo, closest to Bukar–Sadong. According to the source, these languages shared raising of *a to *ə word-finally, or in final syllables except those ending in velar consonants *k, *ŋ. It may be that it is related to the newly described language Nasal, but that is speculative at this point. Robert Blust and Alexander Smith classified Rejang as part of Greater North Borneo languages (2017a, 2017b). Glottolog classifies Rejang as the only language of its own branch among the Malayo-Polynesian languages (the same treatment as Palauan and Sundanese).
Dialects Rejang has five different dialects. Speakers of each dialects are able to communicate with one another, in spite of lexical and phonological differences. The four dialects of Rejang language are Curup, Lebong, Kepahiang, and Utara. Among all dialects, Awes dialect is the hardest for the speakers of other dialects.
Writing system Rejang was written with the Rejang script for a long time. The script is thought to predate the introduction of Islam to the area in the 12th century CE, although the earliest attested document has been dated to the mid-18th century. It is traditionally written on bamboo, buffalo horn, bark or copper plates. It was only recently that the Latin alphabet was introduced as a way of writing the language.
Phonology Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalNasalPlosive/AffricatevoicelessvoicedFricativeTrill()LateralApproximant
A trill is also present, but only in loanwords.
Vowels FrontCentralBackCloseMidOpen
Vocabulary
Astronomical terms EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara Dialectearthstarmoonsuncloudsky
Gender EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara Dialectfemale, , , , male, third gender
Colour EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara Dialectredwhiteblackgreenbluegreyorangevioletbrownpinksilvermaroon
Pronouns EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara DialectI, you (honour, formal) (common) (honour, formal) (common) (honour, formal) (common)wetheyhe/she
Numbers NumeralEnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara Dialect0zero1one (sometimes ) (sometimes ) (sometimes ) (sometimes )2two3three4four, , , , 5five6six7seven8eight9nine10ten11eleven12twelve13thirteen19nineteen20twenty21twenty-one50fifty100one hundred200two hundred1000one thousand10,000ten thousand100,000one hundred thousand1,000,000one million
Days of the week EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara DialectMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
Prepositions
Place EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara Dialectbehindbesideabovein front ofoutsideinsidecornerunderbetween
Basic elements EnglishLebong DialectCurup DialectKepahiang DialectUtara Dialectwindwaterlandsoilairfire
Sample text
The following is a sample text in Rejang, of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (by the United Nations):
Gloss (word-to-word): Article 1 – All human was born independent, has an equal rights. They are endowed a way to think and heart; then they need to each other in the taste of brotherhood.
Translation (grammatical): Article 1 – All human beings are born free and equal in rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Notes
Bibliography
External links
Richard McGinn, Archive of Materials for the Study of the Rejang of Sumatra.