Friday, November 21, 2008

A Liko (The Melanau)

Ako rasa ako bak menak pengenalan jumit pasal a liko tapi buyak teks ih susah angai bak dialih bahasa ko mapun ubak liko putik nyadin ako pigek terus keman website wak tenemu ko alu ninak ko gak gi'ih. Ako luk a tao pasal a liko.

Identification. The Melanau have no name to cover all Melanau-speaking people: they refer to themselves as "A-Liko X," meaning "the people of a river, a district, or a village," according to context. "Melanau," they assert, was given to them by the Malays of Brunei. The name possibly signifies "coast-dweller" in contrast to "inland-dweller."

Location. The areas of Sarawak inhabited by Melanau speakers stretch from Bintulu on the northwest coast of Borneo to the Rajang Delta in the southwest, and up the Rajang River to Kanowit. Beyond Kanowit are closely related Kajang peoples, who also are found on the River Baluy. The inhabitants of the coastal area live along rivers (Balingian, Mukah, Oya, and Igan) that run parallel to one another through dense tropical-rain-forest swamp, and frequently are referred to as the Coastal Melanau to distinguish them from Melanau speakers on the Rajang. The swampy environment, in which the only reliable food crop is the sago palm, is frequently flooded during the northeast monsoon from November to March, which virtually stops fishing from the coastal villages in January and February.

Demography. In 1980 the population of Sarawak was 1,233,103. The Melanau numbered 69,578, of whom 53,689 were Muslim; 8,486 were Christian; 1,749 were tribal; and 5,328 were registered as having no religion, which in practice means they adhered to tribal religion.

Linguistic Affiliation. Melanau is an Austronesian language of the Western Malayo-Polynesian Branch. It has no standard orthography; today individuals use their own spelling and the roman script. The Melanau language is divided into dialects, not all of which are mutually intelligible. The Coastal and Rajang dialects are linguistically related to those of the Kajang groups and groups on the coast between Bintulu and Brunei and the interior, groups sometimes referred to as Kelemantan. All Melanau people, even Muslims, speak a Melanau dialect, although today most are bilingual in Malay and Melanau.


Source: http://www.everyculture.com/East-Southeast-Asia/Melanau-Orientation.html

3 comments:

  1. Hi Rose, your blog is very interesting.
    Thank you for the nice comment you left on my blog, I appreciate it. :-)

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  2. Really learn through your blog; keep it up the spirit.

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  3. Thanks Kath. I like your blog too and i follow your blog. If i have free time i will visit your blog regularly. Keep up with your arts and paintings. It is very interesting and nice..:)

    Rainfield, thanks for drop by too. I tried to post in my language then i find it is very difficult and then i decide to let the informative posts in English then only my own comments and ideas, i will write in my language.

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