Languages and Literature /Contents

Languages of Sabah

Michael Boutin

Some 50 languages are spoken in Sabah of which 33 are indigenous to the state. Most of these are Austronesian languages belonging to the Dusunic, Murutic, Paitanic, Sama-Bajau and Malayic language groups. Other isolated tongues are also spoken; however, the main non-Austronesian languages are Chinese and English, although first language speaker numbers of the latter are small. Several organizations research and publish information on the indigenous languages.

  • Information in the full article includes
  • Sabah's Austronesian languages
  • Non-Austronesian languages in Sabah
  • Research into Sabah languages
Five-language phrase book

Five-language phrase book, published by the Kadazandusun Language Foundation.