# A Sea Dyak Dictionary

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A
Sea Dyak Dictionary,
IN ALPHABETICAL PARTS,
WITH EXAMPLES AND QUOTATIONS SHEWING THE USE AND MEANING OF WORDS.
BY
THE REV $^{D.}$ WILLIAM HOWELL,
FORMERLY STUDENT OF ST. AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE,
CANTERBURY.
AND
D. J. S BAILEY, B.A.,
OF JESUS COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE.
(All rights reserved.)
SINGAPORE:
Printed at the American Mission Press.
1900
THIS WORK
IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
TO
His Highness the Rajah of Sarawak
(SIR CHARLES A. JOHNSON-BROOKE)
G. C. M. G., K. I.; Etc; Etc;
WHOSE UNEQUALLED KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATIVE CHARACTER, WHOSE PERSONAL EXERTIONS, HUMANE AND WISE RULE HAVE ENABLED HIM TO PUT AN END TO TRIBAL WARFARE AMONG THE SEA DYAKS AND ASSURED THEM OF THE BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND PROSPER­ITY WITHIN THEIR BORDERS WHEREBY THEY HAVE ADVANCED IN THE SCALE OF CIVILIZATION AND NOW OCCUPY A POSITION SECOND TO NONE AMONG THE NATIVES OF BORNEO.
PREFACE.
The language of the so-called Sea Dyaks of Sarawak is a dia­lect of the wide spreading Malay language intermixed with words borrowed from Kayan and, it is surmised, other primitive Bornean races with whom the Dyaks have come in contact.
It cannot yet be said that the language is that of a Nation. It is the language of a number of tribes who may be conveniently grouped as follows: —
These different tribes are, with the exception of the Saribas and Bugau, inhabitants of the Batang Lupar River and its tributaries, and from these tributaries, they mostly derive their tribal names such as Sabuyau, Lemanak, Skarang, Undup. It is however necessary to state that in recent years some of these tribes have so increased and spread beyond their ancient limits that there are now said to be as many, if not more, Dyaks living in the Rejang river than in the whole Second Division (a tract of land which with the Batang Lupar includes the Saribas and Kalaka rivers and the area drained by these three rivers).
Each of these tribes has some peculiarities of dialect, and some make use of words quite unknown to other tribes, but we doubt if these peculiarities are as striking as the difference between the speech of a man from Yorkshire and one from Sussex.
The Balau Dyaks, who derive their tribal name from a ridge of low hills about twenty-five miles up the Batang Lupar river, have adopted many words in common use by the Malays and this is not to be wondered at when we call to mind that about half a century ago large numbers of this tribe were gathered together and lived with many Malays upon Banting Hill for the sake of mutual protection against a common foe (Saribas and Skarang Dyaks), and that they have always lived in close proximity to Malays, and further that a large portion of the regular force (the Sarawak Rangers) has been and is still recruited from them. This fact has also no doubt, in some measure, given an additional impulse to their “knowledge” of Malay. The Undup Dyaks, who have always been allied with the Balau tribe in their tribal wars, and who have frequently intermarried with them, certainly possess less knowledge ​of Malay and use fewer Malay words, but there is an increasing tendency with them to pick up any Malay words they happen to hear used, when in the Rangers or in the courts, and adopt them.
The Saribas and Skarang Dyaks, the keenest hunters after jun­gle produce (gutta, rotan, etc.) are better off than any other Dyaks and travel long distances, even to the Celebes, in quest of old jars, yet, in spite of their strong trading instincts and their smartness they do not make use of Malay words, when speaking their own tongue, to so great an extent as the two previously mentioned tribes, the reason being perchance, that they, or at all events the Saribas, have always been the dominant race in their river and as such have learnt to look down somewhat upon the Malays.
The Sabuyau and Bugau Dyaks can mostly speak Malay; the latter who inhabit the country beyond the Kalingkang range in Netherlands India territory are said to speak it fluently, the reason probably being that they are frequently visited by Kapuas Malay peddlers. The Sabuyau are a dwindling race. Scarcely a dozen families remain in their old home in the Sabuyau river, at the mouth of the Batang Lupar, but the majority live at Lundu where doubt­less the purity of their language lias suffered much through their close intimacy with their Malay neighbours.
