Banjarese language

Banjarese (/ˈbændʒəˌriːz/ BAN-juh-reez; Basa Banjar, Jaku Banjar, Jawi script: باس بنجر‎ IPA: [basa bandʒar], [dʒaku bandʒar]) or simply Banjar, is an Austronesian language of the Malayic branch predominantly spoken by the Banjarese—an indigenous ethnic group native to Banjar regions— in the southeastern Kalimantan of Indonesia. The Banjarese language is the de facto lingua franca for various indigenous community especially in South Kalimantan, as well as Central Kalimantan (notably in Seruyan Regency and Sukamara Regency) and East Kalimantan in general.

Banjarese also has significant population in other provinces in Indonesia, especially in Sumatra (Riau and North Sumatra) even some regencies in Riau has a Banjarese majority population like in Indragiri Hilir Regency.

Apart from the native Banjarese in Indonesia, the Banjarese language also spoken by little Banjarese diaspora abroad Malaysia, (notably in Perak, Selangor, Kedah and Johor with significant minorities in Sabah, Brunei Darussalam and Singapore); however, they tend to not use it as their primary language, and their fluency degree is questionable.

There are at least two divisions of dialects within the Banjarese language:

According to Cense, the Banjar Hulu dialect are predominantly spoken by Banjarese people in the South Hulu Sungai Regency and North Hulu Sungai Regency regions. Berangas language, a Barito language that is almost extinct in South Kalimantan, also has a close relationship with Banjar Kuala dialect, where it absorbs much of the Banjarese language vocabulary, but lexically it is closer to other Barito languages, especially Bakumpai language.

The consonantal inventory of Banjarese language is shown below. All but [ʔ] occur at the onset of a syllable:

Sudarmo finds five monophthongs:

[ə] is an allophone of /ɛ/.