Kelabit language

Kelabit is one of the most remote languages found in Borneo, located near the border between Sarawak and North Kalimantan. It is spoken by the Kelabit people, one of the smallest groups in the entire island of Borneo. Living in highland areas, the Kelabit have kept their language alive despite living far from many other communities. Their language is a special part of their culture and helps connect them to their ancestors and traditions.

Phonology

Kelabit has special sounds that make it unique among languages. Its vowels are /ə, a, e, i, o, u/. Most consonants get longer when they follow the stressed vowel /ə/. Stress in words usually falls on the second-to-last syllable.

Kelabit stands out because it has a rare set of sounds called "voiced aspirates," which are voiced sounds made with a puff of air. This feature is not common in many other languages. These special sounds only appear between vowels and might have developed from longer consonant sounds. They are about twice as long as other similar sounds and change in certain word forms.

There are reasons experts believe these aspirated voiced sounds are single units rather than combinations of two sounds. For example, Kelabit does not normally allow combinations of consonants in words, and the way these sounds break up in syllables also supports this view. However, not all Kelabit dialects or the nearby Lun Dayeh language share this exact feature.