The Ulu Batang Ai or Ulu Ai Dyaks, who live further up the Batang Lupar river than any other people, probably speak the purest dialect of the Sea Dyak language, but their accent is harsh and their speech rough sounding and unpleasant compared with that of those who live nearer the sea. From their position they have naturally had little intercourse with Malays until more recent years, and their knowledge of Malay is practically nil.
The importance of the Sea Dyak language in Sarawak cannot be over-estimated.
It is the language of one of the most numerous races in the country—a race which is increasing and spreading further and further year by year. It is the language of the most energetic and go-ahead of all the native races in the Island of Borneo, and it is a living and growing language.
Throughout the Batang Lupar, Saribas, Kalaka, and Rejang rivers and their tributaries it is par excellence the trade language. Nearly all Chinese living in these rivers speak or understand it; indeed if they understand a little Malay, they usually prefer to talk Dyak, for it comes easier and more natural to them to do so, as many are married to Dyak women. The language is familiar to all Malays who live in or near Dyak countries or who go inland (mudik ka Daya), and even if they are strangers they find they can rapidly acquire a knowledge of this language which is in so many respects similar to their own. Wherever there is a government station of any importance it is garrisoned usually by Rangers and this language there is in daily use. ​Further, we should not omit to notice the growing importance of the language in the country further north, beyond H H. The Rajah’s territory.
The British North Borneo Company employs a number of Sea Dyaks as armed police. There are many engaged in seeking jungle produce, in petty trading, or in cooley work, and, year by year, there would appear to be a steady increase in the number of Sea Dyaks who seek their fortunes in the Company’s territory.
The Sea Dyaks possess no knowledge of writing, so their language bias necessarily existed as an oral language.
When we reflect that Europeans have been in the country for upwards of fifty years, we may well feel surprised that so little has been done to familiarise both the natives and ourselves with this language by means of writing and printed books.
Previous to this Dictionary there has been produced only one work of the sort, entitled “A Brief Dictionary of the Sea Dyak Language.” The other printed works can be counted almost upon the fingers of one hand, and their value is, in our opinion, much discounted by the fact that they clothe foreign ideas, thoughts, customs, and speech with mere Dyak words (of course used grammatically), which renders them useful only to Dyaks who have first of all been educated up to them, and of little use to those Europeans employed in this country who desire to con­struct genuine Dyak sentences understood by the common people. In this work it will be noticed that we have very generally erred upon the other side, and, at the expense of the English language, have tried to express in our examples native ideas, thoughts, customs and speech.
For their valuable assistance so kindly given us in preparing this work for publication, we have to thank Jantong of Temelan (who probably possesses a greater knowledge of the peculiarities of the language than any other Dyak living), Mt. A. F. Cheyne of Kalaka, the Rev’d E. H. Gomes, B. A., of Banting (whose criticisms and suggestions proved to be of the greatest possible use) and the Right Reverend G. F. Hose, D. D., Bishop ot Singapore and Sarawak.
D. J. S. Bailey. W. Howell.
GRAMMATICAL SYNOPSIS.
Pronunciation.
In English each of the vowels is pronounced in more ways than one; e.g., A is pronounced differently in fate, far, and fat.
In the following pages the vowels, with the exception of E, have only one pronunciation.
A is pronounced as in far.
E is pronounced„as in„ let, (example prentah).
E is pronounced„short (examples enda, pengidup).
I is pronounced„as ee in feet.
O is pronounced„as in told.
U is pronounced„as oo in boot.
As regards the consonants, G is always pronounced hard as in go. The soft sound of G as in the word gentle is expressed by j (example jimat). Ng is pronounced like ng in hang and when it occurs in the middle of a word it is always pronounced with the vowel that precedes it (example bang-at), and when there is another g following the ng it is pronounced with the following vowel (exampies, tang-gong, ting-gi).
Ch is pronounced as ch in church.
Whenever a word ends in h that word should be pronounced with an abrupt ending. There should be a distinct difference be­tween the pronunciation of words tama, to enter; padah, send for.
Accent.
The majority of Dyak words are of two syllables and the ac­cented syllable is generally the first.
Number.
The plural, if not sufficiently made clear by the context, is indi­cated by the use of such words as maioh, many, samoa, all.
Gender.
Inflection is not known in Dyak. Most nouns which signify animate things are of both genders and the sexes are distinguished by the addition of the words laki, male, indu, female. Thus: babi laki, a boar; babi indu, a sow.̼
Adjectives.
