Bajaw (Bajo)

Bajaw is a member of the Sama-Bajaw branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family. It is spoken by about 260,000 people in in the southern Philippines, eastern Malaysia and eastern Indonesia.

Bajaw is also known Bajau, Bajo, Bahasa Bajau or Bahasa Sama-Bajau. There are three main dialects: West Coast Bajau, Indonesian Bajau and Mapun.

West Coat Bajau is spoken by about 55,000 people in the state of Sabah in Malaysia.
Indonesian Bajau has about 150,000 speakers in Indonesia, particularly in the provinces of North Maluku, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, Southeast Sulawesi and in the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara).
Mapun is spoken by about 43,000 people in the Philippines, particularly on Mapun Island in Tawi-Tawi Province, and also in Palawan Province. There are also about 15,000 Mapun speakers in the Malaysian state of Sabah.

Bajaw has a rich oral tradition, however it is rarely written. There are several ways to write it with the Latin alphabet developed by linguists and native speakers of the language.

Bajaw alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Bajaw (Excel)

Notes

In closed syllables (ending in a consonant), e = [ɛ], i = [ɪ], and u = [ʊ]
e is pronounced [ə] when it appears before a stress syllable, e.g. betong [bəˈtoŋ]
l, m, n and ng are syllabic at the beginning of words
At the ends of words p, t, k, b, d and g are unrealsed: p = [p̚], t = [t̚], k = [k̚], b [b̚], d= [d̚] and g = [ɡ̚]
At the end of words, l is sometimes pronounced [ɭ]
between vowels r is sometimes pronounced [ɾ]

Videos in and about Bajaw

Links

Information about Bajaw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajaw_language
https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Bajau
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bdl
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bdr
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sjm
https://rc.library.uta.edu/uta-ir/handle/10106/577

Sama-Bajaw languages

Bajaw, Central Sinama, Inabaknon, Yakan

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 04.01.21. Last modified: 04.01.22

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