An adjective must follow its substantive, as orang brani, a brave man; orang badas, a good man.
Degrees of comparison are expressed by the addition of adverbs as agi, lebih, bendar, pemadu, korang, nadai. Thus: brani, brave; brani agi (or lebih brani), braver ; brani bendar (or pemadu brani), bravest ; korang brani, less brave ; nadai brani, least brave.
Adverbs.
Adverbs are placed either before or after their verbs, as, iya bejalai dras, or iya dras bejalai, he walks fast; iya landik bejako, or iya bejako landik, he talks fluently.
Articles.
There are no articles in Dyak which correspond with our defi­nite article the and indefinite articles a, an. Ukui, dog, manok, fowl, signify equally the dog and the fowl.
Personal Pronouns.
| Singular. | Aku, I. |
| Singular. | Nuan, or Di, you. |
| Singular. | Iya, he, she, it. |
| Plural. | Kami, we (excluding the person addressed.) |
| Plural. | Kitai, we. |
| Plural. | Kita, ye. |
| Plural. | Sida, they. |
Possessive Pronouns.
The possessive pronouns are expressed by the words empu and enggi. Thus aku empu, or enggi aku, mine. Nuan empu, or enggi nuan, yours. Iya empu, or enggi iya, his, or hers. Similarly also with the plural.
Relative Pronouns.
There is only one relative pronoun ti (the other forms are ki and kai), who, which, that. Burong ti siga. A bird that is wild. Raja ti lurus. A king who is just. Utai ti iya empu. The things which belong to him.
Demonstrative Pronouns.
The demonstrative pronouns are tu, this, and nya, that. Tu anak aku. This is my child. Nya anak iya. That is her child.
In giving examples of the use and meaning of the Dyak words we have drawn upon the undermentioned sources: (I) published Dyak works, (11) well-known sayings or proverbs (ensumbar jako), (III) incantations, or, as in the majority of the examples given, have (IV) composed sentences in which we have endeavoured to shew how a word is commonly used or its meaning by the context.
​I. In arranging words in this Dictionary we have thought best to give first, the root form, which may be substantive, adjective, adverb, etc., etc., or the imperative mood of a verb, and after it, in a bracket, the verb form (v.f.), showing the change a verb undergoes when it assumes the mutilated prefix (of which the Malay forms would be me—, men—, meng—). The only other forms a verb possesses are (I) the passive, and sometimes, (II) the intransitive. Both of these would be formed from the root. In the former case (I) by prefixing di, in the later (II) by prefixing b, be—(bet—); examples of the latter are occasionally included in the v. f. bracket, thus: ban(v. f. man; beban), and gawai (begawai).
II. The following table shews the usual changes that occur to the root forms of verbs when they assume a prefix (v. f.).
[Note.—There are certain few exceptions].
Verbs whose root forms commence with—
III. Tense is expressed by the addition of the following auxiliary verbs : ndah, nyan, deka or ka, and bisi. The present tense, Aku makai, I eat. The past tense, Aka udah makai, I have eaten. The future tense, Aku deka (or ka) makai, I shall eat. Bisi is the past emphatic: Aka bisi makai, I did eat.
[Note.—This however is only the case when bisi precedes a verb; when it precedes a substantive it signifies to have. Thus, aku bisi pemakai, I have food].
IV. There are some nouns formed from verbs by prefixing the syllables pe, pen or peng to the root form of the verb, as pemakai from makai to eat; pendiau, an abode, from diau to stay, etc., etc., but the student should be cautious about forming such nouns without authority.
​V. It will be useful to commit to memory the following adverbs:
Adverbs of Place.
Adverbs of Time.
Miscellaneous Adverbs
And the following Conjunctions—
VI. The numerals are the same as the Malay. ​
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.
| adj. | Adjective. |
| adv. | Adverb. |
| cf. | Compare |
| conj. | Conjunction. |
| e. g. | Exempli gratia. |
| Eng. | English. |
| Etc. | Et ecetera. |
| N. T. | New Testament. |
| Part. | Participle. |
| Prep. | Preposition. |
| Pro. | Pronoun. |
| Prov. | Proverb. |
| s. | Substantive. |
| v. | Verb. |
| v. f. | Verbal Form. |
| Contents: | A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U W Y Z • Appendix |